Sunday

Walter & I went to eat at Albasha's last night, which is a Lebanese restaurant about 20 miles from our house and it is soooo good! I could eat there every day!! We've been doing good with eating at home more (partly because no restaurants had electricity for awhile - but still), so we decided to treat ourselves last night. Tomorrow we are starting back on the Atkins diet. I have been on the diet off & on recently, but Walter hasn't tried it in years. He agreed to try it with me now AND we are going to exercise at that gym that we're paying for absolutetly no reason because we haven't been there in months!!! I went to Walmart today and got Atkins friendly foods and there aren't a whole lot, but I've learned to be creative. The only unhealthy item I picked up to make snacking easier for Walter is pork rinds, but otherwise everything we'll be eating will be a healthy mix of grilled foods and salads. I want to lose 15 lbs. and hope to do that as well as keep it off afterwards.

We made the decision today to postpone Walter's 50th birthday party until October 18th. The party was scheduled for next weekend, and our backyard will smell horrible because of all the dead fish in the river for a week or two and that just isn't going to cut it. Once I re-sent the invitation to everyone, my mom emailed me to say that the invitations are going out this week for my step-niece's wedding (to a guy she has been dating 6 months) and the wedding is that same day, so they wont be able to make it. I am fine with my parents not coming because they are recovering alcoholics and there will be a drinking at the party, plus if i'm invited to my step-niece's wedding, now I don't have to go! I barely know her and the drama is out of control in my step-dad's family, so this worked out pretty good, if I do say so myself. My parents want to take us to dinner sometime next week for Walter's birthday, so that will work out just peachy.

Several people asked me to talk more about the Twilight book. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything for future readers, but I will give a small review for those who might want to read it. When I bought the book, I had absolutely no idea what it was about, seriously. I saw the pictures of all 4 books on every blog I went to it seemed. I have been bored with the books i've tried to read lately, so I figured I would buy the 1st book and just see what I thought. And also let me say, I would not have bought it if I thought it was about a vampire. Sorry. I would not have. As a social worker/school counselor, i've worked with a rather "odd" teenage girl who is all wrapped up in vampires and books about vampires and from what i've seen they are always dirty, a bit raunchy, unbelieveable, and the readers end up dressing in black and looking a little freakish. I have tried to work with her to keep her from being seen as "odd" for being so into vampires. I actually read the first chapters of Twilight wondering what in the world was going on with Edward, one of the main characters and was totally fascinated with him. Once I got to the part and realized what was going on, it was too late! I was hooked! I fell in love with him AND with the other main character, Bella. The author is such a good writer and the story line is so great that it really doesn't matter! I am the type of person who will watch a movie and just have to stop watching because "this couldn't really happen," or "this is so fake," but this book never made me feel like that. At some point, you realize you are totally wrapped up in the character's lives and that doesn't happen to me very often. And yes, I started the 500 page book Friday morning & finished it Saturday night, so vampires or no vampires, this is such a well thought out, well written, book that you should read it too!!! I think it opened my mind a little bit because if I was so caught up in this book already by the 2nd chapter, then I could keep reading once I saw the word "vampire" and give it a chance. Now, am I going to read the dirty, raunchy vampire books like the teenage girl at school? Oh hellllll no! But this book was so not like that! Nothing dirty, but everything beautiful! And a lot of thought provoking things about the choices that all of the characters have to make. Wow! If everyone could be open to new things and want to understand people just because they love them, what a world this might be!! Just read it!!! I still haven't had anyone ask for my copy, so if anyone wants it, i'll gladly ship it to you for free! I would hope that you would pass it on when you're done, but that's up to you!

And remember how hard we worked to scrub and hose down our dock after the river went down from Hurricane Gustav? Well, Hurricane Ike wants us to do it all again!! The good thing is that the pool isn't looking so green anymore!


Still no word about my son, but I think in this case, no news is good news. While FOX news had a reporter standing in downtown Houston reporting yesterday, I emailed them to ask if they could mention the status of the jails, but never heard anything. I am certain that if there were problems at the jails, we would be hearing about it on the news. Thanks for your prayers for my son! I really appreciate it!!

Saturday

So, it looks like Ike is slowing down and moving on through Texas. My sister, Donna, is doing fine in Pearland, Texas. They do not have power, but did not have any damage. My friend, Kimi, in Lake Charles, Louisiana is doing ok and does have power. I have no way to find out anything about the jail in downtown Houston where my son is, but I'm listening to the news to try to find out what I can. I called a nearby district and they haven't heard of anything happening there, and I assume they would have if there was damage, but that's the best I can do. It's very frustrating that there is nowhere that you can call and if the power is out, the inmates can't use the phone to call to let you know they are ok. Again, I know he is in God's hands and trust that he is ok. I sincerely hope that we will not have any more hurricanes this season, which doesn't end until November.

Ronnica at Tales of a Kansas Girl posted this "meme" on her blog and asked for anyone to answer who wanted to. And well, I want to!!

Here are the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

Ok then. Blogging has affected me...

1. Positively: Blogging is a wonderful outlet for me! I am a person who talks way too much, and having this blog and my blog friends to talk to really spares my family, especially my husband, from having to go into overtime listening to me!!

2. Positively: I have met some friends through blogging who I hope to stay in touch with for a long time to come. I am developing relationships that are meaningful to me and I enjoy seeing into the lives of other people.

