Had a horrible night last night. First, I had a nightmare that I was being chased by a giant monster through some ruins. I woke up because I was breathing too hard and looked at the clock. I’d only slept for a couple of hours.
Then Sookie, the elderly bulldog, starts hyperventilating and craws onto the Shih-Tzu’s tiny pillow by my side of the bed. The Shih-Tzu runs away, of course, and find a different spot. Sookie is drooling and there is a damn lake of spit.
For some reason, I have awful heartburn, too. I’m trying to remember if I took my Prilosec as I was supposed to in the morning, and I don’t know. I have GERD but it’s usually well controlled with medication.
The world past the French doors flashes, and simultaneously thunder cracks and shakes the house. And then there this deafeningly loud drumming.
Sookie freaks the hell out. Nykie, the dachshund mix, who is sleeping in our room because Kid 2 is in Austin right now, makes a mad leap and climbs onto our bed next to Charles Tubbins, who doesn’t even register the noise. He is just snoring.
I go to the French doors, and yes, it is the trademark Texas spring hail the size of shelled walnuts and it is bombarding the house. It sounds like we’re being shot at with pellets from some giant cannon and it’s super loud.
Gordon jumps out of the bed and takes off.
“Where are you going?”
“The car.”
“Where is the car?”
“Where you left it.”
I had gone out on Monday and I always park in the garage. Always. But that particular Monday the trash people came early, took the recycling, and blocked me in with the trashcans. I moved the trashcans to the side gate, went to my appointment, and when I came back, the trashcans were again in my way, so I got out, went inside the house, and Gordon and I moved them to their usual spot in the small courtyard out of sight.
I had forgotten to repark the car.
I chase Gordon and I’m like, “I’ll do it. I was the one…”
He takes the keys from me and takes off into the hail. I was right in front of the garage, so he didn’t have to run far. The windshield survived somehow and it is a miracle.
We go back to bed, and Tuna, the orange cat, runs into the bedroom, from which she is banned, because she tries to sleep on your head during the night. I try to get her out, and she hides under the bed which she does never. Gordon and I decide it’s not a battle worth fighting.
Sookie is still hyperventilating and drooling. Someone is whining. I still have heartburn. I get up again and get a Pepcid, because unlike Prilosec, which is best taken 45 minutes before food, this Pepcid is dual action and should work on the acid already in there.
We have an adjustable bed, so we move it into Zero G, I prop myself with a pillow, and Gordon puts on a documentary about some weirdoes in Alaska camping on the site of an abandoned settlement and looking for Bigfoot. It drowns out some of the hail and I finally pass out.
I am so damn tired this morning. Groggy, and dumb, and in a really bad mood.
Today will be the never ending parade of roofers coming to the door because they descend onto our neighborhood like locusts after every major storm. The roof on the house is huge and old. I’m almost certain that the hail has done it in just from the sheer force of it. Because we are in Texas, we have a hail damage clause in our home insurance policy, which basically means a massive 20K deductible related to hail damage. We will be paying for the roof replacement mostly out of pocket.
The name of Magic Claims might have to be abandoned to a much more practical “Magic Replaces the Roof.”
Ugh. Do not want. And my stomach is still upset. I might have to double the meds today.
Well, I’m going to take all this sunshine and joy I’m radiating, and try to get some work done. I suppose we should be grateful it didn’t knock out our power again. God forbid something happens to Texas grid, the most fragile utility construct on the planet.
Ugh!
So sorry for your rough night. Sending hugs and calming tea from afar.
Here in central Illinois this week we are experiencing all four seasons. Monday started with hail, storms & tornadoes. Midweek temps similar to spring/fall. The icing (potentially literally) on the weather cake tomorrow – snow, high winds, freezing rain and/or sleet, pending how the system tracks.
O_O
I was going to say we get storms like the described storm in Illinois & Colorado. Yesterday evening the storm came in the form of snow. It had been warm & sunny during the day so the snow was not sticking to the road. Yet I could not see the road at times because it was coming down so much. I found myself on the wrong side of the double yellow line twice. Good thing traffic was light. It did not snow for long but my kid needed to be picked up from practice.
