Texas Thunderstorm

For those of you who haven't experienced a Texas Thunderstorm- it is truly something to behold. I was driving back to Austin from Houston a few hours ago and the National Weather Service announcement came on the radio: "There is a severe thunderstorm warning for X county. Expect penny-sized hail, severe winds, tornadoes, and heavy rains capable of producing flash floods. If you are on the road, get to a safe spot. Lie down in a ditch or area of low elevation. If you are in your home, stay in the interior away from windows". This was repeated every 5 minutes. You could see the black sky up ahead. All I wanted to do was get home to Steve's and curl up in bed. Not being a cautious person by nature, and having experienced several Texas-sized storms, I decided to plow on through. I stayed at about 20 mph, had my wipers on high, and both hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel. It was insane. Lightning struck a light pole right next to me and sparks went everywhere. Tree branches were flying across the road. The wind was blowing so hard I had to fight to keep my car on the road (to say nothing of in my lane). The rain was being kicked up into swirling circles on top of the road. As I sit here all safe and cozy in my bed, I'm thinking- what the HELL was I doing still driving on the road? Any other person with half a brain had pulled over. But honestly at the time I felt okay just driving slowly and steadily through it. Isn't it funny how many times you do something that seems somewhat unwise or possibly unsafe and then later look back and think how bad things could have been (or am I the only one that does that with any kind of frequency)?

Anyway- the whole weekend home was fantastic. The baby shower was so much fun- the gifts ran the gamut of darling and useful (some getting high marks in both areas) and it was really wonderful to see all my family and friends. I sometimes wish that we had moved more (or ever) growing up, but now I'm so thankful that I have a whole community I can truly call home. I have known most of the people at my shower for at least 15 years and many of them for nearly 20- and that's a pretty wonderful thing. We spent today up at my parent's lake house enjoying the boat, water, and a fantastic Texas meal of brisket, baked beans, and pasta salad. On Saturday I finally succeeded at finding a maternity swim suit that didn't make me burst out laughing when I looked in the changing room mirror- it's a one piece, black with a white strip under the bust. It actually looks (almost) flattering when viewed straight on. There's a firm event with a party barge on the lake, so I really needed to get one. I also found a cute sundress to wear over it. I have to admit that I really love some of my "maternity chic" clothing- there are several pieces I wish I had in a non-maternity version.

I'm going to try to get a good night's sleep- there's lots of great work stuff ahead of me this week and on Friday JP will be here to visit! He moved us this weekend- an event that really deserves it's own post along with "husband of the year" award as it ended up being quite a debacle- I've never been so happy to be far away in Texas. On Saturday while he was drowning in boxes, packing tape, and botched mover schedules, I was getting my hair cut, a pedicure, and attending a baby shower. For at least one day I didn't feel like I was the over-burdened one because I was carrying the baby around!