3. Positively: Some of my real life friends are starting to blog and I am able to be in closer contact with them and stay up to date with their lives than I was before I began blogging.

4. Negatively: I am spending a lot of time reading other people's blogs daily, so there are things I am not doing as much as I should.

5. Positively: I have been overwhelmed with prayers and support for many situations in the short time I've been blogging.

What about you?? I am tagging anyone who wants to answer the questions, so please let me know if you will be doing it too so I can read your answers!!

I've seen this book on SO many blogs that I went to http://www.half.com/ and ordered it - "twilight." I had absolutely no idea what it is about, but I caved in to curiosity, ordered it, and 3 days later, it was sitting in my hot little hands! Forget all the books I was already planning to read, I started reading this yesterday and am on page 263 already! Wow!! I'm not sure I would have wanted to read it if i'd known ahead of time what it was about, but let me tell you, i'm HOOKED! I went to half.com again last night and ordered the 2nd book in the series! I hope it comes in before I finish this one!!! I'll be glad to send Twilight to anyone who wants to read it when i'm finished, so leave me a comment and i'll get your address from you. First come, first served!!

And notice on my side bar on the right there is a little place for "follow this blog." It's a new feature and it's pretty cool! If you want to be a follower of my blog, just click "follow this blog!" I'll be glad to follow your blog too!

Questions & Comments:
Lizzy asked what we do about all of the schools days missed during hurricanes here. Honestly, it's not normal that we miss many days per year due to hurricanes. They can do a few different things. We have a couple of "hurricane days" built in to our schedules that we could miss if needed, then after that the schools can chose to lengthen the school year or go on some Saturdays. The bad thing is with our standardized testing (LEAP, GEE) that determines whether your child passes to certain grades or graduates at all are given in March or April, so the kids may be missing some key lessons needed for those tests that might not be taught in time. I would bet that our holidays may be shortened, which may be what happened after Hurricane Katrinia - I wasn't working in the school system then and don't remember. We get a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter, and 2 days for Mardi Gras, not to mention a few more 1 days here and there, so it may be that we'll lose a few of those days.

Laura asked about the gas prices here. The last I heard, prices had gone up about .50/gallon to about $4.00/gallon, but I haven't been out today to see. I will pay attention today and see what it looks like.

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!

Yes, it's STEAK NIGHT!!!

Ok, so I'm really stressing out about the Ike/Houston thing. Yes, I prayed that Ike wouldn't come here and I'm thankful that it didn't. However, my son, JP, is in jail in downtown Houston (Harris County) and the area is being evacuated. JP called Tuesday night and we talked about the storm, but it wasn't really headed to Houston at the time. I asked him if he thought the inmates would be evacuated if the storm did come to Houston, and he said he didn't think so. The building they are in is 7 stories high and is a really sturdy, brick building. I think right now they are evacuating lower areas of Harris County, so maybe it wont affect the inmates. I can't stand the thought of something happening to him during the storm, but I can't stand the thought even more of how they would evacuate 10,000+ inmates! I know some people don't think of them as people, but they are! And they're someone's children or parents or husbands or wives and it's such a stressful thing to be taken out and put somewhere that nobody in the world wants them. I am praying for God to take care of JP in this and all situations and I really hope that the officials will feel that they are safe where they are and not try to move them.

But JP did sound really good when he called. He's got a few people writing to him and he really enjoys that. If anyone out there in blog land has it in their heart to write to a 24 year old who's trying to get through a terrible time in his life, let me know and i'll give you his contact information. I asked him if my mom happened to visit him while she spent 5 days in Houston while evacuating from Louisiana, but she didn't. My sister lives 30 minutes from the jail but nobody ever visits him until I come to town to see him. She has tried once recently to visit, but there were problems at the jail that night and she hasn't been back. When the weather settles down, I want to plan a weekend trip to see him. It really makes me feel good to visit him and see how good and healthy he looks. As bad as the whole situation is, I feel so lucky to still have him and to be able to see and talk to him. I honestly don't think he would be alive today if things hadn't happened to land him in jail the way they did.

Speaking of people in Houston, my sister, Donna, is under a voluntary evacuation due to Hurricane Ike. She is actually outside of Houston in Pearland and says they were told to "stay put." I have offered that she & her husband can come stay here if needed. It's a little awkward, because I wont have her sons here who are drug users/sellers, but they don't live with her currently and she didn't mention them coming, but that's probably because i've made it clear that I wont have that in my house. I am the anti-drug. Drugs have destroyed my oldest son and I've made a stand to not allow it around my younger son. Kids come in contact with drugs all the time, but I wont welcome it in my house. Did I mention both of her kids have been arrested for dealing drugs in the last 6 months? Yeah. Anyway, she said they will probably "stay put" as they are being told, plus nobody is 100% sure that Ike wont turn and come here! And just to give credit where credit is due, for all of us who prayed that Ike would stay away from Louisiana, God has answered our prayers and sent this storm all AROUND Louisiana, but is keeping it away from us so far!!

Tonight is steak night at Hilltop! Yay! It's my favorite night of the week! Brent is out of town for work, so Walter, Cathy, & I are going. I am so ready!!!! I had a long day with a few meetings at work, so I'm ready to relax alittle bit. 2 of the kids I went to see were absent, so I didn't have a whole lot to do. One of them (pre-k) was actually sent home after he bit the speech teacher! So yeah, I have my work cut out for me with him. He doesn't speak English and really doesn't speak at all.