I’m so sorry. Not only for animal and roofing woes, but for having to deal with homeowners insurance beyond your deductible. I made a decision on behalf of my mother once, and while I don’t regret it even a little, I heard a LOT from my sister who filed the claim.
I also have GERD, and worse, I have a friend here named Gerd, a very common German name, and I got permission to continue to call him by his online name even though we were now in-person friends.
But even with daily Esomeprazole, I keep a giant bottle of Tums by my bed and there are nights that I am sitting in bed, carefully chewing and swallowing Tums and water while counting and hoping they absorb all the acid before I hit the daily max* (Tums does come after Talcid, but I can only take one of those.
I also have a cat that hides in thunderstorms, and during the annual test of the air raid sirens, and on New Year’s Eve, when so many rockets are set off that the most jaded fireworks watcher is impressed and the air is hazy with gunpowder smoke.
My heart goes out to you. That was a terrible night.
*no more than 24 in a day!
My cat hides at the first rumble of thunder or the sound of rain on the windows.
However, tornado sirens and fireworks don’t bother her at all.
That’s awesome. This particular cat not only can’t tell the difference, but if a big truck rumbles down the street, he tenses up and waits to see if it’s thunder and he should hide. My other two aren’t afraid of loud noises, although one has the classic fear of things flapping in the wind (we have yet to find what frightens the third, although vet visits piss her off).
My cat is current refusing to outside to his enclosure, the other one is under the covers, the third cat is under his bed today. Why? It is sunny and warm in Florida. It is in fact beautiful. But. It is also very very gusty today. 25 mph gusts. Oak leaves from the oaks are cascading down and pollen is flying everywhere. And the noise in the palm trees and regular trees is substantial making a kind of whooshing and whistling noise. So my cats are hiding. In fear. To be fair, I am also indoors today and not much into my planting of potted plants like I was *going to do*. Too much pollen. Achoo.
I also have GERD. Acid down the windpipe is unpleasant to say the least.
I miss the good old days when everyone knew it as heartburn.
Now we know the source of the Erra and the dag saga ????. Best of luck with the roof!
Have you thought about a metal roof? I mean it may not go with the design of the house, but damn. Hail is often enough in Texas that I would wonder what you can do to prevent it.
I hate evenings like the one you had. They suck you dry like a leech that only feeds on happy energy.
Metal roof might last better against hail, but the noise would be deafening I would think.
We have a metal roof and with our amazing insulation we hardly hear anything. And let me tell you rain in Sydney is extremely torrential.
Actually have to worry more about the solar panels when it hails.
Sorry to hear about your woes. Good luck with the roof.
I second the Sydney tin roof & solar panels. We don’t hear the rain/hail on the main part of the house, that’s insulated and just love listening to it coming down on the verandah.
Definitely, good luck with your roof.
I have a metal roof. It’s noisy during a rain storm. It world definitely keep me awake for the kind of hail you get!
Wer got 5″ of snow a couple days ago, but that’s nothing nowadays for Connecticut. March is calm so far
I have a metal roof, and it is loud, but I chose to not put sound dampener material in, so they can be much quieter. I love the sound of rain on it, I sleep like a baby. Sometimes you can hear the tiny nocturnal squirrels scampering on it. It also won’t catch fire when the neighbors get too enthusiastic with fireworks (they are very enthusiastic, thanks government that thought everyone should have access to explosives). And we followed the guidelines for hurricane weather, so its rated for 150 mph winds. Not that we typically get winds like that, but it was only a few more screws so why not.
I wish we had put the snow catcher things on it though. when it comes off (all at once, roof avalanche!) it falls right into the driveway. We’re going to see about getting different gutters, and maybe that will stop it.
My husband and his buddies put it on, so it was about 11k in materials, plus a bbq, but it looks like a slate roof. We replaced god awful orange clay tiles. In Michigan. Orange, on a brick house.
