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!
Reading this, I can hear the thunder starting outside. We are in North DFW area and will “enjoy” the storms this afternoon and evening. I hope your roof is okay and all of the fur babies are settled down today.
Take care of yourselves!
I would definitely remember that title!
I’m in Tucson. LA sends the cr@p to us, we send it on to you. I would say “sorry” but we woke up to 4” of snow here in the foothills of the Catalina’s. IT’S THE FREAKING FIRST OF MARCH. I’m rather done with this wacky weather.
Hope the stomach calms down tonight for you to sleep.
The severe storms are already in the western, northwestern part of the Fort Worth area. My department had to go to corporate in Arlington, and then the majority of us took our director (my boss) out to lunch to celebrate her work anniversary and award she received Tuesday. We were all praying that the severe storms would hold off until we all got home. The humidity is crazy! ????????
Stay safe everyone!
I had a vivid nightmare last night, it was so clear when I woke up, and now I can’t remember what it was about. Something about levels of evilness. I was being chased or trying to deal with it.
Woke up groggy and so tired. But I had a great lunch with some friends, and now I’m debating whether I take a nap before the husband comes home expecting dinner. I prepped everything…. I just really want to nap.
On the good news, the pineapple jam bread I experimented on last night came out beautifully.
Ugh, sorry to hear! Sounds like most people had a bad night of sleep last night. Yay to naps, naps are the best!
I agree Mod R. Naps…the sleep that keeps us from sounding like two year olds. ????????
I live north of Austin, so about 2ish hours north of House Andrews. I didn’t have hail, but definitely had thunder and lightning. My dog also dislikes storms. Fortunately or unfortunately her reaction is anger vs fear; “how dare that storm/fireworks come near my house.” So imagine 18lbs of ridiculously fluffy bichon frise running and barking all night. She’s nearly 10 and I’ve tried all sorts of things, but in the last 6 months or so I discovered white noise, black screen videos on youtube and that has helped a lot.
I also had weird dreams. Sort of Osark-esque. Witnessing a crime, caught in a shootout, corrupt cops. I woke up tired with a headache.
Pineapple jam bread!! Sounds yummy! How does it do as toast? (Mmm! with butter….)
If you have to reshingle, I suggest looking into cool roofs. What type of shingles you use can have a big impact on how hot your home is in summer. Hoping you don’t actually need a new roof.
You guys have some crazy ass weather in Texas! I’ll stick with earthquakes here on the Left Coast. Hope your day was an easy one and that tonight is restful for all creatures Chez Andrews❤️????????????
Recently had surgery and got behind on my Gerd meds. Had the worst heartburn, the nurse couldn’t give me anything because no doctors orders. She recommended chewable vitamin C. Called for emergency delivery from family. It worked amazingly well and fast. The deductables for home owners insurance in TX…more like lack of insurance coverage is crazy…..just paid a little over 3 grand to renew insurance for the year with no coverage for roof because it is 15 yrs or older. Couldn’t change insurance companies because my roof is 15 yrs or older. I too will need to replace my roof due to today’s storm. Trying to find silver lining….new roof means I’m free to shop insurance companies…but Agent told me everyone increased their rates….don’t expect a big savings.
First, I’m sorry to hear about your hail and the roof and just all of it.
Second, on days like that, my partner and I don’t write because damn the plan, someone will die…I just don’t want anyone to die in your worlds.
Please take it easy. pour a great cup of tea and puck up your knitting and know that we are all sending you our best thoughts.
Our yard in San Antonio looks a lot like yours. But I managed to sleep through the hail.
wow. it’s sunny here on the other side of the world and autumn
My sympathies for your GERD symptoms (lying in bed with heartburn as I debate going for some gaviscon) and I hope Sookie is also OK. The weather is changing here in the UK but thankfully not yet getting crazy sized hail in London (touch wood). But with the way global warming is effing up everything. . .
Prayers for calm and peace to descend, and that you feel better soon. hope the animals calm down as well.
I deal with getting my 5th grade grandson to and from school. This afternoon, it was partly cloudy when I left home, and kept getting cloudier and darker as I was waiting for him to get out of school.
By the time we got home (maybe 10 minutes, probably less), it was mixed hail and rain, heavy on the hail – but small pellets, this is PDX after all, and we get large hailstones even less often than heavy snow. I got beaten on and soggy all the way across the parking lot. And ten minutes later, it was back to partly cloudy.
I just love spring in the Pacific Northwest.
Makes me understand why in the Children of the Lamp books, when one guy got three wishes, he used one for a new roof.
You had it last night, and it is headed up I-35 to pass through our neighborhood this evening. Ah, spring in Central Texas. I can hear the grass growing, but it will be too wet to mow, so we’ll need the weedwacker to start. And while the Texas wildflowers are really pretty, I am really allergic. Did we even have winter this year?