Have I said how wonderful my husband is lately? Not only is he the smartest man I know, but he's the sweetest man I know too! I should add the phrase he adds for me when he says things like that. He says, "Ohhhh you are SOOOO sweet - when you want to be!" He he he. Anywho, I have been really sad about the fish dying in the river. Seriously, when you look in the water, they are either already dead and floating or gasping for air. Last night I asked him if there was ANY way to help them, like, I don't know, put oxygen in the water or something. He said that there really wasn't. So, later last night I was locking the house up before we went to bed and he said not to lock the garage because he still had a hose going out to the river. I said, a water hose? He said, no, the air compressor hose to see if the air going into the water attracted any of the dying fish! Awwww!! Maybe he can save a few? I thought it was really sweet! But i'm sure they're all dead anyway!

No word from the neighbors about the missing swimming pool ladder. Good thing, because I am totally ready to defend my position and to let them know that we aren't comfortable with the little girl being in the pool anymore because of the lack of supervision, plus we are having to make repairs due to other people's use of the pool (jumping off the ladder, hanging on the sides), when all I use the pool for is to float and read my book. It really isn't the little girl's fault that she is so obnoxious, but it is still hard to be around her. Her mother is a single parent who adopted the little girl, so I guess she just spoils her and lets her do what she wants. I am sure when I tell her that I'm not comfortable with the little girl in the pool without someone watching her, she will tell me i'm wrong - she'll say something like "I can see her from the house and she's fine," or something. I will have to say, "It is MY pool and MY rules, not yours." The neighbors truly are nice people and the niece and brat don't live there - except for now until their power comes back on (please hurry Mr. Nice Electricity Man). I will say that ever since that night, her car has not been next door, so either her power came back on or they had a fight about her letting the little girl in the pool and she left. I'm just sayin...Anyway, they are nice people, but the man is just too involved in our lives. I think they think we are the kids they never had or something. But we aren't! I've already got a set of dysfunctional parents, but thanks anyway!! This is the same neighbor who called and woke me up recently to let me know I forgot to take my garbage out! I do try to be patient and we do look out for them since they are older (in their 70s), but I'm not going to put up with any craziness. A few people asked about putting up a fence, but the only thing we can really do in our neighborhood is put a fence around the pool, which would look kind of funny because above ground pools are already so tall. Our neighborhood has restrictions against fences in the yards because of the view of the river, so we can't put anything between our yard and theirs.

That's all I've got! Have a great evening!!!

Weary Wednesday

I have been so tired today!! I think it's from being so lazy last week. 3 of my schools finally got power back today, so those kids will hopefully go back on Friday. I've heard there is mold starting to grow in the schools, so I hope things will be ok to go back. I've been going to my other school every day and don't really have much to do there. I had 2 other groups scheduled to start this week, but with the "hurricane holidays" as one of my students called it, we didn't get to do it.
My next door neighbors (the very nice but overly involved in our lives ones) once again crossed the line yesterday. They have their very obnoxious, demanding 7 year old great niece and her mother staying with them until their power returns in Baton Rouge. I told them when we first put the pool up that the little girl was welcome to use the pool anytime, as long as someone was watching her, and she has used the pool several times over the summer (but nobody is ever out there watching her). Then, a few weeks ago we had to drain part of the pool to fix a leaking valve and when we filled the pool back up, the water was green and we've been working to get the chemicals right again. Then we had rain for 2 weeks, then a hurricane, so we're still getting the pool right. When we first put the pool up, it took several days of pouring bleach and pool chemicals in the pool and then it turned a pretty blue and all was good, so we began that process again. I told the neighbor and her niece not to let the little girl go in the pool because the chemicals were not right and we've been putting some strong things in it. So, I come home from work yesterday and see my neighbor who says, "the kids are in the pool having a great time!" I'm like, "kids?" She said her little niece had a friend over, and they were in the pool. I said, "the chemicals are not right in the pool and we've been pouring straight bleach in it everyday." She said, "oh I told my niece that, but she said it was ok!" Me, "hmmm, really?" So I go inside and look in the back yard and sure enough there are 2 little girls in the pool with no adult in sight. And they're doing the 2 things I've asked them not to do (which might lead to a LEAKY VALVE) which are sitting on the rim of the pool (it's a $300 Walmart pool!) and jumping off the ladder. So, I yelled out the back door, "y'all shouldn't be in the pool! It isn't ready for people to get in it!" The 7 year old yells back at me, "well my mom said we could!!!" I yell back, "OHHHHHH well then I guess you can!!" About that time they both got out and ran to tell on me, but never came back so i'm guessing someone realized it's actually MY pool and told them to stay out. So, this morning, I took the ladder out! I'm sure someone is going to fuss at me about that!

