Glad to hear that folks are weathering the storm.

Today has been a lot of reprogramming and testing systems remotely so that Six Flags Over Texas has haunted houses that are working better.

Last night I was at Dark Harbor until about 11pm working on finishing touches on that system.

I haven't been able to get in touch with Mom but she called Dad ..not sure why she didn't call me. ..she was ok. There is massive flooding in Brevard ..well all of Transylvania County , Henderson County etc. The high ground of Boone was under water. There are landslides....where we all lived when I first moved to NC on the mountain is completely cut off due to landslides and flooding.

Downtown Hendersonville, was under water.

We don't have power. They were still working on removing trees and downed power lines (and having issues with all the traffic out ). I am going into work tomorrow. I'll take my time but I don't expect there to be many working traffic lights. The only business open in town was the one gas station with a generator.

Oh I just went outside and we have street lights on main Street. That is good

Stay safe, askye

I'm going to repeat the pumpkin chili I made the other day because it was yum.

I didn't get around to making chili this week, so maybe I'll do that this weekend! I also want to make some pumpkin bread.

We have a few more days in the 80s. Then it should duck into something more fall like. I have the makings of beef barley soup for when it does.

My soup turned out pretty well, but I over orzoed, so when it cooled, it turned into more of a congee-like situation. Not complaining, but I think I'll add more broth to thin it out some. And it needs some kind of added spices or something, but I can't figure out what's missing. I don't cook/play around enough to be good at that kind of thing. I added some cumin and juice from a lemon, and that helped, but... eh.

Do I want to do work today? I do not. But I will. My three days off were worth it.

Have I said that DH got laid off? His project wasn't renewed by the feds, so... poof. I mean, not that quickly, but. Oof, there's a lot to unpack with all of this, but not today. And then my hours got reduced because we lost a few clients. Great timing! I mean, we're fine and will be for a long while if nothing changes, but I certainly hope it will change within a few months.

I'm the finance person in our partnership, though, so it's low key stressful. He just... cannot deal with money. You know, we all have our money profile, and his is, "don't wanna; makes me cranky." And, I get that, but, like, adulting requires dealing, so lucky for us both of us that one of us can deal with money without shutting down. But also, I need to educate myself more.

Wow. Rambly. I believe I am venting my anxiety here. Thanks for playing along!

Other parts of the country have it much worse than we do, but Cincinnati got pummeled yesterday. There's over 100,000 households without power. Fortunately we never lost power (knock wood).

And it needs some kind of added spices or something, but I can't figure out what's missing. I don't cook/play around enough to be good at that kind of thing.

I mostly make it up as I go along, but a great process is to look at a few recipes and just take what you like from each one. I usually add a bit more of all the spices because we like the flavors in abundance. My poor super taster son doesn't even want to be at the table with some of the creations. He will eat plain pasta. And when I say plain I mean without butter and salt! The most complex thing he eats is plain cheese pizza, if the sauce isn't spicy.

I'm sorry about the stress, Jen. I'm the finance person here too. I try and give Brendon spreadsheets now and again, but he just can't. I really need to do some estate type stuff as we are getting older, but don't even know where to start. Every time I research my head explodes.

My poor super taster son doesn't even want to be at the table with some of the creations.

Heh. My DH is a super hot and spicy food lover, and I'm a mildly spicy appreciator. He ranks what he's made for himself as Jen can eat/Jen should not. I rank by bring your own hot sauce/and.… yeah, just bring your hot sauce.

Soup is tasty this morning with the addition of broth from a different set of bones + a kick of some mildly spicy mushroom powder spice. Win!

Yah, I tried a spreadsheet share once -- that just amplified his anxiety. Lesson learned! Now I just get the convo down to as few details as possible, present steps we're taking and why, and open the floor for questions. Much better.

Glad you guys are powered, Steph.

Speaking of soup! This was in my email today with 6 soups. Including my favorites, tomato, butternut squash, and mushroom varieties. [link] As always, I suggest looking at several recipes and picking and choosing what looks good. I would not recommend combining tomato, butternut squash, and mushrooms together though. That would be very tricky.