And here it comes again.,,
I have heartburn issues sometimes. is the zero g bed helpful? I’ve been considering getting it.
I was up most of the night with storms. worried about tornadoes. hope you have a better night tonight
Ugh. I am so sorry. I hope you sleep well tonight. Maybe you had a nap.
My son is getting radiation (proton therapy) treatments for his malignant brain tumors at MD Anderson right now. My husband is with him, in hospital housing. They are hoping to get a thunderstorm. It would be fun to watch from the safety of a hospital hotel.
Best of wishes to your son! And all the family. Hang in there!
Seconded. Hope the treatment is effective and his recovery uneventful.
Hail can certainly ruin your day. Hope the various pets have resumed a Zen state of mind & that your heartburn ceases to be an issue. As always, your descriptions of pet antics/reactions put a smile on my face (hail usually sees me reaching for a wine glass to drown my sorrows as my garden gets weed whacked by Mother Nature). Unfortunately hail is an issue where I live. Most times we are lucky – we live in a part of the city that usually escapes the worst of the outbreaks – but every so often it gets nasty. When that occurs I’m on the phone to the insurer even as the hail smashes everything in sight. No joke, last time some houses looked like someone had been blasting away with a 12 gauge. We got a new roof & windows out of the deal, but the garden was literally mowed to the ground. Nothing left but mush.
Just finished rereading Magic Triumphs and it so good and the last 2 paragraphs always make me so happy/sad.
‘It wasn’t so bad to have a granddaughter, I decided. I’d never had one before, and this one brimmed with magic,
There was so much I could teach her.’
It reminds me that there was once a plan for Julie/Erra stories that I was so happy about and sad that the negative comments put Ilona and Gordon off of the story that had started to form.
I’m hoping now that they are writing the Wilmington Years and enjoying them that they might also fill in on Julie and Erra’s missing years.
Some of it is mentioned in Blood Heir, but you know the BDH, we always (very nicely not demanding) want more 🙂
Julie and Erra’s adventures were never in the plans ????. Julie’s story was discouraged by critical voices, but of course, now we have Blood Heir!
And it is a great book! Just finished re-reading it.
Sorry you got the hail! It pretty much always bypasses S Austin, of course that often means we don’t get rain either heh. Fortunately for my trees at least I got rain last night p, also just now.
I hear you on the weird dreams frontier! It’s been that week all around according to friends. Mine was last week. Wishing you a pleasanter night and lots of sleep for all.
But don’t worry, they privatized the grid bc business is always better! ????
I’m grateful by the time the storm made it here to Sugar Land it’s been pretty lackluster so far *knock on wood*
Now I’m going to go shower, and bc I said that, a tornado will hit and take out the power bc that’s how my life works.
Aww, you have my sympathy. Glad the car is ok and will keep my fingers crossed on the roof.
I have a similiar issue with heart burn and wound up bolting to the bathroom at 2 in the morning to heave a couple of nights ago – the sleep situation has been for a couple of weeks.
I’ll put a good word in for you in my prayers 😉
Looking forward to the Magic Roof book.
I once asked a coworker who moved to Austin Texas why solar wasn’t a bigger thing given how much power is needed for a/c and heat but plenty of sun to be had for a good portion of the year. I guess storms and hail are a reason, plus the economics based on Texas-style power pricing?
Oh no that’s not true. Insurance covers hail damage so that isn’t a huge factor. Solar has been and still is ramping up in Texas. If you look up stats for solar in Texas, you will see we are leading in annual solar installations. It still isn’t as big as Oil and Gas though, they rule in Texas, but it’s a big state and I hope everyone can get along.
Here in Dallas and just got the Texas storms you mentioned. I feel your pain because I just went through it.
School got cancelled early in advance of storms, but I was in Palatine, Tx for a work day trip. Thank goodness for my Mom who was able to do early pick up for me. But, I have to say I distinctly remember doing tornado drills and never being sent home early.
By the time we got home, it was a mad rush to clean out the gutters filled with spring leaf droppings to prevent clogging. Your leaf photos are spot on!
By the time I get to making dinner, the sirens start to go off and my phone is blaring “seek shelter NOW”. I spent 30 minutes in the closet under the stairs with my anxious husky and 3 year old (it is tight). For some reason both of them enjoyed the closet time and later refused to leave without some enthusiastic coaxing.
I think I overshared, but long story short. My kid is asleep in bed with the dog and I’m reading your post with great empathy.
Always a pleasure to follow your blog.