The water finally went down in the river and we can see our dock again, and talk about NASTY!!!! There is a foot of stinky mud stuck to everything and we've been told to get it off now or it hardens and becomes impossible to get off. Walter & I went and scrubbed and hosed it off last night and will go back out tonight and do it again. Apparently, the plants that decompose in the water after a storm like this take the oxygen out of the water and all of the fish are at the top of the water gasping for air! It's the saddest thing i've ever seen! Before long there will be dead fish EVERYWHERE and it will smell terrible. We are probably going to have to cancel Walter's party on the 20th, but we are going to wait until this weekend and decide how bad it's going to be. I remember after Hurricane Katrina how awful the smell was for weeks. I also heard from a neighbor today that a tornado hit at the condos where we lived during Katrina right before Hurricane Gustav, which would explain why all the chimneys were ripped off the building. The scary thing is that the condos are only a mile from where we live now! How scary is that! My friend said she saw the tornado and was so scared that she got her husband and dog in the car to try to out run it, but that the funnel cloud went the other way and then dissapated.


I went to Walmart after work today and picked up some things, including a DiGiornos pizza for dinner. I thought we were going to dinner with Cathy & Brent tonight because Brent will be leaving in the morning to go out of town, but Cathy said she'll just go with Walter & I tomorrow night for steak night. So, my point was, I didn't have anything in mind for dinner tonight, so I took the easy way out!

Tuesday

Yesterday, I went to work but only stayed 2 hours before they said we could leave. We really just needed to check our offices and make sure everything was ok after the storm, which it was. Afterwards, I went to my social work supervision meeting and my supervisor met me at a restaurant for lunch since her power was still out in her office. Today, I could only go to one of my schools because my other 3 still don't have power. They are considering bussing the kids to other schools if they don't get power back soon. What a mess! And today, our kids all had MRE's for lunch!! It seemed like a strange idea, but it worked out ok and the kids seemed to get a kick out of it. I also snuck away to lunch with my friend, Courtney, and ate at Albasha!! Yum!!!

Good news!! Well, for us it's good news! Ike is NOT coming here!!! Lesley has cancelled our reservations for our get-away plan and we don't seem to have anything to worry about from Ike. However, a lot of people in Baton Rouge and our area do not have power back, so there is still plenty to do here that will be much easier without another storm. I am very relieved! Thanks for all of your prayers about Ike!!

And, now that Ike isn't an issue (cause you have to be able to get to the store!!), Walter & I are starting the Atkins diet on Monday. If you want to do it too, let me know and we can be a support system for each other. I have some creative ideas and menus that work well for us. A couple of people have said they got sick on the Atkins diet and i'm not sure what that's about. I think if you eat a lot of salad and not so much the protein and fatty foods, it shouldn't be anything unhealthy, but everyone is different. I usually feel pretty good on the diet and always lose 10 lbs. pretty quick. People with more weight to lose usually lose it fast too, so if you're interested, just let me know. Now, I need to go shopping for the right kinds of food before Monday.

Questions & Comments:
Gramma 2 Many asked if we ever found out what happened to our waitress at Logan's Steakhouse the other night - No!! When we finally let someone know that nobody had been to get our drink order after 10+ minutes, the nice waitress who ended up taking our table said our server was "missing!" Maybe they forgot to assign that table to someone?

Ronnica asked why my step-father is so loud if he has the hearing aids. Actually he COULD and DOES turn them down if we are too loud for him, but he never turns them up so that we can enjoy the quiet! I'm guessing he has no idea how loud he is.

I appreciated hearing different opinions/advice about family problems. It does help to know that a lot of people suffer with similar issues! My mother and I are both social workers, so you'd think we could work out our own family issues, but it just aint like that!!

Now, to address Joe's question about the Elvis picture. I must remind you about my previous statement that Joe's comments are usually a request for me to tell a story, and this case is no different, well, except that I've decided to post a "JOE TRIBUTE" here before I tell the story of the Elvis picture, because you truly have to get to know Joe to really appreciate him.

This is when I taught Joe to say his name in sign language:

And this picture is from when I first met Joe, before the dental work

And this is from when Joe and I were preachers (or band crashers)!

Another very natural shot of Joe along with Walter & I

Ok, now this is Joe's celebrity moment!!

And me with the celebrity! You can tell by her wide eyed look of surprise that she was alittle nervous sitting with me. I would love to knock her out and she knows it!

The celebrity is a freak of nature that we know in person (and no, don't associate with, but ended up at a Karoake bar that she was at and we thought it would be funny to take pictures with her - and it was). This girl is an actual CAM-WHORE and actually went on the Rikki Lake show to brag about it!!! She lost her husband, kids, and well, pretty much everything, but she's doing what she wants!! I bet my friend, Dena, who stalks my blog could send me a link to the Rikki Lake show clip, if anyone is interested!!

And finally, when Joe & I were singers!

As for the Elvis picture, which can actually be seen behind me in this picture:

Someone in Walter's family started a tradition years ago of passing around a "Velvet Elvis" picture at Christmas time. It has become a joke and we all dread getting it each year. Whoever possesses the picture has to display it in their house for the whole year, and then give it (along with their real gift) to the person who's name they draw the following Christmas. Fortunately, we have only gotten it once. It even has a card in the back signed by all those who have passed it around before, so it is pretty funny and interesting to see. It also attracts a lot of attention as to why you have a velvet Elvis picture in your house. Some people never ask, but most do! Some, like Joe, are still asking 6 years later! Ok, any more questions?

Monday morning

Well, things returning to normal here and I'm off to work this morning. Cameron's school doesn't have power, so he wont be returning yet, but our kids go back tomorrow. I guess we'll get in 1 week of school before Ike knocks us on our butts again!!!

