Irma y mas

1. I've sat down to pound these out more times than I can count (lies! maybe three or four) but then Irma and um, excuses upon excuses got in the way. Better late (or extra early for this coming Friday?) than never, says I.

2. Speaking of Irma, I could and probably should dedicate an entire post to our time with her and her fickle antics but if I wait - I'll never do it so a take or two will have to do for today. So, we weren't too worried about Irma but as the track started getting closer and closer to Tampa and suddenly there was no bread on the shelves (of Costco! impressive, good people of Tampa!) and gasoline was becoming scarce we boarded up our house and loaded up on food and water. Simon prepared for the apocalypse by purchasing large vats of canned peaches (???), canned chicken, and canned salmon (more ?????) and we were all set to hunker down. And then we woke up on Saturday morning to alleged reports that the eye of a Category 4 Hurricane could come barreling through our county and we got a text from Simon's boss that we really should leave. SO! We did. We went to Orlando and stayed at a vacant condo (Simon's friend's friend's wife's mom's condo - you follow? me neither) and it worked out well because we could spread out and Diego had his own little area in the kitchen and the kids could sleep in the hallway the night the Irma hit (overkill? maybe! but the wind was alarmingly loud and I didn't want some flying gutter to shatter a window .. I know - overkill).

Sunshine after the storm. Our terrible view from the condo. 

As irony would have it I don't know if we were that much safer in Orlando (there were huge trees uprooted all over downtown Orlando so the gusts weren't messing around) but we felt safe on the 5th floor of a sturdy building where a tree couldn't crush our roof (a real fear at our house) and subsequently a Patton adult or child or dog.

3. We returned home after 48 cozy hours together to some very minor flooding and loads of fallen branches bedazzling our yard. We felt and still feel incredibly fortunate in the wake of so many people dealing with the horrific and catastrophic aftermath of both Harvey and Irma. Let's all pray that Maria behaves because I think everyone has hit their Hurricane quota for the year century.

4. I know everyone's talking about the new iPhones coming out (Ellen's take was hilarious - worth a watch) but you all know how I feel about my Fitbit -- did you see that they're coming out with a smart watch? One of the articles I read made a point to say how ugly the Fitbit Blaze is (the one I wear - L to the O to the L - I can't argue - but I still heart it) and that the newer Fitbit will be more aesthetically pleasing. Time will tell, I suppose. Punny? Never.

5. All you citizens of Bachelor Nation - did you stick it out to the boring end of BIP orrr jump ship? I stuck it out (barely) but was more interested to see where things stood with the Dean/Kristina/D.Lo love triangle post-show. After listening to multiple podcast (so many podcasts! Even Dean and Becca are starting their own podcasts!) interviews and watching their awkward body language on Ellen it seems like things may pick back up for Dean and Kristina? Maybe? I have to admit that initially I was excited about Arie as the new Bachelor (disappointed it wasn't Peter? of course) because I did like him on Emily's season but after reading a bit about some of his recent behavior - I don't know. We'll just have to see.

6. And on a less vapid note (forced/faux laugh) I've been slow to hop on the tied shirt trend (I was allll over it in middle school) but this version looks doable for an amateur like myself.

7. Oh! books! After a few people suggested Taylor Jenkins Reid's book, One True Loves that I'd already read I decided to try a few of her other books and so I plowed through both After I Do and Forever Interrupted. Enjoyed them both and now I've got to find something else to occupy my time that I should be spending sleeping/cleaning/etc etc etc.

Alright, have a wonderful rest of the week. I trust that you will :)