Busy day today

Oooh, it was cool today, seems a little cold front came in during the night. It's nice that we mowed yesterday, and this windy weather is bringing the leaves down from our other Ash tree. Not too many leaves have fallen yet, so the grass still looks nice and trim and very green.

Late in the afternoon, Guillermo and I went out and ran around to a bunch of places. We stopped by the neighbors house to drop of a signature paper, went to storage (again!) where we finally found the rest of our Christmas decorations, went to Rainbow Gardens where Guillermo tried to find some poblano pepper seeds but had no luck, drove to the trees by HEB where Guillermo always gets out of the car and looks for acorns from the Burr Oaks, stopped by the credit union, dropped Guillermo off at Lowe's while I went on to Target, met up again at Target and then went to HEB to pick up a few items. Then we went to Jim's on 1604 where we met Rhianna, her boyfriend Spence and Rhianna's son Kole. Rhianna and Rebeca were close friends when they were younger and it was so nice to see Rhianna again, and to see her little boy, who will turn 3 next month. We had a very enjoyable meal together, and Kole is such a sweet boy. Hopefully we can get together with them when Rebeca comes home for Christmas. :-)

Here is Rhianna with Kole. The second picture shows Kole after he had eaten his cinnamon ice cream. He obviously loved that ice cream, since he licked the bowl clean.

The lights are on but off

Yesterday, Guillermo and I put the Christmas lights up on the outside of the house. As we were putting up the lights, and going through the usual hassles that putting up Christmas lights always is, we wondered if this was going to be the last time we would ever put up lights at this house.

Anyway, after going way too high up on ladders and leaning farther over than is probably good, we got the lights up, and turned them on for a little while to see how they looked. They look really nice, and all the hassles were quickly forgotten. We left the lights off for the night, and today, we set the timers to make sure the lights would come on when dusk came.

Guillermo worked out in his garden, and I mowed the front lawn this evening. And while we were cleaning up the driveway of all the leaves, the lights came on and we had to admit it looked very nice. But we turned them off after a little while again, it just seems too early to keep them on yet. But on Thanksgiving evening, they are ON!!!!

Ok Rebeca, here is that picture we said we'd post. It is unbelievable how well that necklace goes with that blouse!!!

Rainy day pictures

These pictures I took several days ago, and am JUST now getting them put on here. Our Ash tree out front is the first tree on the block to change color, and it was looking so pretty this day while it was raining. So, I took the screen off the bathroom window, and shot these few scenes. This is exactly how it looks out our bathroom window.

Guillermo brought in some beautiful vegetables from the garden today. And check out that brocco-flower in the very center. He grew those from seeds that Rebeca gave him for Christmas!

We had it for dinner today, and it was delicious!!!

Appraisal update

We found ourselves in a position, along with several neighbors who would like to see the appraisal process move forward, of having to make our presence known. There are other neighbors on our street who do not want to hear anything about buyouts or appraisals. They would prefer to stay in their homes, even though the danger of flooding here is very real.

So, for the last few days, Guillermo and I spent a lot of time putting together a presentation for the Bexar Commissioners Court meeting today. We made a 2 minute video of flood footage (it only took 5 attempts to get an hours worth of video cut down to 2 minutes!). Guillermo spent last evening trying to create a 1 minute speech, because we were told he would have 3 minutes at the podium. And then we spent the rest of the evening practicing. Using an online timer, we figured out his speech would work, and then he would transition into commentary while the video played.

So, today was the day of the meeting. We turned the video in to the media person and took our place in the audience with many of our neighbors. The Citizens to be heard segment was the 5th item on the agenda, so we had to wait at least 30 minutes before being able to speak. The first four people the judge called up were totally opposed to any aspect of a buyout. We listened to them implore the officials not to throw the elderly, veterans and the disabled out of their homes. We listened to one lady say she'd rather die than move.

Then the judge called up an elderly lady in our group, and when she went to the podium, the rest of us got up and stood behind her to show our solidarity. When she was done, the judge called up Guillermo. Guillermo gave a very compelling one minute talk, followed by commentary on a 2 minute video of images captured during the flood of 1998. He definitely had the attention of the court, and his commentary along with the video made a big impression on them. Here are the points he touched on in his one minute speech:
1. My name is Guillermo Campos and I have been a homeowner at 5704 El Verde in Leon Valley for more than 30 years.

2. My home is one of those slated to be bought out so that the LC-17 project can be completed, and although my wife and I have a very strong emotional attachment to our home and property, we recognize that we are in an area that is susceptible to flooding.

3. Unfortunately, that danger has increased significantly due to the proliferation of impermeable surfaces that have resulted from the residential and commercial development in the Huebner Creek watershed over the last 20 years.

4. Engineers and Hydrologists have studied the problem caused by the increased run-off for several years and have concluded that buyouts are necessary in order to remedy the situation.

5. Consequently, I, as do a number of other residents who live on Jeff Loop and El Verde, would like the project to continue at least until we receive offers for our homes and property.

6. Only then can we make a decision based on all of the facts regarding the buyout proposal.

7. I think this short video of Oct. 17, 1998 will convince you that the danger of catastrophic flooding is not imagined; it is very real.

He did an excellent job and I, along with every single one of our neighbors, was very proud of him!

After each neighbor who wanted to speak did so, the commissioners addressed the audience and said that the appraisal process was to proceed.

One of these days, I'll try to figure out how to put video on here, and I'll put the little clip of the flood video on.

After the "citizens to be heard" part of the meeting was over, we left and joined our neighbors for lunch at a nearby restaurant. We all felt mainly relieved that the meeting was over and that we had let the commissioners know our position as well.

Things are moving along

So, this is what's been happening lately around here.

On Tuesday, the 10th, we met with officials from Bexar County about the buyout of our homes. We met with them at Bill Miller Barbecue. The purpose of the meeting was basically to show them that there ARE people who are interested in seeing the buyout process proceed through the appraisal process. It appears that they were under the impression that most people on this street DO NOT want the process to continue. Although they should have been aware that there are always two sides to everything. Anyway, I think we got our point across.

Guillermo has finished fixing up the two greenhouses for winter, and we will probably start putting our plants inside in the next few days. The smaller greenhouse was a complete mess, and that took a lot of work. The big greenhouse takes a different kind of work, in that big sheets of plastic need to be stapled to all sides of the structure - both inside and out. And Guillermo found several holes in the roof of the greenhouse (we had a big branch fall right on to the greenhouse). So, those holes needed to be repaired also. BUT, we've had good weather the last few days, and it's all finished and ready for the plants.

On top of transferring flood video from VHS to DVD, I have also been transferring our home video to DVD. It's gotten easier the more I do it, but at first, trying to figure out how to make tracks, or when to pause to leave out unwanted scenes and all that, well, I "wasted" a DVD or two before I finally got it right.