asides

Today you are You,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
That is Youer than You.

-Dr. Seuss

As I mentioned here, Fred and Beth left for Houston on Friday.  They were about eight miles from home when they received a call from a neighbor telling them that the power was restored!  Thank you to all who prayed for all of us during and after the storm.

Well, it seems like forever since my last post, my apologies.  You can blame it on Hurricane Ike.  Two weeks ago today, we took in our ‘refugees.’  Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Becky, and their dog, Maggie, and his parents, Fred and Beth, and their dog, Lady, came to stay with us to wait out the storm.  Can you imagine six adults, one toddler and four dogs in one house?  Pretty crazy, huh?  Well, our neighbor, Tony, was gracious enough to open his home to Robert, Becky and Maggie.  Thanks Tony!

I’m sure you all have heard of the problems in Houston, trying to get the power restored.  Robert, Becky and Maggie returned to Houston the Wednesday after the storm due to work and just wanting to get home.  Luckily, their power came back on the next day.  Fred, Beth and Lady were not so lucky.  Centerpoint Energy had listed their zip-code with a restore date of Monday, the 22nd.  Up until then, Centerpoint had been meeting their deadlines.  Unfortunately, they still do not have electricity.  Last night, they found out from some neighbors what had been going on.  Apparently, a tree had fallen on a power line.  It was reported, but apparently ignored.  When Centerpoint went to flip the switch, the tree caught fire, and the transformer blew.  So, their neighbors across the street have power, but their side of the street is still in the dark.  When the workers in the area were asked about the problem, they said it was an underground issue and a contractor would need to be brought in to fix it and they could not say how long it would take to fix the problem.  Thankfully, Fred has a contact that is pretty high up at Centerpoint and called in a favor.  After two weeks, what do you have to lose, right?

Well, Fred, Beth and Lady decided to take a chance.  They headed back to Houston this afternoon.  Hopefully, Beth will be able to withstand the heat, and their power will be restored soon.  They have located a hotel with vacancies, if needed, and they can stay with Robert and Becky, provided they can get Beth up the stairs.  I’ll keep you updated on their power situation.

So, this is why I haven’t posted Cooper’s 22 month letter.  Be patient, I’m working on it.  Here are some pics of our refugees from the last two weeks.

It wasn’t pretty, but I did it. I ran my first 10K (6.2 miles) on Sunday. Jeff and I ran the Nike+ Human Race in Austin. My goal for the run was to make it in less than an hour. I had been working on my pace for several weeks and got it down to 10 minutes per mile, so an hour shouldn’t have been out of the question. However…my training was indoors on a treadmill with the incline set to zero. I wasn’t prepared for the heat or the hills.  The race started at 6:30 pm in downtown Austin, about a bajillion degrees out surrounded by concrete and buildings.  There were approximately 15,000 runners (yes, that’s 15,000 just in Austin).  Imagine a sea of runners (all wearing the same red shirt) snaking their way through the streets of Austin.  It was a pretty cool experience, but I will never again run a race late in the afternoon during one of the hottest summers on record.  All in all, I’m ok with my time, I only finished about seven minutes behind Jeff.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16

Steven Curtis Chapman, a christian singer/songwriter, recently lost his daughter in a tragic accident.  The faith this family shows even during this difficult time is extraordinary.  You can view their story here.

Never in my life have I thought I would be able to run more than 50 miles in a month.  Even in high school, when I played soccer for three hours a day, I thought those people who ran cross-country were insane.  I struggled to run more than a mile at a time.  Thank you Jeff, for inspiring me to start running.  For those that don’t know, Jeff ran the 3M half-marathon in January and challenged me to run the Capitol 10,000 (a 10K) with him in March.  We were unable to run that particular race due to my mother’s 60th birthday surprise party (which we would not have missed for the world).  However, I kept training and I am really enjoying it.  We are considering running the Nike Human Race, which is a 10K, at the end of the month.  I’ll keep you posted.

So our friends Danny and Jenny, who live across the street, are skiing in Tahoe right now. 

The following is from http://www.skiheavenly.com/mountain/conditions/ 

Check out the last 7 days!

They get 10 feet of fresh snow, we get to fish sit.