The snow breakers do NOT stop the snow from avalanching off the roof. They just break it up so large chunks don’t fall. There is an 8 feet tall snow berm in front of the house (driveway clearing plus roof) and a 5.5 feet berm on the back deck which is just the roof. It is quite evenly dispursed. Sounds like a freight train when it falls but no longer makes a frightening THUD when it hits the deck.
We’re in central NH.
I’m really sorry to hear about this turn of events. But I still have to say that your description of the Texas electrical grid as “the most fragile utility construct on the planet” made me cackle out loud!
Feel better soon!
Also – Zegerid is AMAZING for heartburn. I have a hiatal hernia so heartburn and I are sad fast friends. unfortunately too much omeprazole gives me diarrhea so I try to control with diet. But Zegerid is dual action too – and you get a satisfying burp at the beginning that is the acid being neutralized.
Hi Illona,
Yogurt! This is not a cure for my Acid Reflux, and you may not be able to use it, but it does help calm and cover my stomach when it burns. Greek Yogurt is the best. However, talk to your doctor for any stomach related pains. It could be an ulcer, so get it checked out.
Also, get better soon.
Look out, more wild weather predicted this afternoon with a coldfront and high winds.
Gordon is a hero.
that is pretty much the polar opposite reaction my husband would have had.
you are both very blessed to have each other.
best wishes on the heartburn. it’s hard to ignore.
Big hugs and lots of love to House Andrews. Be kind to yourselves!
So sorry to hear about the roof. Hope there’s not a lot of damage.
I hope your are doing better as the day goes on! you both deserve a nap this afternoon!
We escaped severe weather last night, but supposedly it’s coming tonight. We are finished with storm repairs (five months duration). At least for the next thirty minutes. My thoughts on same are not suitable for a family blog. I hope your day improves. ????
Got the smashing thunder and lighting about 4 am this morning. For some reason I thought it was an explosion, maybe a plane and sat there waiting to see if it would hit the house or not. After the second blast of noise I realized what it was.
I hope you feel better soon and that the roof doesn’t end up costing the earth after the storm
So glad that I live somewhere, where the only weather related thing I have to deal with is “snow in dem dar hills.”
Sympathies from a fellow GERD sufferer. ((hugs))
While it sucks for you to have to deal with it, I do love your description of the Texas electrical grid.
A few posts back you asked for questions to inform the blog topics. I’m a long time reader, but only recently discovered the blog, so forgive me if this has been covered already, but I’d love to know more about ModR (who is this mysterious Mod and how did you connect? What is her role and what are her hobbies?). I’m also curious where the BDH nickname came from.
I’m also curious if your kids read your books. What about your friends? Are people in your circles constantly asking for spoilers?
Finally, do you guys write 50/50 on the books or is one of you the main writer? How does that work out?
Apologies if these questions are off the mark!
Hi Allie,
My official title is blog moderator for the Ilona Andrews website. It’s a part time position which involves reading all the comments and answering queries ????. My non-bookish hobbies include food and my life long mission at the moment seems to be laundry (WHY is there always laundry?! Will it ever end?).
The nickname Book Devouring Horde was picked by the fans ourselves, back in the dogs of time (at least 6 years ago?). It’s based on the Hope Crushing horde from the Innkeeper Chronicles series https://ilona-andrews.com/innkeeper-chronicles/
Writing for House Andrews is a collaborative endeavour, it’s not really split by scene or book ????. It’s a discussion with one of them typing.
Wasn’t it the hope crushing horde? 😉
Allie,
If you’re new to the blog, then you might also want to search the website for the Q&A sessions. House Andrews will occasionally do Zoom chats that ModR runs, so you can see ModR and House Andrews and listen to their discussions and answering the questions we ask. ModR has also transcribed the last 2 or 3 Q&As, I think.
Totally relating to this right now. I finished my pantoprazole prescription, and am now trying to time the sucralfate prescription correctly with meals. One hour before or two after, which is not easy when you’re on the hobbit meal plan (second breakfast, elevenses, teatime etc.).
