Hello, dear friends.
Wow...
I'm sure glad that we moved to the great state of Texas for the weather!
First and foremost, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reached out with words of support and concern. Your thoughts and prayers were very much appreciated.
We have had a wild ride the past several days! Last Monday, like so many Texans, we lost power in our little love nest. Along with that, two of our outlets tripped - causing a loud, annoying clicking sound.
Stay with me - it gets better.
One of those circuits controlled the heat. We were in touch with our #2, who lives in the building, and she was experiencing rolling blackouts and was getting power intermittently. Our pad was in total blackout mode. The lack of heat only affected our end of the building. Essentially what happened in layman's terms is that something broke in the meter, which caused half the building to go dark. The only one that could fix it was the power company. As you can imagine, they had plenty on their plates and took several days to remedy the situation.
Monday evening, we were hopeful that the problem would be fixed overnight. As I just closed my eyes to go to sleep, I was grateful that the Mister shut off the circuit, so the clicking sound disappeared.
A few minutes later, our smoke alarm started chirping every 2 minutes. I hoped that I was dreaming, but alas, that was not so. After 31 years of marriage, it was no shocker that the Mister was not in the least bothered by the tweaking. He snored all night long. I would have woken him up if we had a step ladder.
I did not sleep one wink, which worked out well.
I had plenty of time to plan the Mister's murder.
The next morning, the Mister popped out of bed and had the nerve to ask me how I slept. Sometimes I like to answer his questions with just a look and/or a hand gesture.
I find that I get my point across quicker.
We decided to spend the day in our #2's warm pad. Every hour or so, we were treated to the blare of the eardrum-piercing fire alarms that would last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. After lunch, the Mister ran down to our apartment to get something. When he came back, I noticed all color left his face. I knew something awful happened.
Had he found out that I was planning his demise during his snore-fest?
No, he informed me that a pipe burst and the apartment had flooded.
My first thought was...
How long would it take to move back to Massachusetts?
We walked into the apartment, and it was a mess, to say the least. Water was still spraying from the sprinklers.
The Management asked us what our preferences were for a new apartment.
I told him I would like one with heat and power.
The Mister called the movers that worked with the complex, and they were unable to help us until Tuesday afternoon. He then went on to book a hotel room. The hotels were booked solid, but thanks to our #2, we ended up with a beautiful room in a lovely hotel. The Apartment Building Management is picking up the tab, so it makes our situation that much sweeter.
We received this text from our complex while at the hotel.
Evidently, the natives were getting restless.
We were sorry that we missed all the fun.
Over the weekend, we moved a lot of the little stuff up to the new apartment that just happens to be on the same floor as our girl. Stanley Steemer is paying us a visit today, and the movers will arrive tomorrow.
The Mister is presently at the supermarket attempting to fill our fridge. He just sent me this pic. It doesn't look like he'll be coming home with a lot of grocery bags.
In closing, many Texans had it a lot worse than we did.
Many people are still dealing with the lack of power and water.
We were blessed with a helpful daughter, a warm hotel room, and a competent insurance company.
I enjoyed listening to every word of this historical fiction novel.
The story is intriguing, and the narrator delivers a superb performance.
I was so excited to read this one, and it did not let me down.
It has a kind of Gatsby feel to it.
I didn't want this book to end!
Btw... It's $2.99 on Kindle this week.
Because I loved The Daughters of Erietown, I picked up this memoir which chronicles the author's experiences on the campaign trail with her late-in-life love, a US Senator.
Beautifully written and a sweet story.
DNF
I felt like the narrator was reading from a textbook.
DNF
The story revolves around a family in the 1980s living in Dallas.
Many scenes took place in the classrooms of Ursuline and Jesuit. They were kind of fun to read about since my girls are Ursuline grads.
Unfortunately, I had to abandon the book because it was so darn depressing.
A magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous plunges
This is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together.
A supercharged thriller about marriage and the dangerous secrets spouses keep.
A haunting thriller about how far one wife is willing to go to expose the truth - and the lengths someone will go to stop her.
A young woman’s fight to liberate herself from her privileged upbringing, for which she pays the highest price.
A heart-pounding and emotional roller-coaster ride of self-discovery in the tradition of Thelma and Louise.
Inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.
A chilling murder mystery that takes a domestic thriller's classic question—"Did his wife kill him?"—and twists it into a completely new type of suspense.
It sounds like the guy was a world-class snorer to me!
