Hey, Siestas! While many of you are doing the usual thing, a lot of us in the Houston-Galveston area are holed up in our homes waiting for Tropical Storm Edouard to drop by town. (What was someone thinking? If it’s coming to Texas, it would be more aptly named Tropical Storm Bubba. If you must call it “Edouard,” please roll a very long “r.”) I was planning to take a much needed day off but I’d intended on doing it at the Galleria shopping with AJ while our darling Jackson was at Mother’s Day Out. As it turns out, most of the LPM staff has been instructed to stay home and only a few that live just down the street from the ministry are going to the office. It’s really not a day for getting your shopping bags to the parking lot of a large mall. It’s that kind of day when your umbrella turns inside out (I hate when that happens) and you nearly do the Mary Poppins.

So here we are at the Moore home, rain peppering against the windows: Keith, Amanda, Jackson, Beckham (very large sweet, sweet Golden Retriever), Queen Esther (AKA: Star – 3 month-old very happy, very active Border Collie), Angelina (AKA: Geli, Keith’s 2 month old German Shorthair – ADORABLE and has the cutest antics. She acts a lot like a bucking bronco at this point) and Little Fig (no trouble at all, mostly just causes AJ a few waves of nausea at this point). Curtis is speaking at a camp so he’s missing all the action. Amanda adds: Pics of the puppies are coming soon! They’re on my laptop but it’s at my house.

These are some highlights from the morning:
*Amanda very sweetly and patiently to Jackson at the breakfast table with his fruit cocktail: “Son, when you need to wipe off your hands, can we use a napkin instead of your hair?” (There’s not a bit of fresh fruit in the house. That’s why he had to have fruit cocktail. I hate having to feel guilty. And I hate fruit. Come to think of it, I do have cherries but Amanda swears they were the very things that caused the Great Diaper Blow-out of 2008.)

*It is 10:40 and AJ is on her third breakfast. Amanda adds: First my toast and canadian bacon, then Jackson’s uneaten toast, and finally some Cocoa Pebbles.

*The TV is messing up because of the storm so we’re watching Lion King. Jackson loves it. It only took Amanda a record 17 seconds to start crying. That “Circle of Love” opener gets her every time. Amanda adds: Um, that would be “Circle of Life.”

*I’ve given Jackson some multicolored stick notes to amuse himself and the room is well wallpapered in them. If you really squint, it kinda has that stained glass look. Now Jackson’s mad. A green one is stuck to his heel.

*I’m hungry but I can’t think of what I want to eat. Since Edouard decided to drop by at the very last minute, we just weren’t prepared with the great snacks I prefer for a long hold up. Most of what’s in the kitchen are the extra ingredients we didn’t need for our LPM lunch feast by Melissa last week. Today we can eat all the Ricotta Cheese and dill weed we want. (Don’t call CPS. We have plenty of Jackson food. It’s me I’m whining about.) Amanda adds: I’m not gonna lie. I got excited when I saw Spaghetti-O’s with meatballs in the pantry this morning. That’s what I’ll be having.

We love you. We hope you love us. Especially today. We need love.

UPDATES: (I know you are sitting on pins and needles.)
*Yes, Mr. Ed it is. Very good, Siestas. Very good indeed. I should have thought of that myself. I was late taking my vitamins this morning or I would have.

*Many rousing rounds of hide and seek. Oh, the joy Bibby brought Jackson when she hid in the dog crate.

*Keith went to the store! What a man!!! Groceries galore!! Fruit for the Mister: Grapes, nectarines, strawberries. Snacks for AJ and me: moon pies, stuff for queso. Real food for Keith to actually cook. Ick.

*AJ is eating spaghetti-o’s with meatballs.

Please, stay tuned. This is liable to be a nail biter.

*Yes, that’s exactly what we’ll do with the Ricotta. Almond flavoring and almonds. Yep. Great idea. Y’all are brilliant. I’m not doing that tomato thing though. That would require cooking. And my oven mitt is out on the bike seat.

UPDATE FROM MELISSA IN ATLANTA:
UM, I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MY MOM. I ASKED HER HOW SHE WAS DOING AMIDST THE TROPICAL STORM/HURRICANE EDOUARD AND SHE ANSWERED LIKE A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD. SHE SAID, “WELL, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO BORED, MELISSA.” AND THEN SHE SAID SOMETHING THAT REALLY SCARED ME. SHE SAID, “OH, AND I JUST BAKED A CAKE.” YOU KNOW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT THAT MY MOM IS BORED TO TEARS WHEN SHE BAKES A CAKE FOR NO GOOD REASON. WELL, I GOTTA GET BACK TO MY RESEARCH…SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO TO WORK TODAY. LORD, THAT THIS EDOUARD WOULD PASS SO THAT I COULD GET SOME OF MY BRAIN CELLS BACK.

Beth: WELL, THEN ALL OF YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE REASON I AM SO BORED IS BECAUSE AMANDA AND JACKSON ARE SOUND ASLEEP AND HAVE BEEN FORRRRRRR-EVERRRRRRRRRR. AND YOU MIGHT AS WELL ALSO KNOW THAT I HOME MADE CHOCOLATE ICING FOR THAT CAKE, TOO. IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’D SMELL IT AND WAKE UP. MAYBE I’LL TRY TO TAKE A NAP, TOO. OR MAYBE I’LL JUST HAVE ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE.

3:00 PM. Amanda and Jackson still asleep. Watching Rachael Ray. (Why? Because I just baked a cake, didn’t I???) Did you know you can get Ecoli (sp?????) from your purse?

7:40 PM. 20 minutes before Jackson’s bedtime. All three dogs look like very happy drowned rats…and smell like them, too. Keith is watching the hunting channel acting like the rest of us aren’t here. He earned that right after making King Ranch Chicken for all of us for dinner. And used every pan in the kitchen. I’m sending those to Washington State, too. All of our hair looks like lightening struck the house and we were all holding golf clubs. Amanda and I are in the corner of the kitchen floor playing matchbox cars with a two and a half year old who does not appear to be in the remotest ballpark of sleepy. We knew we were descending into delirium when, a few minutes ago, we broke out in an impromtu duet of the 80’s version of “Pass It On” with our best Tiny Tim voices. To which Jackson yelled, “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Oops. The matchbox car just broke.

Amanda’s having more cake.

It’s the circle of love.