I got this award from Mere at The Babblings of Mere yesterday! If you've never visited Mere's blog, you should! She is a high school junior who is so inspiring to me. She is everything I wished I could have been at that age and I know this young lady will do big things with her life!


Now.. the rules are....

1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.
2.Link the person you received your award from.
3.Nominate 7 other blogs.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

So, here are my winners!
Molly at I Need A Martini
Debbie at Blog Around the World
Bobbie at 40 Shades of Pink
Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl
Patti at Nonna's News
Melissa at The Scholastic Scribe
Marla at Pak Adventures

Walter & I attempted to go to the Texas Roadhouse with Cathy & Brent last night, but I neglected to call first and make sure that they have re-opened after the storm, and apparently, they haven't! We made the 30 minute trip over there but everything in the general area seemed to be closed, so we went a few minutes away to Logan's Steakhouse. We realized after sitting for awhile that our server was "missing" and a very nice waitress just jumped right in and took care of us the whole night. Our food was really taking a long time, but we never said anything and were having fun visiting, but the waitress went to the manager on her own and told him that our food was taking WAY too long and he took care of our check! I told the manager how awesome the waitress had been, considering how we weren't even really her table, then we left her a $40 tip! The food was good (and free), so it was a good night! Then I had to come home and watch the VMAs. I really expected a Britney Spears train wreck this year, but she did good. I do think they cheated and gave her awards to make her feel better since she's been nominated nearly 20 times over the years and has never won, then suddenly won the first award tonight, but hey, let her have a little joy in her life, I reckon.

One of those boys, Bradley, went home yesterday afternoon to help clean up the yard at his house, then called later to ask if he could come back, so I said that was fine. Cameron's dad has electricity again, so he is going to pick Cameron up tomorrow for the week, so I told the boys that they'll have to leave when he leaves. Hopefully, they were already planning to do that!!

Questions & Comments:

Kimi asked what my mom said when I told her what I thought about her comment/selfishness. At first, I didn't say anything, but she called me once they got to Houston to apologize for saying things that might have hurt my feelings. I am guessing she realized how she must have sounded. I have come a long way in my life and have learned to be honest in those situations, but still nice, so I just told her that I didn't appreciate her talking about the kids that way and that I found her & my step-dad's attitude very selfish. We ended up arguing because she says they weren't selfish and that she did not say anything negative about the boys. Yeah, sure, but what's arguing going to do? I just told her it was better that we stop talking about it. I just hope she thinks twice before coming here during any other hurricanes because there will surely be other people in our house who are welcome here. And yes, my mom and Kimi's mom are very much alike when it comes to the grandkids and while I know it's their loss, it still hurts me. Now that my brother (who has always been her favorite) has a baby, she is making 10 hour trips to Georgia to see the baby when she's never driven 10 minutes to see mine or my sister's kids. The baby is 1 and they've made at least 4 trips there! She's never been to any of my kids or grandkids birthday parties or anything, yet they drove 10 hours to Daphne's 1st birthday. I have also learned that nothing I do or say will ever change the way she feels or the way she is, but it sure would be nice for her to see things through the eyes of her other children and grandchildren.

Several people commented on the blog my brother wrote - and yes, I do think it is very funny now, which is why I don't mind sharing it. At the time, I was very ticked off about it, but he did tell me that making his blog humorous was part of the reason people like to read it, so I get it that he added his own humorous touch to it. However, the sad part (or I guess the funny part) is that most of what he said is quite true. I could tell some stories about my family, especially the steps and the in-laws on my side...whew!! What a crazy bunch of people. I'll gladly share any stories, so if you saw something in there that you want to know more about, just ask!

A Poem For Ike

Dear Ike,
It is YOU I don't like.
You are not welcome here,
so please don't come near!

So Ike, please, please, please don't come here!! Our state can not handle you right now. We don't want to see anyone else get hit with this storm, but we can't take it at this time. It is starting to look like Ike may be taking a turn towards Texas, which I hate to see happen, but I'd hate to see it come here worse.

So, we got our power back last night!! I have been doing those things that couldn't be done on the generator, like washing clothes. My next door neighbor plugged their washing machine into their gas generator to wash clothes and burned up the motor in their washing machine! Also, Lesley was able to reserve a few hotel rooms in Mississippi if we should need to escape from Ike, so we are feeling good to have a plan. I don't know if Walter will leave with me, but that is a decision he'll have to make if Ike is headed here.

This link is to the "Friends of George" website. I read about his $1 cookbook on a friend's blog and went to read about George. I bought the cookbook as soon as I read the story and I hope that you will too! http://www.friendsofgeorge.com/cookbook_order.html

Walter & I got out the pool equipment and vacuumed leaves and dirt from the bottom of the pool and ran an extension cord to reconnect the pool pump yesterday. As soon as the pool was starting to not look as green, the storm came and we haven't been able to get the chemicals right yet. I'm hoping we can get it right and will have a little more time to enjoy it before it gets too cold.

Tonight Walter & I are going to the Texas Roadhouse and YES, I go there mostly for the bread and butter!!! We usually have steak at Hilltop on steak night so we don't venture off to other steak restaurants often, but Hilltop is not opened yet and well, I want some bread!!! The Texas Roadhouse is in Baton Rouge so it's about a 30 minute trip over there, but it will be worth it!!

