PE, Italy and more

OK, so to steal from Darcie, I am a blogging slacker! No good reason, just been really busy.

Terry has just finished 4 weekends of intense classes for his Professional Engineer (PE) exam. He had classes all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the last month, so needless to say he was/is drained! However, I think he's really glad he took the class and feels like he gained some valuable information. He takes the test on Friday, October 24, which is only 11 days away!!! Please be praying for peace and an ability to recall all the knowledge.

I have been busy holding down the house since Terry has either been in class, working or studying. I took both dogs to the vet last weekend, and will never do that again! Maddie gets so excited and gets all tangled up in her leash, which wouldn't be a big deal, but with Lacey along, they both get tangled and I am always afraid one of them will wind up hurt. PLUS, it's a huge hit on the budget when I take them together. I told Terry this was his job next time!

Last Saturday I went to meet my sister in the Heights area for a Farmer's Market and coffee. The market was a bust, but it was fun to visit over coffee. We also went to this great area called 19th street, I think, it was in the Heights anyway, that had all these great stores. I can't wait to go back again. Whitney had to get home to sew as she's starting a baby clothes line called Baby Ray. It's WAY cute stuff. Here's a link to her Etsy page, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5698437. Here's another link to her Picasa album that has pictures of her sample. I know she's working on her Etsy page right now. http://picasaweb.google.com/sanderandwhitney/BabyRaySamples#

Anyway, I decided to go to the Montrose area to hit a couple of resale/antique stores. Didn't find much, but it reminded me that Houston has some cool spots and I should frequent Houston more often, rather than just staying in the suburbs!

We survived Ike just fine, no major damage, just some shingles off the roof and I am pretty sure we're never going to get anyone out to look at it. The first contractor that came was terrible. He told me they were pushing everyone to get new roofs, which is ridiculous considering our roof is only two years old and we had MINOR damage. So we're now waiting on another company who came highly recommended by a long time resident of this area. Thanks Jolea! We're also still waiting on the adjuster, so we can't do anything until they come. I have also decided that I won't ride out any more big storms like Ike. Too scary. It was so loud for so long. We didn't sleep all night! But we survived just fine, and in fact never lost electricity. So we hosted Whitney, Sander and their friend Scott on Saturday after the storm. Then Whitney and Sander stayed most of the following week as they were without electricity for a long time. It was fun to have them and made me really grateful for electricity!

We leave for Italy in 23 days!!!!!!!!!! It's slowly seeming real. Since we booked this trip back in March, it's been a long time coming. We are really getting excited/nervous now. Neither of us have been overseas before, so I am kind of excited we get to experience it together. I promise to take LOTS and LOTS of pictures.


Sorry for the randomness of this post, just had a little time and thought I would fill in anyone who still reads this! :-) Ciao!