..stupid ideals..

I like rain a lot... But I don't like a lot of rain. Yeah, the area really needs it. We've been in a drought for over 10 years. But when it all comes at once, it does nothing but harm. Crops are ruined, streets washed out, construction sites flooded... And the garage/efficiency apartment in the back are now mired.

It's damned frustrating. Not just because of the inevitable mold and the extensive renovation that apartment will have to undergo (actually, we've been planning on doing that for a long time) ... but it's the fact that my parents KNOW that room always floods when it rains and yet they've never bothered with flood insurance. Now, the cost of renovation for that room is going to double at the least. And whether I or my dad pay for it, it's still such a waste. I tried to tell my dad about dry wells and drainage pipes today... but he won't hear me out. Stubborn old man.

Ha... that's the first time I've ever called him an old man.

Anyway, aside from the rain damage, these last couple of days have been a nice break from work. I completely forgot about this important meeting I had to go to yesterday, but with any luck, it was canceled due to the rain... After all, there was an early deadline, and usually that means everyone is on the rampage trying to get the newspaper out on time.

I didn't think I'd make it to Vanessa's concert last night, but luckily the floodwaters receded enough to get me on the expressway and head out toward Edinburg... which was a lot dryer than Harlingen. The concert was at 7:30 and I arrived in town at 7:20, but since the sun set and it seems street names are optional in that town, I promptly lost my sense of direction and ended up halfway to the King Ranch before I used my spider sense to track down the university. Can you believe that town doesn't even have signs pointing to the university? Eesh.

At any rate, I arrived only 5 minutes into the concert... It was pretty good. The performance was excellent, though the music selection was a little outside of my tastes.... a collection of Magnificats.... ugh. I have yet to hear a truly moving Magnificat. And yes, there was a small spot of dozing off in my plush velvet seat, but I doubt I missed much. At least I remembered to clap only after the "Amen."

I had dinner with Vanessa and her family afterwards. Her brother Chris is an enigma to me. For the longest time I thought that boy was gay. But now he's talking about getting married and not knowing if his girlfriend is pregnant until she starts to show (because she has irregular periods). I've never even met the girl and I already know her menstrual cycle. At any rate, it was enjoyable. I've never had dinner with just them three before.... It's always been parties of 10 or more when I have dinner with her family. But this was fun and intimate. Nice. "Stoolritas" and "Chris's Tacos y Electronicos" will stay with me forever. Characters... all of them.

Today I enjoyed another pleasant day with Meg. After we picked her up from school, we went to my mom's and got her homework done. Then she went to jazz & tap and after her hour break, gymnastics... where we both left the building ripe and sweaty. It's one thing to have an un-air conditioned gym of about 70 sweaty youth & instructors ... But when the building has absorbed the humidity from the soggy day... well, that's even worse. We went to pick up Kat at my mom's and headed over to the theater... Meg changed in the car.

We watched School of Rock. This is such a cool movie. In my opinion, it's what a family film SHOULD be. See, Meaghan's parents took her and her little brother to see 28 Days Later (a film NOT for children) ... We took her to see a PG-13 movie, that we figured she could handle (and she was dying to see it) ... It was fun for all of us. Nothing to worry about covering her eyes over. Nothing we didn't think we'd have to explain to her after the movie. It was Jack Black teaching a bunch of sort-of yuppie 10-year-olds how to rock... It was fun. 4 and a half gold stars.

We grabbed a Whataburger afterwards.. had a stupid experience involving 3 chicken strips, $.27 worth of white gravy and a broken styrofoam cannister. Whatever.

The rain continued throughout the night and has caused AOL to crash on me about 8 times tonight. It's 5 am, and I really shouldn't even be up. But insomnia rears it's ugly head. It's not that I'm not tired... It's just that I can't sleep. Well, maybe now I'll be able to. Tomorrow's another day of work, so I really need all the rest I can get. Doubt it'll happen though.

My I-don't-have-to-run day...