We still have those boys here and i'm not sure if their families will be looking for them now that their power is back on - well, at least I know that Bryce's is back on. I don't mind them staying longer, but wouldn't you at least want to see your kid after a week? We aren't sure when their school will reopen. I don't think power is back in that area yet, so we'll just have to wait and see. I work in a different parish and we go back to work tomorrow and the kids come back on Tuesday.

Questions & Comments:

Tam asked me what i'm reading. At this time, it wont be one of the 70 unread books on her bookcase, but some books that I bought to use with my kids at school. The main one i've been reading is called "Individualized Supports For Students With Problem Behaviors." Probably nothing exciting to the general population, but I am really working with changing some of these behaviors to help the kids fit in, excel in school, and stay out of trouble!!

I had a couple of comments from people saying they would love to vent about their families on their blogs sometimes, but can't because their family reads their blog. None of my family knows about my blog and I hope they never run across it! I don't vent about them much, but it is nice to be able to vent once in awhile. My brother has a blog that he didn't think anyone would run across and he was "outted" by Walter's nephew accidentally. I'm not sure if i've mentioned on my blog that my brother, Kenny, and Walter's nephew, Tommy, have been best friends for 20 years. They both live in Georgia now and Kenny had posted a story on his blog about seeing Tommy's apartment on fire on the 6 o'clock news one night! Tommy thought the blog was a good way to show everyone the story and to let them know about the fire, so he sent a link to all of his family, including us! I read the story about the fire and then decided to scroll through the rest of the blog and found this:

(From 2003) Considering the wife and I spent a total of just 41 hours in Louisiana this weekend for our Bizarre Family Pre-Christmas Christmas celebration, it was an eventful time. The highlights:
• The adoptive mother of my niece - who my middle sister gave up for adoption 21 years ago and rediscovered a couple of years back - came to dinner. Now I know why my niece always figured she was adopted. “Mom” is a troll, and clearly shares no genes with my niece, who is a really beautiful girl (if you look past the heavy Baton Rouge makeup and trashy style).
• My oldest nephew (second child of the middle sister) was working Saturday, so he came by Friday night with his girlfriend.
• My second-oldest nephew (first child of my oldest sister) brought his girlfriend along as well. They are both 18, neither finished high school, both work fast-food jobs and they live together not far from my oldest sister in Texas. I'd not met the girlfriend before, and was quite prepared to disapprove. Would you believe I came away liking and respecting her? She”s pushing the nephew back toward school and seems to give him the structure his life had lacked for a long time.
• The third-oldest nephew (second child of my oldest sister) is working on a hip-hop career, sports a new bottom-lip piercing and chain smokes with the approval of his mom. He's 16. But he's “off the dope” as my sister says, is making good grades and wants to be a landscape architect. The bright hope of the family.
• My youngest nephew (the third child of my middle sister) is going into 6th grade next year and just got accepted at Jimmy Swaggart's Christian school. And this is seen as a good thing … Public eduction in Louisiana is so bad, you see, that kids are better off with a Swaggart education than an East Baton Rouge Parish Schools one.
• I found out Saturday morning that my stepfather had invited his 30-year-old adopted son (my adopted step-brother, I suppose) down from North Louisiana for our Pre-Christmas Christmas dinner. He had no where else to go, I was told, because his younger brother (biological and also adopted by my stepfather) doesn't want him around because the older brother has recently gotten married to his (the older brother's) first wife's cousin. The younger brother is still friends with that first wife, and thus does not want his older brother - or the wife's cousin, I suppose - around at Christmas. The beat-down Oldsmobuick carrying my adopted step-brother, his cousin-in-law-turned-second-wife and four little redneck kids of varying heritage pulled up right as we were walking in the house Saturday. Taking in the Redneck spectacle on a security-camera monitor (a leftover from the Baton Rouge serial killer days) - my long-lost niece asked “Does the little kid have a mullet??”
• My parents were talking about finding the Paris Hilton sex video on the Internet … but the video they described was not the Paris Hilton video. I was scared to learn more about what they were actually watching, and why.
• My crazy aunt (the wife of my mother's oldest brother) showed up right as we were leaving Saturday night. Actually, her car appeared on the security monitor as we were beginning to leave, which greatly hastened our exit. This is the woman, you see, who two years ago crashed our close-family gift exchange and was so horrified to not have presents to give us that she excused herself ("I need to run out to the car"), snuck off to Walgreen”s, bought a few sets of cheap Christmas dinnerware and two hours later came back with makeshift gifts for all of us. No, none of us had presents for her.
• Somehow in all the excitement, I came down with Pink Eye.
I blame the kid with the mullet.

Now, this scene describes a family Christmas get-together at my house!!! I was pretty preturbed after reading this, although I do see the humor in it, but it taught me to be careful what I say on my blog, because you never know who may run across it! He's never posted anything about his family again either!

How about....Texas Roadhouse???

Well, let's just say I won the bet!! Our power came back on about 5 minutes ago!!! Yay!!! And I get dinner wherever I want and I think I'm wanting some of that awesome bread from the Texas Roadhouse!! Woohoo!!

And to top off this great news...my friend, Lesley, and I made a plan in case Hurricane Ike comes here. We are NOT staying!!! We are GOING!!! So there!!! We are trying to get rooms together in a hotel where Mr. Lesley's (or sometimes we call him Mike's) mother works and we will not be freaked out during another bad storm. More on this LATER...but we have POWER!!!!

My new love...

