Electricity has yet to be restored and the water pressure is so low, it\u2019s pathetic. Today we discovered that the toilets upstairs can\u2019t flush effectively so they\u2019ve been closed off for now. I gave Bug and Abi baths in the camper, but I couldn\u2019t move on to the others because the grey water tank was full. Of course, they\u2019re both adding new layers of grime already. We purchased a 55-gal barrel of petrol from a co-worker today. He met a relative halfway between here and Dallas to get it, and as he pulled into his driveway he saw that their electricity was back on, so since it\u2019s likely to be at least next Monday before we get power, we took it off his hands. <\/p>\n
Some good things about the after effects of the storm:
-> Monday morning Abigail found a small, tailless perch on our front porch (no idea how it turned up there- probably involves the cat). Aidan wanted to dissect it, so Tartan pulled out the dissecting tools and remembering what he and Alex had learned last year when they dissected a fish, was able to point out various parts. Spontaneous science lesson.<\/p>\n
->Aidan and Kayleigh went on a trip across the US. Aidan sat in the tractor mower and Bug sat in the cart behind it and they pretended to be driving to different states. Occasionally, he would come in and give Tartan a verbal postcard about where they\u2019d been. Aidan eventually pulled out our huge atlas and set it in the cart for reference as they traveled.<\/p>\n
->The kids have been outside a lot getting to know some of the neighborhood kids better. Even Aidan, who never goes out to play, has in the past couple of days gone out. I think partly because the weather has been cool (he hates heat), but mostly because he doesn\u2019t have schoolwork to catch up on or the computer or the Wii to play on.<\/p>\n
->The kids have done some real, manual labor. They have picked up sticks and branches and raked up leaves and the smaller debris. They have loaded the tractor cart and Alex has even driven the tractor to dump everything onto the burn pile. The usually sedentary Alex even spent a large part of one afternoon out back by himself raking and driving the piles to the back.<\/p>\n
->Hopefully this will be a good thing: we\u2019re switching our cable TV and internet service to AT&T. We\u2019ve been thinking about this for a while and lack of responsiveness from Comcast was the last straw.
———————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
We did have the ultrasound yesterday and were able to see that I\u2019m carrying a girl. Her measurements show her to be at 23 weeks of development which is exactly where we\u2019re at. Everything that can be seen by ultrasound looked perfect. We don\u2019t have a name picked out yet and that may take us a while. Probably an \u201cA\u201d name since Abigail is the only female \u201cA\u201d. <\/p>\n
Oh, and I turned 40 today, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Electricity has yet to be restored and the water pressure is so low, it\u2019s pathetic. Today we discovered that the toilets upstairs can\u2019t flush effectively so they\u2019ve been closed off<\/p>\n
Continue reading…18 September 2008, 6:00pm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"local","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/wordpress\/feed\/podcast\/the-colliers","embedCode":"18 September 2008, 6:00pm<\/a><\/blockquote>