Hail a over a month ago took out a windshield, a skylight, the roof, and dented 3 cars (which are now “salvaged” because insurance totaled them but didn’t offer anywhere near enough to replace)… and the roofers still stop by every now and again.
Best of luck!
Bad dreams are exhausting. I’ve had them all my life. At this point, it’s just part of the landscape.
My parents’ terrier hated storms, and could move twenty pounds of weights bracing the kitchen door closed (no lock on door). A prairie thunderstorm would roll on in, and she would “Houdini” her way out of the kitchen, up a flight of stairs, and onto their bed to hide between them from the storm. (The shepherd/collie mix slept right through the storms. He had other phobias….)
My Afghan hound occasionally cursed at storms, but mostly slept through them. My greyhound would get up and check to see if we were still there (wet snoot sniff and nudge), and then get back in his bed with a lot of dramatic sighing. Kids and critters, nobody likes thunderstorms….
I hope you are feeling better by now, that sounds like a very bad night. Good luck with the roof – the unexpected delights of homeowners just keept giving.
Still think Texas grid comes in second to the Danish railroads – every year when the first snow comes, they stop working because apparently the signal system was not built to withstand colder temperatures – and this is Denmark, where it is cold from october until april, so they really did a job job there.
I was woken up by my cat last night – she is a 10 pound norwegian forest cat who thinks my life evolves around giving her all the attentions during the night, so she walks all the way up over my body and does a Cyanide on top of my shoulders/head and every time attentions cease, the claws come out and poke me in the eyes.
My nightmares mostly evolves work – I dreamt I was at a job interview at Deloitte and had to cook them all stir-fry.
I hope you will get a well deserved weekend with lots of tea and relaxation.
Ugh! Sorry to hear of such a mass of mess. Blessed be.
One thing after another…are you willing/able to take a nap after getting some work done? Sorta reset the day? I’m sure some of the four-feet kids would love to join you?
I’m glad the windshield made it through. Having to replace those every year or so down here is not the most fun experience. Hopefully the sunshine this weekend will make you a little happier.
if you have a drone, I found thats the least harrowing way of checking roof status after a storm by myself
Well, we’re facing our 3rd snowstorm in five days.., it’s been every other day and tomorrow’s is a Nor’easter, winds coming in hard off the Maine coast, a foot or more of heavy wet snow on top of all we’ve already gotten this week… And in Maine, Winter can last 5 months… so it’s always something, wherever you are, I guess. (This is my front yard in the photo, with the driveway on the left, in a deep plowed trench along the trees. Where am I going to put more snow??)
Gotta ask first, as my brain deals with last first and then goes ‘oh yah!’ about other stuff prior.
Why, as veterans, do you not use USAA? USAA covered our monsoonal damage and replaced the roof for our normal deductible with no added roof stuff. Maybe it’s different in Texas?
Oh, yeah… so we moved up into the White Mountains onto the Mogollon Rim. We have a fenced 1/3 acre yard next to a paved road which is important, because you see, when you watch Phoenix weather channels, and they talk about ‘…and of course northern Arizona is getting MORE snow…” they are talking about us.
Our chickens give us beady, beady eyes. ‘Thought we told you we didn’t LIKE the snow, Mom. Yet, here we are, again, up to our tail feathers in the stuff. Don’t give me that it will melt off stuff, have you SEEN our yard?’ The ‘chicken pavilion’, a shade cloth hung optimistically from the wire walls was nearly pulled down the night of Wednesday when after blustering about and wind blowing an initial three inches into improbable places (on all the walls… under the eaves… sides of the pines…) dumped five inches of fluffy, heavy stuff.
I will tell you, I was born and raised, and spent a large part of my adult life in Hawaii. Then we moved from the tropics to the Sonoran desert for twenty years. So all this is still a great adventure to me.
Every snow storm, there are news items of people wrecking on the roads all around us. The trash collection doesn’t run during winter ‘weather’. But I work from home and sip my coffee watching the snow devils twirl as the chicken complain and it’s all gorgeous to me.
insurers operate on the basis of risk, so it is likely USAA or any insurer will have big deductibles for having hail damage. It is why homeowner insurance is expensive as heck in Florida ( if you can it) and why places now can’t get flood insurance ( meanwhile, in the place I live in in NJ, we are literally a once in a hundred year flood plain, which means in reality almost 0 risk, yet my flood insurance is now almost 800 a year. coverage hasn’t changed, their liability is the same as it has been,but there ya go.
with hail, if the roof needs replacing, they have shingles designed to be hail resistant,might be worth looking into.
