O.M.G.

It's been a week. I suppose I should be thanking the Little Baby Jesus(tm) for Taco Bell and Starbucks. As you all might have heard, a hurricane ripped through these parts last week. It's been 5 days and still, nothing is open. Let me ammend that. None of our go-to places are open.

Of course, some of them might be by now and we have yet to check. Tonight we will brave disappointment and pay our second visit to Empire Cafe. On Sunday, our first visit, they simply were being lazy asses and not wanting to work. No, I'm kidding. We drove by hoping for Sunday breakfast featuring Huevos Verdes (I am sure eb can correct me here on the name of her usual eggs Benedict with spinach type dish, it escapes me) and Italian Toast. As we turned the corner, hopeful because the front door was propped open, we saw a rented pump out back so I guess maybe they took on a little water. We haven't been back to check and we could pick up the phone and call, but where is the spirit of adventure in that? Tonight we will hopefully do more than a drive by. Angel hair pasta with sundried tomatoes and garlic in a light lemon butter brew. With shrimp. It's calling my name.

After the Empire drive by on Sunday we tried various second choice places from our go-to list to no avail. No dice. We drove around for 2 hours and went home a little humbled by it, grateful that our damages were next to nil. We exclaimed a "Holy shit! Look!" or two as we drove over Allen Parkway and I -10 at Shepherd which were flooded nearly to the overpass we were driving on. Did we bring the camera? Oopsie.

We got home and by that point we were damn hungry. When weese heard we went looking for breakfast the day after the hurricane, she asked if we had run out of eggs. Did I feel like making eggs? No. We had one last box of Velveeta mac n cheese and some Cheddarwurst, so again, we had that. I think we have had that for a fairly disproportionate number of meals in the last week and it might be off the radar, at least for a month or so. It is a surviving guilty pleasure so there is no way I will say never again, but it has earned a rest off the menu.

On Monday morning, eb and I returned to work. Other than the boss, we were the only two to make it in on Monday. I think we could have credibly milked it, but after 4 days in the house with our two lovely man-sons, we really did have to go to work. I think there is such a thing as too much togetherness with man-sons. Hopefully they won't get too put out reading this because really, they are good boys, but when they are bored and stuck at home...

All in all, we lost power sometime after 2 am Sat and it was back by 2pm. Cable and internet followed by 4pm, though they have been spotty since. A lot of Houston is still without power and/or water, so we aren't really complaining.

Does having a son who works at Starbucks mean anything? No. not when they don't have a milk delivery. The location by work is open today, but the line this morning was insane. I just went at lunchtime, and for the first time in a week, eb and I have our iced chai lattes. Color us content.

PS...Since the storms, the temps have cooled which is nice. However, also since the storms, our office a/c, cold on normal days, is about 5-10 degrees cooler. I might need to bring some socks in to the office so my toes don't get frostbite.