From hunting and gathering to GMOs and ultraprocessed foods, this expansive tour of human history rewrites the story of our species—and points the way to a better future.
If you haven't watched this and appreciate a suspenseful plot, I suggest tuning in. We watched the finale over the weekend.
One word: gobsmacked.
A family saga that revolves around a law firm.
Well worth the time.
Cute series and great chemistry between the main characters.
I wish this series would go on forever.
It took me a couple of episodes to get into this one.
Once I was there, I was glued.
It reminds me of a Western Succession.
Warning: lots of violence
I loved this Irish drama.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Season 2.
Sweet movie.
Tom Hanks can do no wrong in my book.
A little bit on the slow side, but a good movie.
Fun fact: Carey Mulligan narrates a lot of audiobooks.
She does a great job, too.
Even the actors' talents couldn't save this one.
Based on a true story.
Heartwarming and uplifting.
I gave up on this one on episode three.
Odd series.
We stuck with it, and I am proud to say that I figured out the ending.
Entertaining movie, but I felt let down by the ending.
Until next time...
And now, it is my pleasure to introduce you to another loyal reader of mine, Gayle.
She is two years old and is the “Queen of this Castle”!
We lost our 13-year-old Westie two years ago and called the breeder “to get on the waitlist” and wound up with this fur baby right away! Our first Westie was Scarlett O’Hara, so this Westie is Katie Scarlett, and she had just as much personality as you do, Katie Clooney!
She had healed our broken hearts!
Linking up with:
Anything Goes
Metamorphosis Monday
Hello Monday!
Over The Moon
Lou Lou Girls
Hearth & Soul
You're the Star
Metamorphosis Monday
Hello Monday!
Over The Moon
Lou Lou Girls
Hearth & Soul
You're the Star
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Oh my gosh Katie! What a truly horrible week! We've been checking in with friends and family in Texas and they all have stories to tell. I love the text about the swimming pool! I hope this week proves to be a bit better.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! I was thinking of you and thought you might not be having it so good. I figure it was warmer in Massachusetts than Texas. My niece lives near Houston and they were without power as well. They do have a gas fireplace. She in the moment said it worse than a hurricane. I am not a fan of either but especially cold. I am glad you are ok. I suspect those grocery stores will be a little troublesome for a while. My cousin is a truck driver who could not get home during all of this. He got out of Texas only to be stranded in LA. I am sure all of those truckers now have to get back home and reload before the trip back. I am ready for spring...what say ye?
ReplyDeleteMy brother is in Dallas. Had to stay up all night to keep flushing toilets and pipes. He made it through with no burst pipes but it was all night monitoring. Thank goodness warm weather coming your way.
ReplyDeleteRecommendation- Stanley Tucci series on CNN - Discovering Italy- Sunday nights
The Mister is dying to see the Stanley Tucci show. Your brother sounds like my husband. If we owned a house he would have been doing the same thing!
DeleteIt sounds like you've had quite a week! I hope there is relief soon for you and your fellow Texans.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your burst pipe but glad to hear that there were quick remedies. You have some great reading recommendations, I'm off to request some of them from the library.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awful week you've had! The no heat and no water are bad enough but the smoke detectors would send me over the edge. Hope you're all settled into your new place soon.
ReplyDeleteOh dear friend, I was thinking about you this past week and all my Texan friends! I know it was a nightmare but yes, you are so right, it could’ve been much worse! It could’ve been all this happening in your new forever home that I hope you find soon! Maybe I missed it, have you found a palace yet? Love all your entertainment recommendations many of which we have seen and thank goodness for the book recommendations because when things like the power to go out, books are a godsend with my battery powered head lamp! We were so disappointed By Let him go but the Bryan Cranston series was oh my goodness, that ending! I hope this week is much better!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, Katie! I’m so sorry to hear you went through all of this the past week! I have thought of you and all of those in Texas. Hugs and prayers! Thanks for your list and reviews of what you have been reading and watching lately. I can’t believe my husband and I have not seen Yellowstone yet, beings we are from Montana.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you had to deal with power outages and broken pipes. I can’t over all of videos of burst pipes pouring water inside of houses.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom is with my sister and her family. They are in Colleyville and we’re very lucky in that they only lost power for a couple of hours.
I’ve read that there will be a labor shortage with all of the damage and it could also effect new construction times.
We fished Your Honor last week and also watched all of The Sinner. Going to write down some of your suggestions because we are always trying to think of something to watch.