Plus, a fraudulent charge showed up on my CC last month, so I had to get a new one. Now trying to switch over all the autopay utility and health insurance bills. However they would all prefer you pay out of your bank account, which I’m not willing to do.
That was true even before the utility maintenance plan double-billed me for a service call. Even weeks after a phone rep determined that it was in fact their error, their system will not update the bill and will not allow me to make a payment for less than the erroneous bill. This is going to mean more hours on the phone. Wonderful news for my credit rating, of course.
Meanwhile the health insurance company required multiple calls to their IT before the page would allow me to set up autopay for the new CC, rather than switching to the bank account which it preferred. That one at least seems to be resolved for the moment.
All the phone reps are awesome, I hasten to add, but their corporate overlords suck. I had to disable CVS prescription notifications, because it kept wanting me to refill one-time prescriptions or others that were completely inappropriate for refill. That has reduced my total text message volume by roughly 10%.
Now I have to take valuable time out from dealing with predatory corporate entities, in order to upload the interminable list of tax documents. Yeah, my stomach feels great. NOT.
I stopped CVS texts and now they call twice a day. Once a week, I’m deleting their robo-messages from my voicemail. Aah!
They haven’t called me, that I know of. Thank heaven for small favors. I know for a fact that my farrier stopped using CVS because of the prescription spam.
I’m sorry you guys had such an unpleasant night! I hope you can recoup it with an early, quiet one tonight.
Tucson went to bed to 30mph gusts, wondering what might be blown away by morning, and woke up to a calm, silent, beautiful, winter wonderland of 3″ of snow!
It’s wet, heavy snow, so the trees were bowed almost to the ground, but at least at our house it looks like everything bowed and didn’t break (whew!). It is melting like July ice cream now, it sounds like a heavy rain outside with the drips and plops from the roof and all the tree branches.
We only get to see snow like this once every couple of decades, so this is quite a treat for us!
Ugh ! Going to Katy Texas in a week for my child, she’s in Nationals for horse polo. I’ve never been to Tx, hopefully the weather will get all this out of its system bc I already have enough anxiety …
But anyway!! Positive vibes!! I hope everything turns out ok!!
Good luck!
Congratulations to your daughter! Nationals are a big deal and a real accomplishment. Hopefully you will get some decent days to enjoy the matches.
Depending on when next week, you may have mild sunny weather (Mon – Wed) or possibly storms (Thur) and / or “cooler” weather (Fri +).
This is per today’s forecast. The storms would be caused by a weather front that may or may not make it through the local weather patterns. I would check a bit later for a better estimate.
The one constant of Texas weather is change. Don’t like the weather – Wait a bit and it will change…
You poor thing. Nothing makes a bad night better. I just throw on fuzzy socks brew a cup of tea and put myself in isolation for everyone else’s safety. Sometimes the best you can do is the best you can do.
I love the fairy ring of trees beside your house. Maybe you could use a couple shades of shingles and have the roofers do a lion’s head.
Hopefully the roof will be ok and the animals are settling down. Honestly it’s always something lately. We had 8″ of snow last week for two days then it melted off and we’re showing 5 days of possible snow again! Fortunately no negative temperatures associated with it but definitely schizophrenic weather.
Texas weather is no joke. I am in Dallas under a level 3 enhanced risk in a few hours for big storms, hail and tornados. Everything is charging, I have an extension cord run to the closet along with my bike helmet and charging pack. Since the tornado that hit Dallas 3 years ago went right over my house I am just a leeetle anxious.
Fellow GERD sufferer on Lansoprazole. I am prescribed Gaviscon Advance, which is a liquid that lines the oesophagus and stomach, so the acid can’t get at them and they don’t hurt. Taken as needed after meals and before bed. If your current prescriptions etc aren’t working it might be worth asking about.
I hope the roof is intact despite the hail, and that you get a decent night’s sleep tonight! That thick-headed fuzzy feeling is horrid.
