chookooloonks

happy trails ...

2008-09-26T21:45:32Z

...over to the new site! Chookooloonks continues over here: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog and you can update your subscription to Chookooloonks using the following feed: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml Thanks for sticking with me, all -- and thanks for joining me in this new chapter of my life.

where the light is

2008-09-25T06:41:28Z

'In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.' -- Aaron Rose Song: Free fallin' (Where the Light Is), as performed by John Mayer * * * * * * * Also updated on the new blog. I'm probably not going to be updating the blog at this URL much longer after today, so please be sure to bookmark the new one: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog or subscribe to the RSS feed: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml so you don't miss any future updates to Chookooloonks. Thanks to all of you who have stuck by me over the years. I sincerely hope you'll stick with me through this new chapter of my life.

symmetry

2008-09-24T18:37:32Z

Today is Marcus' thirty-ninth birthday. I love him madly, even though he will spend the entire day chuckling about the fact that even given this day, he's 'still in his thirties,' while I'm 'well into my forties.' (I'm forty-one.) Happy birthday, love. (Feel free to leave your birthday wishes at the new website.) Song: When I'm 64, by The Beatles

through the viewfinder monday: more purple flowers

2008-09-22T06:57:42Z

(Also posted on the new blog. Feel free to poke around and comment over there, if you'd like. And don't forget to update your RSS feeds: the new feed for this blog is www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml. Eventually, I'll stop posting over here, and only post over there.) Monday morning, and the start of an intense week at work. Here's wishing all of us a good, productive week. Song: Had a bad day, by Daniel Powter. I've wanted to feature this song for a while because I love it, but the lyrics aren't particularly happy, so I haven't. Yesterday, however, I found the music video for this song on YouTube, and I love the message of hope it sends, because it's exactly how I think the song feels, despite its lyrics. Plus, again, it sort of mirrors my vibe these days. Enjoy.

the hurricane ike debris project

2008-09-20T21:45:53Z

Read all about it and feel free to comment here. (And don't forget to update your RSS feeds: the new feed for this blog is www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml.)

intermittent

2008-09-19T06:49:39Z

(Also posted at the brand spanking new blog. Feel free to comment there, if you'd like.) Yesterday, we learned that we may not get our phone or internet connection back until September 28th. For a web addict like me, this is really not good news, so I'm hoping against hope that the person on the other end of the line was more of a cup-is half-empty kind of person than not. This also means that daily updating of Chookooloonks is going to be relatively difficult, so please bear with me (perhaps, in the meantime, you might want to update your RSS feed to point to the new blog (actual feed URL: http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml)? For right now, though, I thought I'd share the following quote from a book that I've recently purchased and fallen in love with: 'When we focus our energy toward constructing a passionate, meaningful life, we are tossing a pebble into the world, creating a beautiful ripple effect of inspiration. When one person follows a dream, tries something new or takes a daring leap, everyone nearby feels that energy, and before too long they are making their own daring leaps and inspiring yet another circle.' -- Christine Mason Miller, aka Swirly Girl, from her book Ordinary Sparkling Moments. Here's to tossing pebbles. Song: Jolene, by The Weepies. Update: As of 1:17 p.m., we have internet! So, um ... never mind?