BUCKET TRUCKS!!! And this one is on our street!! And our neighbors directly across the river just got their power back!! And the little country stores a mile down the road just got their power back!! I think we're going to get our power back!!!!

And here is a picture of the condo we just moved from last year - where we rode out Hurricane Katrina! We were in the top unit at the end, right under the blue tarp and chimney that was ripped off during Gustav!

Saturday - day 6 with no power

As of this morning, 55% of our parish has power, so I'm hopeful that ours will come back on before the end of the weekend. My neighbor is convinced it will be today, and I hope he is right! Power or no power, I will be back at work on Monday. The schools in my parish do have electricity, so we'll go back Monday and the kids go back Tuesday. My west side schools may not be able to open for awhile though, so I hope things are ok over there. Baton Rouge's schools are not going to go back next week, although i'm not sure why that decision was made this early. It seems like they are in better shape there than we are with the exception of a couple of neighborhoods.

Walter & I took the boys last night to get some Military MRE's (Meal - Ready to Eat) meals and ice that was being given out in our area. The meals are completely self contained and includes an entree, crackers, instant coffee/tea, dessert, and a heater to heat the main entree. It's a pretty amazing idea and the food doesn't taste bad. I think it's great that FEMA provides food for those who need it. We wont go back for more because the stores are open and we are able to buy food, but we wanted to show the boys what was going on and let them have the MRE's. You get 12 in a box, so they split them up and are going to have them over the next few days. If you've never seen an MRE (this is only my 2nd time), they are amazing!


Then we went to Brewbachers for dinner and let the boys shoot a game of pool and enjoy the air conditioning for a little bit. This morning, Walter & I went to Walmart to re-stock our groceries. It is starting to look like Hurricane Ike may have his sights set on Louisiana and honestly, I don't know if we can take it.

I am really frustrated with my mom. She & my step-dad, John, live about an hour from us and were planning to come over here on Wednesday after being without power at all for 2 days and I have always let them know that they are welcome here. She had called and they were getting their things together to come here when I mentioned that the boys were here. She said, "oh, those boys are there? Will they be there the whole time?" I said, yes, as long as they don't have power at their houses, they will be here. She said, "oh then we will just drive to Houston (5 hours during normal times) because John needs the house to be quiet so he can work on his book." Now, just let me say that as much as I love John, he is the LOUDEST person you'll ever be around. Once he wakes up at 5am, nobody else in the house will get anymore sleep. He wears hearing aids in both ears and keeps the tv LOUD and talks LOUD, but I was willing to deal with that to have them here, safe, and enjoying the electricity that we have. I found it very selfish that they were only concerned with themselves and told my mom that. I also told her that besides the 3 boys, there could be other people here at any time because we invited anyone who needed a place to go. Times like this call for people to do what they have to do for each other and selfishness wont get you very far, especially if you need to stay at someone else's house. I was most upset with the way she talked about those boys as if they were animals, and don't forget, one is her grandson! She's never been a grandmother to my kids or my sister's, and that is something that hurts me often, especially now that my brother has a baby that she has decided that she DOES want to be a grandmother, but that's a whole nother post! Anyway, I suggested that they find other options for future storms unless they can handle fitting in with a house full of people and making the best of it. They are lucky they were able to get to Houston and that may not always be an option. Anywho, thanks for letting me vent!!

Walter thinks he has spotted an alligator living in our boat slip and i'm a little freaked out by that. The water is up over the sides of the boat slip, which would mean an alligator could walk on up into my back yard. He went out to try to take pictures of it, but didn't see it again.

Don't forget to watch my friend, Mover Dave, on Playhouse Disney on September 10th!! Here is a link to their website with games and activities for your kids. They already have a huge following and are teaching wonderful lessons to kids, so go check it out!! I grew up with Mover Dave and am extremely proud of how far they have come!!

I'm just sayin...

20% of the people in my parish who are with DEMCO have POWER!!! The closest town to the right of us is getting power back like crazy! Maybe we're next?

Day 5

We are starting to get some "official" statements about when to expect our power to come back on. Cameron's school is one of the ones that wont have power "for awhile" and it looks like another 7 - 10 days for our power, although our town isn't specifically mentioned in the statement yet. A town to the left of us says 21 days (Cameron's school district) and a town to the right of us says 2 days, so I'm hoping we're more like the town to the right!!!

I finally talked to Elizabeth yesterday and they are having problems with flooding at their house. They live in an area where water overflows from 2 rivers and she has water in her yard that is coming close to going in her house. I think both of the rivers have crested now, so the water should start going down. She said they are having to use a small boat to get from the street to her house. I asked where she is staying, and of course, she says AT THE HOUSE!! That girl! I told her they can come out here, so maybe they will do that. Landen is with his dad, but she has Mack (1) and he is driving her crazy. No doubt with no electricity and nothing to do.

Someone asked me if our generator is running my laptop - yes. It is a generator that is wired into 8 circuits in our house, so it runs nearly everything but a few lights and the air conditioner. It really doesn't seem like we don't have power because pretty much everything works. All of our ceiling fans, microwave, window units we bought to use when the a/c doesn't work, tv, everything really. There are outlets in each room that don't work, so you just have to know which ones do. It is very convenient and I will say again that it's the best investment we've ever made. When this one needs to be replaced in several years, we have already decided to buy the whole house generator that will run the a/c too.