The sad part we are seeing weather that is beyond freaky, like snow in southern California, 100 degree temp diffs between the north and south, all of what we are seeing, like Vegas literally flooded ,and ppl say climate change is a myth. Where I live we just saw the first as snow on March 1st, and it is now melted. bulbs have been coming up since mid February, we see new growth and buds opening into leaves at the park we walk the monsters in, and that is not abnormal, I have never seen it before and I have been living here close to 60 years. We are seeing major winds, > 30 mph, several times a week.
I too didn’t sleep well last night. our whiny dog, fanny , was whining and she also was farting every 5 minutes ( she sleeps under my side of the bed, she sleeps head in, so you can imagine). I hate when I wake up, couldn’t go back to sleep, and then have to function the next day, totally groggy.
our crazy cat Blue hates to stay in,we had a deluge the other night and he stayed out in it.
Many sorries for nighttime olfactory attacks! Our Bostie/Staff mix dog snores louder than my husband.
USAA is a group policy, so it’s entirely possible places that get hail more often see more charges, I don’t know. I know I was very surprised to get to AZ and find that my insurance did not go down at all from the cost in Hawaii. A lot more claimants in AZ. I can say they replaced my roof after a haboob damaged it, no problem, normal deductible only.
As to crazy cats, ours have taken to meowing to go out, looking outside for a minute and then turning back around. Our gray cat will look outside, decide he needs to go out anyhow, and shake both front paws off as he steps out into the wild white yonder. What’s amusing is when he gets his timing wrong and shakes the paw he should be stepping with–BONK.
Sounds like a job for a hot cup of oolong. :-). I really like Bigelow oolong.
Hang in there!!
Sometimes letting 1/2 to 1 Tum dissolve in your mouth resolves reflux heartburn faster than anything else.
I hope you are feeling better by now. I have GERD and it can be awful. Fingers are vrossed that the roof survived.
I use to have an aunt who married a Texan so I have been down there a time or two when they were with us. One year early on in his retirement, Uncle got his car banged up in a hailstorm. When he bought a new car, he built one of those carports of just heavy plastic on a wood frame. It did the job! All he had to do was roll up into his drive. Happily, I missed out on any severe Texas weather during my visits.
Hope you feel better soon.
Hang in there! remember to breathe.
Fellow Texan waiting on a claims adjuster. 80+ mph winds here yesterday. Never seen anything like it.
Sigh. There goes the family budget.
Glad you “weathered’ the storm. Stay safe out there.
Horrible night and then cleaning, I wish you lots of good energy.
On a totally unrelated matter I was able to preorder the graphic version of Magic Bites on Audible today.
Have been checking every day since a had credits available and will be able to have them all together!!
Also a GERD sufferer. Gaviscon (liquid or chewable) available OTC works wonders for a late night attacks.
We’re just north of Austin and the wind was the most insane thing I’ve ever seen outside a tornado. All sympathies to y’all and hail too. Im surprised our insurance still covers us/hail damage bc they’ve had to replace our roof 2x in the last four years bc of hail. The storm was short but insane- blew the chimney cap clean off so it slammed into the roof and bounced off into the backyard. Scared the beejesus out of me and of course husband is gone so I’m running around trying to figure out if a tree fell on the house or not while kid was in shower as power went out so I also have to get him a flashlight to dry off and the dog (who is not thunderphobic but this storm would try even the most patient of dogs) is running around panicking. It was a delight. Thankfully power came back on a few hours later and no food, roof, dogs or kid was lost. Just my sanity and a few hours of sleep. Pretty sure all of central and north texas are running on lack of sleep today!
So, speaking as a physician who has seen a whole bunch of GERD, you might want to try taking the Prilosec in the morning and a Pepcid in the evening, since Pepcid works a tad better for the overnights…
I looked at the pictures and winter+greenery….my brain screeched to a halt. It just not compute.
Ottawa (Canada) we’re expecting another 10-15 cm (appox 4-6 inches) and it feels like winter will never end.
We’ve had remarkably few deep freezes (good) but the Rideau Canal didn’t freeze over enough to skate (bad). First time in 50 years that hasn’t happened.
I feel for all of you having to deal with this weather. I live in California and talk about freaky weather, it has been so. I was in the middle of a hail storm with snow flurries a couple of days ago and of course of being worried about it, I thought WOW!!! HAIL!! TOO COOL!! IS THAT SNOW? I HAVE TO TEXT MY HUBBY AND TELL HIM. 10 minutes later it stopped. that’s how weird we are. Fortunately I am not up in the mountains where people are stranded. Right now, it is 46 (feels like 70) and sunny. Stay safe everyone with this weird weather.
Sorry for your bad night! For the stomach acid, try eating an apple. I know it sounds counterintuitive. It’s a remedy from my mother-in-law, born in the very early 1900’s. I didn’t believe her when she told me about it, but I grudgingly tried it, and it worked wonderfully.