...Ike was a pain in the ass.  *badum ching*

Ike was my first real hurricane experience.  I've felt the threat of a hurricane hitting Houston, but I'm happy to be able to tell my story after one actually did hit Houston.  However, I really wish that I was in Vegas this weekend and not the weekend when Gustav was hovering nearby.

Ike decided to hit in the wee hours of the weekend...Friday night/Saturday morning at 1 am.  I was such a nervous wreck.  I was praying that we wouldn't lose power and that the bedroom window would still be intact.  I was actually foolish enough to think that nothing was going to really happen and that I was filling up the bath tub out of paranoid silliness.  I felt the same way about lining the windows and doors with towels.  I was trying to stay awake during the storm because the wind was blowing so hard.  But I finally succumbed to my heavy eyelids and dozed off at around 2 ish in the morning.  We still had power.

It was strange, because I was really wishing hard that we would have power over the weekend so that I could bake like crazy.  I had been itching to use our new kitchen, and with the weekend off, I would finally get to bake all the things I had been meaning to bake.  We had no such luck because our power went out at 5 am.

That meant that our water pumps went out, so we were also out of water.  My bath tub full of water didn't seem so silly any more.

Ugh...and that meant that really had to eat tuna, dried fruits etc.

Over the next few days, we were nomads.  We were fortunate enough to have family and good friends who had either electricity, water or both.  We were able to shower and be in good company.  I was thankful to feel and be loved.  But I was still longing for the day for things to return to normal.

I think the worst night was probably Saturday night.  It was so hot.  I was irritable and cranky.  I was annoyed that the electricity was out.  I decided to spread my misery and fight with my boyfriend.  hahahaha.  However, my crankiness carried over into Sunday morning and I managed to turn my cranky energy into productive energy.  Since the storm had passed, I decided to take my anger out on mother nature by reorganizing the apartment.  I was also extremely bored.  I was too hot to read.  I really wanted to cook or play on the piano and I couldn't do either because the damn electricity was out.  I guess my heaven would have been to have a real piano, and a gas oven.

I used to think that losing electricity was worse than losing water.  Now I know that losing water is much worse than losing electricity.  I don't know how I would survive without modern plumbing...I mean, I would have been happy to take a cold bath in the sweltering heat, and perhaps read a magazine with the LED strap-on head lights that T bought. 

Ugh, and losing both utilities at the same time sucked.  I'm just glad that our roof didn't collapse and that our windows didn't break.

I know that the next time a hurricane appears to be coming straight towards Houston, I will definitely evacuate.

1. When Infiniti key fobs are washed AND dried, they no longer work....period...no matter how long your boyfriend trouble shoots the battery, takes it apart...etc.  You can only marvel at the damaged circuitry.
   
2. If the elliptical is too easy for you, you're probably not on a challenging setting.  I can do "Weight Loss" at Level 6, but I cannot do "Strength Training" at Level 6.  "Strength Training" kicked my butt and fast.  I was exhausted but only managed to "run" a distance of 0.5 mi.  I'm just going to pat myself on the back for managing a more intense workout.

Good night.

I'm getting a little cabin fever here at my apartment.

My gate remote for the apartment complex doesn't work.  So I followed someone in after waiting for about 5 minutes.  I don't want to leave because I don't want my car outside of the gate!!  grr!!  Therefore, I have locked myself in this little fortress...

Also, being alone doesn't help, ESPECIALLY without TV.  TV makes a good companion for whatever reason. I feel more....connected with the world.

Well, I better stop procrastinating and get to unpacking.  It's soo messy.  I'm depressed when I see the mess.  *sigh*  Then I get too depressed to unpack.  It's a vicious cycle.  I should have just paid for the unpacking service by 3 Men Movers.

This gloomy weather sucks too.  Everything's pretty sucky.

Throughout the day, I eat a lot of crap.  I frequently walk to the snack machine to get chilli cheese Fritos, white cheddar popcorn, or Famous Amos chocolate chip mini cookies.   I should buy snacks from Target right across the street from my office building, but that would just make eating junk more accessible.

Eating out with co-workers also makes me feel pressured to make unhealthy choices.  Just being in a restaurant makes me indulge and overeat.  I've been thinking about eating vegetarian every other week.  When I saw Ms. Phi's post, I think I'm going to start with dinner and work my way to all meals, every other week.

I think that the hardest thing for me to give up isn't meat...it will be dairy.  I love cheese.  I love ice cream.  I think that soy ice cream might do the trick for my ice cream cravings, but I've tasted soy cheese before, and it tastes like crap.

So...I pledge to not eat/drink the following for at least 5 days (longer if I can, and barring Saturday's Summer Games Event)

• *eek* all dairy
• meat (except eggs for breakfast)
• enriched flour
• processed foods
• sugar (fake or real, except fruit)
• alcohol
• caffeine

So...anyone have any recipes and/or restaurant dish suggestions?

*sigh*

I was shopping in Banana for clothes, and this girl was walking by.  I grabbed a shirt off the rack and accidentally brushed her face with it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. *chuckle* I wasn't thinking."

(sarcastically)  "Yeah."

"I SAID I was sorry."

"ooookaaayy!"

My adrenaline was ready to knock this nasty Amy Smart wanna be through the wall.  There were a million thoughts going through my head about what to do next.  I shook with rage.  But the only thing I could blurt out was:

"You don't have to be a bitch about it."

"I'm not."

I rolled my eyes and had to walk away before I started a physical altercation.  At one point, I thought, I could take this bitch. The people at this store know me, and wouldn't call security.  Of course, there were also a MILLION more ways that I could have cursed this bitch out, but I decided to just walk away. It wasn't worth it. 

There was an Asian lady (Filipino, I think...I love Filipinos) near by, however, who kind of leaned on me, laughing in a congratulatory way.  Score one for the Asian team!

That still doesn't prevent me from imagining how I would have KICKED THAT GIRL'S ASS.  If she even touched me, it would have been ON LIKE DONKEY KONG.  *deep breath*

I kept rethinking scenarios while I was shopping.  I guess while I was thinking it would put me into an angry trance that I usually had to snap out of when approached by sales people so they wouldn't think I was crazy.

But I'm on holiday, so I'm going to try and relax...and that may involve me having to work out my rage at the gym.