I remember those storms. Hang in there. I also remember the roof issues and sagas. Anything that gets too damaged even rarely gets taken out of insurance policies. I’ve had two friends move to Florida and roofs have a very and separate deductible and flood insurance is nowhere to be found…
It’s snowing here. We had a windy storm overnight (and winter should be over here!) where I thought the shingles were going to land in Mexico. Since it snowed and is snowing, we have not been out to check.
So sorry you had such a challenging night. I hope your roof survived ok and your Gerd gives you a break today.
Last night the wind woke me up from a dream inspired by Ruby Fever (which I am rereading) where I had to find some information to save Arthur!? Probably because my baby is 28 today! How did he get that old?!
Hopefully your day goes better.
Magic Replaces the Roof certainly has a certain Je ne sais quoi, don’t you all think?
Next up: Magic Brings In A Tree Crew.
Magic Hires Lawn Orphans to round off the trilogy ????
lol
It’s early for me, and my brain isn’t really awkward yet, but this one made me laugh out loud.
Awake yet. Stupid spell check.
I’m in the DFW area. The tornados and severe weather are supposed to being coming in today but they decided to show up early and rolled in yesterday right at school drop off time. Between the hail and the ground lightning I had to pull off the road and hide under a Sonic awning until the worst of it passed. All the houses looked like they had snow on/around them from the pile up of hail. After dropping off first set of kids at one school I have to drive across town to get to the other school. Didn’t realize the neighborhoods I normally drive through turn into the freaking Mississippi during a flash flood. The road wasn’t even visible in multiple spots and there was a current. It wasn’t even near the creek! Driving through it slowly my tires were kicking up water taller than the roof of my mini van.
My husband and I just finished watching 1883 and holy cow it felt like that scene where they ford the river.
My daughter is like … maybe we should just go home…. Nope!!!! We made it but given the choice I’m not sure I’d do it again. Different route from now on when it rains like that!
And once again I ponder how hard it would actually be to chisel out a cellar from the bedrock that is 3 inches under the surface of my yard ????
Born and raised here but tornados still scare the pants off me.
Didn’t seem to bother my chickens any though. They were bobbing all over the yard 2 seconds after the storm was passed!
Maybe some of that negative energy transforms into a kickass scene or a scoriating retort to a bad guy. Hope you can relieve some stress working then relax with tea and scone (if the tummy permits).
Please know I am happy to pre-order and buy ALL THE STUFF to help with the roof payments.
Also, I’m listening to the Kate Saga and am on Magic Bleeds – one question I never heard the answer to, can Solomon Red turn into an animal (what kind) or does he have some genetic abnormality that he can’t shift?
Thanks, hope you can get more sleep tonight.
P.S. Are you coming to Austin or Houston in the foreseeable future?
Eek! I have insomnia, so I know what no sleep feels like. Yuck.
California had some bad storms this past week. I was afraid one of our trees would get blown down. It was nearly hurricane force with hail and rain. Snow in some parts of LA. Crazy.
Our grid … they take us down for high wind during the Santa Ana’s when it’s usually really hot and dry. For the past two years they’ve shut down parts of my town on Thanksgiving day. Not us, luckily, but I’ve started to look in the direction of non-electric smokers for our turkey just in case.
Good luck with the roof. Replacement for ours is coming up soon, so I can empathize with that too.
I hope something great happens for you today that makes up a little bit for your crazy bad night.
Feeling solidarity with all of the GERD sufferers. After years of Aciphex, I was alternating nexium with pepcid for 24 hour coverage but after a family death I am temporarily on twice a day nexium capsules plus Tums as needed. My esophagus spasms, too, which mimics angina and since I also have angina it makes troubleshooting interesting.
Isn’t it interesting how insurance companies manage to exempt themselves from truly helping policy owners? Whatever the real risk in any area, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods–they are sure to find a way out of covering fully. You have every reason to be grumpy!
Maybe Magic Gets Revenge on Insurers?
PS. I figured out that Ricola herbal cough drops (original formula) help my esophageal spasms and GERD. It has similar ingredients to Bigelow Benefits Ginger & Peach Herbal Tea, a blend meant for a “calm stomach” according to their packaging. The tea helped but the cough drops seem more concentrated and work faster. Though perhaps my teeth don’t appreciate their effect quite so much.
