A loco week here in El Paso!

Well howdy from the Southwest, where we have been experiencing some STRANGE weather. I left off last time telling you about our snow days...they were blissful. We loved them. But, snow melts, ice causes all sorts of problems, and El Paso has found itself in quite the crisis. Much like the South, the Southwest doesn't do this whole "freezing cold/snow" weather. Well, at the end of last week, the electric company began doing rolling blackouts all over El Paso as a result of the terrible weather/fallen lines/other, unknown reasons. Thankfully, Brian and I did not fall victim to no power. But, we did fall victim to no water. El Paso Water had some serious issues last week. The outdoor pipes at their water treatment facility froze and then subsequently busted due to the extreme pressure of the frozen water inside. Here are some pictures. Well, this in turn meant that a lot of us El Pasoans lost our water. Brian and I had great plans to finally check out a church here on Sunday morning....those plans were thwarted due to the fact that we couldn't shower. Didn't want to show up nasty on our first morning there...we then realized that we were due at a Super Bowl party that afternoon at someone's house we had not met before. A few of our other friends were going and we were invited along. Once again, not wanting to scare off new folk, we were faced with a dilemma...So, off to the store Brian went to buy water. According to him, Wal-Mart did not have an empty parking space so he settled for the gas station. We then proceeded to take showers with water bottles...it is really hard to hold a large water bottle while both of your hands are covered with shampoo. I almost had to call in back-up. Thankfully, we made it to the party in a cleanly fashion and had a great time! The girls talked at the table through the entire first half, watched the abismal half-time show, and they decided to tune into the second half so that we could say we watched some of it. The part I was most excited about was the episode of Glee that came on afterwards...which was awesome, by the way.

So back to El Paso's problems. On Monday, the mayor declared a state of emergency concerning our water situation, and mandatorily closed all car washes, laundromats, schools, and several other businesses. We were encouraged not to shower, wash dishes or do laundry. We also had to boil our water if we wanted to drink it...scary stuff floating around... I drew the line at showering--but I showered really fast! And I had reason to shower: I was going to a professional job fair! Which was sort of productive...I think I picked up about 4 brochures to either be a customer service rep for a random company or to be a telemarketer...no, thank you. Although, I have some beef with these companies: A) when running a booth at a job fair, you, the employer, need to have a board or something that tells me what you do. Because I want to find a job, but I also know how to "pre-screen" myself as to if I even want to inquire with your company. Out of the 65 or so companies there, only a handful actually had an informative board that let you know what they did before you got up to their table. Beef #2: I'm obviously looking for a job. You the employer should try to help me understand what types of positions you have available. I can't tell you how many times my friend Nancy and I walked up to a table to be greeting with....nothing. Just a "hi, how are you?" and nothing else. So then we had to awkwardly launch into questions like...can  you tell me more about what your company does? What positions are you trying to fill?...it was quite strange. It was like we were interviewing them...I got a few ideas/leads from this, so we'll see how they pan out!

On an interesting side note: I've been looking for job postings all over the internet, and guess what I found: Emergency Director for the City of El Paso. No wonder we were in such hot water this past week!! The schools just opened up on Tuesday/Wednesday--the kids were out for a whole week! In addition to the water drama, we had a water leak under our sink. Thankfully we have the nicest maintenance men in the whole world and the fixed it for us :)

Ok, I'm about to totally switch gears, but I don't have a good way to segue, so here we go: Brian has been working throughout the days and I typically spend that time putting things away/getting unpacked. Well, the unpacking is completed, and I've just been moving things around now so that I can get them where I want them...especially because my Dad's going to be out here in a week! :) Well, here's a reason to let your husband help you set up the house (or a reason to give him a "tour" of where you put things...) Example 1: when Brian puts away dishes or kitchen-wear, I often go on a scavenger hunt to find them the next time I use them. Example 2: (this is hilarious) So I have this 3-drawer wicker organizer, and I put it right next to our dresser. I decided to put Brian's PT clothes into this organizer as well as his ACU undershirts and socks into it so that all of his Army gear was in one place. I showed this to Brian--remember this. I showed it to him. Even what was in each drawer. Well, last night I was getting ready for bed and I noticed something...Brian's PT shorts were hanging over the edge of the tub, looking like they were drying. Here's our conversation:

I asked him, "Brian, did you wash your PT shorts in the shower tonight?"
He answered yes, to my consternation.
So of course, I asked him why he did this.
His answer: "Well, I can't find all of my PT clothes."
So I asked: "How long has this been going on? Do you wash them every night?
 He replied, "Not every night. Sometimes I wash them in the morning and let them dry in the car."
I countered "But aren't they wet still at PT? (PT here is in the afternoons)"
He said, "Yeah, but it's not too bad."
I remarked, "Brian, you know all your PT clothes are in that organizer; you know, the one RIGHT THERE." He replied, "What??....They're where??...Oh gosh I thought you'd thrown all of them out! I was going to buy new PT's this week because I couldn't find any of mine!"

Oh. my. gosh. We then had a discussion as to why he didn't just ask me...he didn't know. He just figured I'd thrown them away! I told him I'd never throw Army stuff away--it's too expensive! We then (playfully) argued about the fact that I did show him where I'd put them; he still doesn't believe me. I then decided I should tell him where others things are, just in case. I told him his jeans were in the guest bedroom dresser and he said, "Oh yeah I know." (how?) "Oh, I found them when I was looking for my PT clothes."

I was about to die I was laughing so hard. It was hilarious. He told me he didn't want to ask me because he was always looking for them in the morning, when I'm still asleep (hey, it's early!). It was so funny...that boy! I think I'll give him a tour of the house later...you know, show him where his stuff is. I simply told him that this is why he needs to help me put up laundry =)

Hope our mishap makes you laugh :) One last tidbit of good news: Brian got a platoon yesterday! He's now in charge of about 30 guys!