Embracing Sweat

I have been SWEATING here in Bryan. We hit 100 degrees yesterday, and expect to today----it's 4:23 and 96 degrees. We may still make it! But I really don't want to, of course! I do not take the heat very well. I have a fair complexion, burn easily, and just wilt in the heat. My face turns red, I feel weak, and when it's bad, I start to get white around my mouth and eyes. My raccoon look!

The disturbing news is . . . the average first 100 degree day in College Station is July 16th. We were one month early this year! Doesn't bode well for us.

I feel like I have to learn to embrace the sweat, because I can't get away from it. If I have to get in the car without cooling it off, I'm instantly drenched in sweat. If I go outside for any length of time, anywhere under the hair on my head, it's hot. As soon as I get out of my almost cold shower, I start sweating. I can't dry off before the sweating begins!

But one time of the day, I have been sweating on purpose. Bess's track camp is in its middle week, and I have been taking advantage of being there at the track. I walk around the track for about one hour each day. This week, I walked 11 laps (2.75 miles), Tuesday 12 laps (3 miles), and today I walked 3 miles again, 12 laps. Both weeks, I've only gotten to walk 3 times. This week we have a track meet on her 4th day. But last week, I did yoga two times, too. I'm proud of myself.

It may be my imagination, but I feel like since I've done this 3 times in the last two weeks, my stomach is smaller. This is my least favorite part of the body---this fat stomach!! But I really think it's getting better. I have one more week to walk during Bess's track, and after that, I plan on walking at 7 am instead.

Oh! Did I say it's 9:15 before I begin walking? It's very hot even by then, but the saving grace has been the clouds. It's been cloudy in the mornings. Of course this means we have high humidity, but at least the sun isn't beating down on us all.

This past school year I got into some bad habits and gained some weight. Here are some good habits I have been trying to nurture this summer---now that I have no excuses:

Walking 3 miles 3 days a week

Yoga twice a week (one 30-minute DVD, one 50 minute DVD)

high fiber breakfast (I'm looking for >5g of fiber)

less soda, more water (or decaf tea with Sweet n Low)

a daily SPF 15 lotion on my exposed body parts---face, legs, arms, neck, ears


Hope you're enjoying your summer! I'm feeling good about myself again.

Winter pictures

Sunday I forced the family to dress in coordinating outfits (except Larry!). There's a cute little tree in downtown Bryan I knew would work for our Christmas Card photos. I am still trying to get Christmas cards out despite grand intentions every year and oftentimes failure to make it happen!

As you can see, it was pretty warm. It was a bright blue sky without a cloud anywhere close. Here is the one I'll use for a card (cropped to my liking).

I think J snapped this one of me and B.

B set up this shot.

J being himself

It snowed TWO TIMES yesterday! It was sleeting I think about 4:30 in the morning, and then when we got up, when daylight came, there was a kind of hard crunchy snow on top of the ice. I wonder what the Eskimo (Aleut, is more correct, right?) word for this kind of snow is?
It started snowing again about time for pickup from school. It was really awesome! And since the roads were staying clear, it was really cool! This is our house in the afternoon.

Larry wanted to take the dog in the snow, and B took this shot above. J wanted to make a snow angel, so he did. He came back inside and said that the person who made that up was insane. I think he didn't like getting all wet and cold.

And now today, I am home in my cozy abode. J is sick! He woke up and went in to get a shower and moaned really loud from the bathroom. Larry checked on him, and he was sitting on the floor and said his head hurt so bad he couldn't get up. When he gets a fever, he gets a bad headache. And this was the case---he's got a 101 degree fever.

B was so jealous I was staying home---but it's just what I need to catch up on some things here at home. Yahoo!!! And my principal really made me feel like I was doing the right thing staying home with him. Perfect!

Hunkering or Running

I had a place to go, so I went. The kids were off from school today, so I was contemplating leaving town. Larry had to stay and work. I woke up at 4:30 am, thinking. I had seen the wind estimates for our area, and I kept thinking about the trees and stuff in our neighborhood. It's one thing to get a tree in your house, but another to be there when it happens. Mom called me last night, and thought I ought to come on.

So we came. The traffic was light. It was an easy drive, and we were here by lunchtime. I will probably sleep tonight, whereas at home, I'd be up all night, waiting for the first bad stuff at 1:00, and the bad stuff in our area at 5am Saturday.

I got an e-mail that our Wal-Mart was closing. Can you believe that! ;-) My school building was apparently "shelter of choice" since they have 3 meals a day and showers. This may push back our start back to school a bit, even after the College Station schools are back in session.