Ricola is excellent for the respiratory part, especially the lemon mint and the original herbal flavor. Now that I have serious gastric pain in addition to reflux, any Ricola flavor aggravates that. Anything lemon, anything mint, anything with ginger or any kind of citrus. So annoying.
Recently had a scratchy throat so I drank lemon and honey tea with a dissolved ricola. It worked much better than either one alone. Wondering if you added the cough drop to the tea if you would increase the efficacy.
Yup. I’m over here east of Dallas. Fingers crossed for no tornadoes.
You deserve some nice, mint tea for your tummy. Curl up and think of vampires!
Mint and GERD are a big no no… found that out when I started getting reflux and drank mint tea a lot thinking it was just an upset tummy. Felt like I was breathing fire for a week!
At least one of the essential oils in peppermint is a very strong muscle relaxant. With GERD, there are some muscles you do not want to relax.
Yes, I found this out the hard way. I have a very mild case, and don’t take meds for it, but there are some favorite foods and drinks that I don’t consume anymore.
Google “Hail resistant shingles.” There are several types that should match your home and avoid future hail problems.
We once had apocalyptic softball sized hail and while my roof survived the house siding did not. q friend q few streets away had her house windows blown out and needed a new roof and new siding, and of course windows. hail is no joke. Hope your roof is ok!!
This fellow Texan feels your pain. Feel better soon!
I live in SoCal, so hail isn’t a frequent occurrence. Except yesterday, pecan size, and on my tin patio roof. My ears are still ringing.
I hope you all had minimal damage from the hail.
“Today will be the never ending parade of roofers coming to the door because they descend onto our neighborhood like locusts after every major storm.” <– ????????
Tuna’s much removed cousin lives with me. She’s now 11 months old.
She does not try to sleep on my head. She places two paws on my face, my cheek, until I wake up and pull down the covers for her.
Every night. This started with the fierce storms in January. “Atmospheric Rivers”. It’s never going to end.
I’m real happy there are King sized mattresses and that I own one.
My nutritionist put me on high alkaline water (such as Essentia) for my GERD. Best stuff ever! But I must drink it at least first thing every morning and before going to bed. On bad days, I drink a lot of that stuff. Good luck, fellow sufferers!
Thanks for the tip; I’ll have to try it.
I sincerely hope your roof isn’t seriously damaged. I hope you get to spend your profits on something more fun.
I am vaguely acquainted through a college friend with the SF author Steve Perry. I remember a convention panel he was on where he was talking about writing for the Conan franchise, which was a thing at the time. Some of the titles I remember: Conan and the New Roof; Conan and the Son’s Tuition; and (his personal favorite) Conan and the Hot Tub.
Love those titles! Thanks for sharing.
Rofl!
I have to admit, when you started describing the storm, I thought it might be a snippet….
The joy of owning a house. I have a cottage in Maine. A storm of the century knocked doors and window on Portland Head Lighthouse so it knocked over my side fence. Frozen ground and project for Spring. In my NY house, I discovered a slow leak from my upstairs bathroom. There goes the tax return…. Buy a house great investment!
Never heard a thing in Kyle. HeHeHe Sorry you had such a rough night. Hope tonight will be better for you.
I feel you on the sleepless night — for me, it was designing Excel spreadsheet in my head that would not shut down — I finally got up again at around 12:30 and finished the darned thing, so the formulae would quit dancing around in my head.
I also forget my Prilosec most of the time, and have to sit upright in bed while the alternate (Famotidine) for immediate relief takes effect. Sleep as upright as I can too.
Hope roofing survived and you can put off replacement for another year or so.
My next roof will be metal and impervious to hail. The last time they were softballs. Texas hail hurts the pocketbook.
I am so sorry! trying to deal with stuff on little to no sleep is a terrible feeling. I hope the damage is not too much and the swarm disperses so you can get in a nap.