Love the smoke detector meme. Will steal it the next time ours starts to beep in the middle of the night.
Oh my goodness. I can't imagine. Bless you all for enduring what you did!!
ReplyDeleteI am in love with Samuel West/Siegfried Farnon. Oh, I'll miss that series. And what a bunch of books! Bravo with all that reading.
ReplyDeleteBut the broken pipes in the apartment -- did you lose much/any stuff? Like -- oh, furniture,clothes, the shoes you tossed in the corner under the sprinkler? I cannot believe. I'm grateful they made good with the hotel and all but yikes... you SO don't deserve it. I'm really glad you didn't take out the Mister before he helped get you both moved!
Oh my goodness, in the series of unfortunate events that is my life I once again picked the wrong week to be away from social media. Good grief ... how you survived this ordeal with your sense of humor intact is a miracle. As is the Mister living to tell about it. Well, I assume he lived to tell as evidenced by his grocery store snap. I wonder if you checked in with that nice young couple who bought your house to see how they are they are liking their new arrangement? Probably not, after all there is no going home again ... or so they say. Now you have another 'must' to add to your house hunting list. As we learned (too late) here in California - where rolling blackouts and fire season shut offs - are an unfortunate fact of life, purchasing a home near (on same power grid) as a hospital or other emergency service is a good thing. Plumbed generators are nice too. I'm so happy you're ensconced in a new apartment and even closer to #2 ... and this crisis in Texas is coming to an end. I look forward to your next installment ... and curious what led to the flood and did you lose any valuable rugs and furniture to this secondary disaster? xoxo
ReplyDeleteWhoah talk about hands full!! Hang in there, someday you’ll look back and laugh. I hope!! Thanks for all the recommendations and thinking of the rest of us, truly good things are coming your way.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about all the troubles! I have no idea how someone can sleep through the chirping of a smoke detector. I would just be lying there, waiting for the next chirp. I'm glad you have some place to stay and that things will be settled with your insurance. Onward and upward!-Jenn
ReplyDeleteGood grief, you sure handled that mess better than I probably would have. We still cannot believe that we were housebound for 5 days. It was unreal and has never happened in our lifetime here. We never lost power, had no leaks, had water, cable and wifi, so we truly have nothing to complain about. We were more than happy when the sun came out on Sat. to melt it all away. Hurry spring!!!!
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ReplyDeleteOh dear...things sure went from bad to worse for you. I felt your pain with that beeping alarm. We have had that happen in our Colorado house, always in the middle of the night. My hubby couldn’t hear it either...but we did have a ladder.
ReplyDeleteYour week sounded like so many others that I have heard. So very sorry. I hate to tell you, but we lost nothing over here on Ft. Worth’s west side. I would have gladly put you and #2 up in our guest rooms.....Now I tell you right! The weather yesterday almost made up for last week. Hope things get better...hang in there and on to your cute sense of humor!
Oh no! I'm glad to hear you were able to move into a new (dryer) apartment fairly soon but what a fiasco.
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you have had to go through all of this. My son lives in Houston and it was a terrible week there, also. I had a sad week worrying about him freezing in his home. Thank God he is okay just trying to survive without water and a small amount of food. This to shall pass! Thank you for continuing to blog as you are a light in a dark world. I love your blog and I follow you on Instagram.
So sorry to hear your son went through all of that, Happy. Thank you so much for sweet words - they have touched my heart. Enjoy your week.
DeleteI have family in Katy, Austin, Bedford and Waco that I was checking on, and I am so sorry I forgot about you! When I saw this post, I was hoping you'd have an update on a purchase. Yikes! What a catastrophe! I have so many questions about your damage - entire condo, only part? Are things ruined or salvageable? I saw a meme that read: "2020 - the year from hell; 2021 - the year hell froze over". I think a Texan posted it. I hope this week you have your flipflops, umbrella, windbreaker, scarf, etc. to cover all the bases Mother Nature projects. Take care.