I can't stop watching the news! Not that anything is changing much minute to minute. That seawall footage they keep showing? I'm amazed by that. We've been there. The road is there, and the sidewalk at the same level. Then there are the stairs to go down to the water. There is no sandy beach right there, but giant black rocks. Usually it's about 10 feet down before you see the water, and I have pictures of us sitting there smiling in the sunshine. But the water is all the way up to the road level, and I'm amazed.

My thoughts are with Larry who's getting off work about now---and making a decision about coming on to where we are. I hope it's not too windy there already! The food and water and supplies are there if he decides to stay.

Weatherchasing II

Was it only 10 days ago that I was watching Gustav? Now I'm watching Ike, and we're in the path!

I looked at a map this morning that showed us in Bryan, as the crow flies, less than 150 miles from the coast. And if the winds are still hurricane force as the eye of Ike hits land, we could really get hit with some wind. I'm right now sitting tight.

I am out of school today because the church building where I work is being used for a shelter already. This morning, parts of Houston are being evacuated, so I expect an influx of people here tonight.

I already have a full tank of gas and bought some extra food and water this morning. I am washing all our clothes---so we can go a week or so without worrying about clean clothes. I'm saving some ice. I'm eyeing the trees warily in our neighborhood. And praying.

It's possible that the kids will be out of school tomorrow. It might be better to send them on to school and keep them out of the way. The high school football games are re-scheduled a day early around here---so varsity tonight.

Things are hopping around here!

Weatherchasing

I'm starting to obsess about Gustav, the Hurricane.

I began my non-stop watch of weather and news channels this afternoon. I'm not in a danger zone, as of yet, anyway. (I am about an hour and a half northwest of Houston.) People are being sent this way, though. I suppose it could affect my workplace. When Hurricane Rita came through on the heels of Katrina in 2005, our school building, a church, was a shelter for families from Houston. I had heard that a few families were spending the night in my classroom! It was a bizarre thing. Nothing was damaged, nothing taken. Just some stuff out of place, and a few stains on the carpet not there before.

I remember being home the day that Katrina hit, cleaning house (like I'm doing today). I remember thinking I was so glad that New Orleans had made it through the storm. As the day progressed and the levees broke, I just couldn't stop watching the water in New Orleans. We all had a front row view of the destruction. And then the awful squalor of the Superdome.

Let's see if this time things will be done right.

I think in a former life---or a future life, maybe----I was a weatherman. Maybe even a storm chaser. I am just fascinated by weather and the power of it. I can't stop watching.

weather update

We got our first rain from the tropical storm this afternoon at about 2. We are thankfully not getting any strong winds, but we're getting a wonderful soaking rain. Because of the rotation, as the storm moves northwest across us, we are getting the rain moving down from the north right now. The "eye" isn't really apparent, but it's sitting a little bit east of us and moving our way.

I was just looking over the TAKS scores of my kids' schools. Both of their campuses were rated "academically acceptable." I know they were aiming for higher. Part of the course I just finished on my "Road to Certification" was about testing and analyzing the results.

I was really unhappy about B's school's Math scores. Because of construction, last year the only grade taking the state tests was her grade---6 classes of children. All students passed at a 67%.

Other interesting facts I gathered:
B's school---85% of the students are economically disadvantaged.
At J's school---82%
district-wide---56%; this is quite a bit, actually.
For College Station---20%

At B's school, apparently 9 students out of 91 are white. They didn't make a large enough group for the TAKS test to count their scores for.

Two out of 6 of the College Station schools are Exemplary. They have 20% and 13% Economically disadvantaged.
One out of 15 Bryan schools got the Exemplary status. Only one grade had a statistic for Economically disadvantaged, and it was 48%. This is not the school with the least economically disadvantaged children attending. The other two with fewer low income kids did have a Recognized status, though.

Here's the link to our county's ratings and information:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/cgi/sas/broker

It's time to go make the dinner!!

Hello, Edouard!

Well, I'm not really hunkering down or anything, but Hurricane Edouard is coming my way. We are expecting rain and wind tomorrow. Of course I will be working outside the home tomorrow, not safe and sound at home where I'd probably rather be. It's Sonshine School's Olympics day!

Two counties south of me, there are "Inland Tropical Storm Wind Warnings." They've been upgraded to the warnings, not just watches. I hope that doesn't mean we will get that strong wind, too. We might!

The good news is, our high will be about 10 degrees cooler tomorrow and the next day---only 94 and 96 degrees! I must mention, however, that my parents 3 hours north of me are getting the heat much worse---Dallas is consistently hotter than us this summer. Of course, we brag about our humidity around here---we like to increase that heat index! We like having to drink our air, really.

Weather Update

It's 7:25 and still 91 degrees outside (that's 34C).
Heat index 96 degrees.
Only 49% humidity.
Our low tonight will be 73.
High tomorrow 97.
And Larry's working outside this weekend at a softball tournament! I feel especially bad for the girls out on the field playing. Whew!