Houston Day 424 - on storms, allergies, old houses, and my current work situation

Well, this summer is totally different to last summer.  Last summer was unusually dry and record-hot.  This summer is still pretty bloody hot (Mum barely went outside at all the whole time she visited us recently!) but it is storming almost every afternoon.  Storms here are something else.  They're more regular, more dramatic, and more likely to end up in flash flooding and even (apparently, although we haven't seen this yet) tornadoes.  I got my first experience of being trapped by water this weekend just gone, when I called my stage manager in a panic because I had tried several roads and couldn't make it to the theatre.  He had other things to worry about, though, because although there was water everywhere there was no running water in the building.  That was an interesting show :) I found a road that was clear, made it to the theatre, and just had to hold on to my pee for several hours until I could get home to a functioning toilet.
We survived the two sixteen-show weeks at Pink, although barely, because I got sick a few days after it stopped.  My doctor tells me I need to consider the possibility that like most people in Houston I suffer from hayfever (usually just generically called "allergies" here) and that until that's under control I'm going to get sick pretty often.  But neither sickness nor work stopped me from enjoying some good QT with Mum...she just came to the show three times so she could see me!
I now have the lovely problem of too much work to allow me to fully rest.  Have had a couple of big auditions in the last couple of days (am still keeping my "Auditions" page updated, for my records, and your interest), and was called in by Express to perform in their Children's Hilltop Theatre Festival at the Miller Outdoor Theatre next week.  Plus Pink goes til the end of the month.  So today I am taking advantage of nothing on my schedule to rest and learn lines for Hilltop.
Lucas and I are enjoying our new house.  It's a bit smaller than our old house (and also older than our old house, if that makes sense).  It's a good size - we like it that it's smaller but has more rooms.  So I get my own office :) and it feels cozier.  Because it's older it has lots more things wrong with it, but I'm trying to pretend that there's no chance of any serious flooding because this house would absolutely not stand it.  Which is, of course, a blatant, breezy lie, but never mind.

Well, back to it.  I leave you with a photo of a doorknob from the Capitol Building in Austin, which Mum and I visited last week.  You will note (because I told you to) the Lone Star on said doorknob.  And if anyone can explain to me why Capitol is spelt with an "o" I would appreciate that.  Cheers.