ReplyDeleteOh no Katie, what a nightmare you've had. I have been thinking of all my Texas friends and thought of you in the temporary apt and hoping all wold be ok there. I am hearing so many horror stories about last week. So happy you are in a comfortable room now. What a mess but this will pass. Take care and maybe you'll soon find that perfect home. I won't be surprised to hear it's in Massachusetts!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about all the winter storm issues! That's not a very nice welcome back to Texas! I'm thankful you had your daughter there to help out. What a mess! I have added lots of these books to my TBR. And I'm taking Sophomore off my list because I don't need a depressing book! We absolutely loved Your Honor, as well as All Creatures. Yellowstone was really good, although it fizzled a little for me in the last season. The Split is going on my watchlist. I read Behind Her Eyes (very strange book) - so I'm guessing the show is weird too! Take care and stay warm. I hope your furniture is ok, and I'm glad most of your things are in storage. <3
ReplyDeleteOh my... I feel so bad for you!! I think you took the weather with you when you moved! The weather in the east hasn’t been too bad this year. I hope you don’t have a lot of damage to your possessions...we went thru a flood quite a few years ago and it was a nightmare,so I feel your pain. I hope it all works out and that the weather improves! Think of you often!
ReplyDeleteI have laughed at and even shared with my daughter your Instagram account of the smoke alarm threat. I can identify which made it that much funnier to me. So sorry about all the things you’ve had to endure, but you’re right, there are so many who had it so much worse. Friends of ours lost everything as the pipes in the attic of their 3-story historic Ft Worth home burst and all the ceilings fell through. Now that the weather is improved, hoping you can get back to house hunting. I watched “The Dig” and agree with your assessment. I will check out your other recommendations since we finally finished the series we’ve been watching for weeks.
DeleteSo glad you are all safe *HUGS* I always look forward to your book/movie/tv recommendations! I just got "The Fortunate Ones" and I am halfway through and am loving it. Your Honor - has been on my "maybe" watched list but now it's been moved up to my "must watch" thanks to you :) I too felt - Behind Her Eyes - was odd and a little weird, not sure I will finish it. I have friends that rave about "Yellowstone" but I just haven't take the drive to start watching - your words "Western Succession" hooked me and I can't wait to drive in since I LOVE Succession.
ReplyDeleteWhat a week you all had! And we thought we had it bad with another half foot of snow in NJ! Glad you made it to a dry place and hopefully have found some food by now. Always love your recommendations- will confirm The Paris Library is a fabulous read. Also highly recommend Atypical on Netflix about a family with a son who has autism, superbly written and acted. Stay safe and dry!
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible week!! Glad you had a warm place to retreat to. 2020 was horrible and I think 2021 isn't looking too good so far!
ReplyDeleteOh Katie,
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess. OUr oldest son with his lovely wife and two of our grandchildren live in Austin. Not fun and certainly not common. I'm sure you know that, but it does make me wonder if your brought the winter weather with you? Haha.
Best to you in your house hunt.
xo,
Karen
P.S. I wish All Creatures Great and Small would go on forever too.
So sorry for all the aggravation, but glad you are safe, warm, and dry. Thanks for the book recommendations...a few were on my to-read list, but I've added some from yours as well. Summer is coming!!
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOODNESS, you can not make this stuff up! I am so happy that it was not worse and not to minimize the pain, agony and inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you Katie for your very kind comment about the loss of our loved ones, it was much appreciated. I think often of your sister and wonder how she is coping with the loss of her husband. How is their cookbook coming along, I believe that she was working on one with her children?
I cannot wait to check out all of these books and shows. I am familiar with a few but not too many.
Thank you again,
Elizabeth
I was so happy to get this latest edition of your blog and to know that you are ok.
ReplyDeleteBut what a nightmare!
Mary (from Buttonwood group}
On another note - I bought the sheets you recommended from Amazon. We love them. We have a new mattress which is higher than our old one and our old sheets were too small.
ReplyDeleteI FORGOT ABOUT YOU!
ReplyDeleteOH MY...........just jump in the car and come DUE WEST!
WE DONOT HAVE HEAD HONCHO's WHO RUN AWAY AND LEAVE THEIR DOG BEHIND TO FREEZE!
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR VIEW ON THAT!
BE WELL........AND BE SAFE.
I was so focused on my stressed-out relatives in Texas that I forgot that you were there too. So sorry to hear that you experienced the frigid-weather mess too. I hope that Texas gets back to normal as soon as possible. Take good care, Katie.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, Katie, what a rough few weeks you have had! I'm so sorry to hear and I hope that things will be back to normal just as soon as possible. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful books and films and for introducing us to Gayle and her sweet Westie. I'm definitely adding Animal Vegetable Junk and The Paris Library to my reading list. Take care and thank you for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Community!
ReplyDeleteI hope things are going better now. I just wanted to say that we are watching All Creatures Great and Small because you recommended it. I would not have found it without you. Thank you. We love it!
ReplyDelete