one of us is a big baby, and it's not alex

2008-09-17T07:56:58Z

(This post is also posted at the brand spanking new blog. Feel free to comment there, if you'd like. Also, you can now load http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog into your feed readers (or blog feed http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/rss.xml) to subscribe. Eventually, I'll stop posting here, and only post there.) Electricity has returned to our home, and while we still don't have internet (!), the house is decidedly comfortable again. So since a number of you have asked how Alex has handled this whole flee-the -hurricane-return-to-chaos thing, I thought I'd take a moment to answer your question. My assessment of how she's managed everything can be summed up in one quick phrase: A helluva lot better than me. Alex, bless her heart, is the most easy-going kid on the planet, and I truly think the reason I got to be her mom is because God knows what a tense, neurotic basket-case I can be, and figured that my having any child less calm than Alex as my daughter would only be a recipe for poison. (For what it's worth, I think it's the reason cool-as-a-cucumber Marcus was meant to be my husband as well. Pity the two of them for having to deal with me.) She has viewed this whole ordeal as an adventure. She kept crying 'BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES, BABY!' as we rushed around last Thursday morning, Marcus folding up the lawn furniture and stashing it in our garage, and me packing the suitcase, grabbing our safe with our important documents, and yes, making sure to pack the brand new iMac (you didn't think I'd leave it behind, did you?!?). While in San Antonio, she reclined in the armchair in the hotel room, munching on Goldfish crackers, and calmly demanding room service (and she didn't even whine when we told her that room service just wasn't going to happen, that if she wanted to pay the shocking room service prices, she'd need to get a job, first). In fact, the only time the magnitude of the hurricane seemed to hit her was when we returned to the house, and she saw all the downed trees and debris: she let out a low, involuntary, Keanu-esque ... 'WHOA.' But even after that, she grabbed a broom and 'helped' me sweep, and pretty much stayed out of the way when that bored her, as Marcus and I finished up. Even night before last, as we sat in the darkened house lit only by candles, she murmured, 'Mom? This is kind of beautiful.' All the while I moaned and muttered about living in the dark ages, whined about feeling too hot to sleep, and swore a blood oath to Marcus that after this, he'd never get me to go camping, since staying in this house with no utilities was enough to do me in. In sum, Alex was an absolute star. And as usual, I could learn a lesson or two from her. Song: Soak up the sun by Sheryl Crow

that tree? ours. that house? our neighbour's.

2008-09-15T17:56:38Z

(Also published at the new and improved blog. Feel free to poke around and comment over there, as you prefer.) Well, we're back. We have no electricity or phone, but we do have water and gas. I'm writing this from my parents' home, but we're going to be leaving to return to our dark house before curfew. Our house is intact, and wasn't breached in any way, shape our form. Our neighbours weren't so lucky. The image you see above is our tree on our neighbour's house. Despite how it looks, it doesn't appear to have damaged their house much (read: there are no leaks and/or branches in their home). It's going to cost us about $1000 to cut the tree off of their roof. In general, however, all of us in our neighbourhood are considering ourselves very, very lucky: while some people lost garages and cars to falling trees, as far as we know, no one actually lost their home. The place looks like a war zone, with huge branches narrowly missing rooftops, but in general, despite the lack of utilities, homes are livable. And, praise all that is good, a cool front has moved in, making the heat all but history, for now. And for this, we are very, very grateful. See more of our block here.

the alamo

2008-09-15T00:00:00Z

(Also published at the new and improved blog. Feel free to poke around and comment over there, as you prefer.) My parents have arrived back at their home in Houston, and alleluia, alleluia, they have both electricity and water. So Marcus, Alex and I are definitely heading back today to survey any damage to our home, since we now know we can at least stay with my mom & dad. Thanks to all of you for the wonderful e-mails and comments you've sent, wishing us the best. It has been very surreal to be here in such a beautiful town, but not really enjoying it because all the while we're wondering what's going on back home. So your notes really did help to lift our spirits. We did force ourselves to get out, though, and I managed to get a few good photographs. You can see the entire set here. More from Houston. Song: Ballad of the Alamo, by Marty Robbins

one last look

2008-09-14T10:19:27Z

(This post also published at the new blog. Feel free to poke around over there, as well.) At the last minute, we decided to stay in San Antonio one more day: the power is still out at our house, but more importantly, so is the water. So rather than go home to the sweltering heat without any possibility of the relief of a shower, we thought we'd give it another 24 hours in the hope that at least the water service will have returned. Besides, the forecast is for more rain in Houston today, and I've seen a few twitter posts saying that people are now being evacuated in anticipation of still more flooding, so staying away another day seems best. Regardless, however, we're leaving San Antonio tomorrow: the Houston weather is forecast to improve, and we've spent as much money as we care to spend by staying in this hotel; besides, we've all got a bit of cabin fever going on here, too. While here in San Antonio, we've tried to buy a generator to take back with us, but to no avail: the city is sold out of generators. So instead, we spent the money on tons of canned foods and dry goods, just in case the electricity is still out by the time we returned. Oh, and we bought bottled water. Lots and lots of bottled water. More when we return to Houston (and have power and an internet connection). Song: Fever, as performed by Joe Sample, featuring Lalah Hathaway