Ok, so Ike is NOT coming here? Did someone forget to tell Ike??

Because it sure feels like he's here and this is really scary to me. We woke up during the night to the worst winds we've ever heard. The wind is still blowing like crazy, but it's settled down a little. Our power is out! And the schools in my parish are closed today! My friend, Lesley, texted me last night to ask if the schools were going to be closed and I was thinking to myself that yet another rumor has been started, but then, I checked when I got home, and the schools are going to be closed! I was really confused as to why, because the storm doesn't come near us. Well, now I know and let me say this...I am very scared for those in the path of Ike because I don't think we've ever seen anything this size. I am praying that Ike takes it easy on all of us, but it's already like we're having a Category 1 hurricane at my house right now! Well, maybe not right now, but definitely during the night. Please pray for everyone in Ike's path because I think this is going to be a bad one.

My sister, Donna, and her husband decided to stay in Pearland, about 20 minutes outside of Houston and I'm pretty concerned about them. She says they were on a voluntary evacuation order until yesterday, and then after yesterday were told to "stay put." What does that mean? That you've waited to long to leave or that it's safe to stay? Donna is known to be quite dingy, so i'm scared she may have misunderstood the meaning. We offered that they could stay here and my mom offered that they could come there. She says they have a generator and gas, which is good, but after the storm and all the power is out, you can't find a store to refill your gas cans. And I think trees and power lines are going to fall like crazy. We've lived through many hurricanes here and i've never seen anything like the damage that Gustav left throughout Baton Rouge and many other areas. I feel certain this storm is worse.

So, no work for me today since the schools are closed. It's frustrating to get so far behind in what I've got planned to do with the kids. And now, for the next week or two, I don't plan to do anything with the kids except talk about the hurricane and how it affected them. My west side schools just got power back yesterday and the kids were going to go back today - some still living without power for 2 weeks now. Many of them live in poverty, some in the projects, and depend on the government for help. Food was not available to them for most of the storm, or if it was, you had to drive to a distribution center to get it. How can they do that with no car or gas? And you can say it it their fault or their problem, and maybe it is, but you still have to think about those children who are home in the dark with nothing to eat, no clean clothes, no water, etc. As a matter of fact, when I heard that the schools would open today originally, knowing much of the area doesn't have power, I wondered how the kids would get clean school clothes! It's such an eye opening experience and I'm grateful for this opportunity to be exposed to some of what this population is going through. I have every intention to make a difference there!

Anyway, i'm home today, which is nice but i'm afraid i'm getting used to not working so much!!! After having the summer off, and then missing so many days, I may be getting spoiled all over again. I do have some paper work to do and meetings to reschedule, so I'll find some productive things to do today. Steak night was DELICIOUS last night!! I wish I could grill a steak like they do! Yum!!!

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers for my son, JP. That really means a lot to me. I know that some people don't like to talk, hear, or think about those types of things, but that is my reality and I really do appreciate you!

Questions & Comments:
A few people left comments about my honesty and my unconditional love for JP. I do love him unconditionally and will support him in whatever way I can if he is living a drug free life and trying to do the right things. This whole situation is even harder for me because, while i've always offered him emotional support, I did not have anything else to offer him while he was involved in drugs. We put him through treatment and tried everything imaginable to help him help himself, but ultimately, we had to cut him loose because he was affecting our family and his younger brother with his choices. It does make it hard to see where his life went from there, but help for his drug addiction was always an option but he wouldn't take it. Today, whether by his choice or not, he is living a drug free life and I have been here every step of the way. I always make sure he has commissary money, I write to him, visit him, and he knows he is always welcome to call. It is so hard knowing the right thing to do, but I truly believe that everything I've done for him was the best I knew how to do. Now God is in charge!! I think great things are going to happen! And thank you for those comments too!

My friend, Kimi, who doesn't have a blog but should, asked if the neighbor next door was the same one who brought some magazines over when Kimi & her family were visiting. YES!! And that is exactly the kind of thing I mean by overly involved!! He saw me get a "People Magazine" out of my mailbox (or could be that he checked my mail for me one day and saw it - not kidding), and realized I like the gossip magazines. Well, his wife and several relatives save theirs and pass them around to each other, so he decided that I would want to be on their "list" and receive the magazines when they finished with them. Hmmm, ok. I didn't see any harm in that and I do like some of those magazines, so I went along with it. The first stack of them I got was from 2002! No lie! Walter & I were so tickled about it and read through the magazines and got a big laugh out of it. But then, the magazines got to be a chore. I was expected to save them and give them back to pass on to other people. And I really wasn't reading them, so then i'd have to hold on to them long enough to seem like i'd read them and give them back. And the neighbor really stressed about the whole thing - calling to see if i'd found them on my porch, seeing when I'd be giving them back. I managed to politely back out of it one day when another relative wanted "in," so I just said I really wasn't having time to get to read them since I was working, so I didn't want to hold them up!! Whew!!! And yes, I'm quite sure at the exact moment that we had company, that would be when he would have decided to deliver the precious magazines!!!

Tam made a great observation about the pre-schooler that bit the teacher yesterday. Imagine how hard it would be to not speak any English and be put into an English speaking classroom. He came to the school last year too, but due to his aggressive behavior, the teacher can only let him come 2 days a week, in the hopes that he would adjust and they could increase the days. I believe the little boy is also Autistic and is non-communicative. We want to place him in a classroom where he would do better, but we have to be able to document the problems to present the case to the school board, and he doesn't come to school enough to do it. Yesterday was his 2nd time coming this year and he bit the teacher within the first 2 hours there. And yes, that is something to document, but you have to have more than that. We are holding a meeting next week and will include a Spanish interpreter to help us figure out the best setting for him. We also want to help his mother with parenting skills. She is really harming him by letting him do whatever he wants.

And yes indeed I'm taking Lesley up on her offer to visit JP with me!! We can stop and have lunch with Kimi & Shayne on our way!!! Woohoo!!! Thanks sista! I love you!

And the power just came back on!! Yay!