Several people pointed out that my post about being lucky yesterday isn't all to do with luck, but has to do with my hard work and determination, and I have to agree. I am sure some good luck has been with me along the way, but I definitely have made things happen through my determination and hard work and I appreciate those kind comments!

Good news! No sooner than I published my post venting about having to feed everyone elses kids yesterday, Bryce's mom called to say that she had bought extra drinks & canned goods for Bryce during the storm and that he should go down the street and get them for the boys here. It almost made me think she knows about my blog, but i'm sure it was just a coincedence, but i'm very glad she thought to help us out a little with the boys. And yes, I said we are ON THE WAY and went and picked up what she had.

My next door neighbor finally got a repairman out here to see about his backup generator and the guy said he will have to order a part to fix it! This generator is BRAND new and probably cost $5,000 and it has not worked at all during this storm! Walter has worked on it several times, so I knew it wasn't fixable the way it is. They are getting by with a gas generator and you have to refill it with gas every day and to get gas you have to find an open station and wait for HOURS!

Well, I'm off to catch up on some reading!

Day 4 of no power

Things are really looking better today. The estimates for restored power are crazy (2 - 4 weeks), but I'm starting to hear of people in different areas of Baton Rouge having their power back on. Sean (Walter's son) called last night and has power, Walter's niece on the other side of Baton Rouge has power, and so on and so on. Now, I'm not in Baton Rouge, but we are only about 30 minutes away and I feel like ours will be back on before the weekend. However, ZERO percent of our parish currently has power. Walter and I have a bet about when the electricity will come back on; I say before 2 weeks and he says not until 3 weeks, so wish me luck because I have a dinner of my choice riding on this one!! Plus I would like having the electricity back on. I'm still waiting to hear from Elizabeth, but they don't have a "land line" and cell service isn't great right now. I am guessing she is at her mom's with the boys and I will try again to get through to someone over there today.

I don't usually vent on my blog, but today I need to just a little. Before I do, let me just say that I don't mind caring for other people's children, especially ones who otherwise might go without. I have had 2 extra teenagers here since Sunday and I'm glad they were able to stay here, be safe during the storm, and enjoy the electricity afterwards. It isn't costing us any money to provide the extra propane/electricity for them here or space in the house. They both stay in Cameron's room with him, so we still have plenty of room if anyone else needs a place to stay. They also don't cause any trouble and sometimes we don't even know they are here. But...have you ever fed three 15 & 16 year old boys? Good lawd! And if your 15 or 16 year old child stayed with someone for a week, wouldn't you send some snacks or something? And if your teenage son was staying with people during a time when stores are closed and food can't be found, wouldn't you at least ask if you could bring them something or do something? But no. Nothing. I am not surprised because one of them, Bryce, has lived with me off and on for over a year and his mother has never offered a dime for food or anything. And currently she lives about 7 houses down from us, but no. Bradley's grandparents probably don't have much to offer, but I'm just talking about a couple of bags of chips or a 12 pack of Coke. Part of the problem lies with me and I have learned one important lesson during the course of my life (well, i've learned more than one, but here is one i've learned) and that is nobody can take advantage of you unless you let them. I'm not going to demand anything or call and request food, but the next time a parent calls to check if the kid can stay longer, i'll just say, "sure, but we could really use some drinks and snacks for them." Now, lets pretend someone will call and ask!! I really hate to fuss or sound cheap, but we are supplying five people with food and drinks for at least a week and it would be nice to offer some help for them. I'm just sayin....

I sat out on our porch tonight and was really struck by how lucky we are. It might be hard in this situation to think of being lucky, but sometimes just having quiet time to reflect can help put things in perspective. I am such a lucky girl and I really have to say that I have everything I need and everything I want and I am very thankful. The only exception that I could think of is JP, but in all honesty, while he is in jail and could be for the rest of his life, I still have him in my life and can see him, talk to him, write to him, but I can't make his decisions for him and I have let go of that.

What I came up with for my own life:
*I have a relationship with God
*I have a wonderful husband who treats me like a princess
*I have 2 healthy sons who mean the world to me
*I have Elizabeth and her boys in my life and words can't explain how great that is
*Walter & I have our dream home that managed to keep us safe and comfortable during a terrible storm
*It took almost 20 years, but I met my goal and earned a Master's Degree
*My Master's Degree landed me the best job in the world working with kids I love more than I could tell you
*I have some of the best friends imaginable
*I have my dream car
*I have a pool (so it's a $300 Walmart pool - I love it!)
*We live on the river and have a boat (being on the water is my favorite thing ever!)
*My parents, brother, & sister are great from a distance!
*I have the best in-laws imaginable

What do you have to be thankful for in your life?

Speaking of JP, he called this week to check on us before the storm and said he is doing ok. He is biding his time until the trial in December and seems to have a positive attitude about everything. He and Walter's oldest sister have really bonded through writing to each other. She is 70ish and it's amazing to me how much they enjoy each other's friendship. I pray that he will be released soon and I can take him to visit with her sometimes. I would also love for him to see his Maw Maw & Paw Paw who live near me before it's too late. Neither of them are doing well and I don't think they will be here a year from now. It's very sad. But JP is doing ok and that is what is most important right now.

Questions & Comments:

BlogStalker asked if there is police presence to stop people from looting and honestly, in my area, we have never had problems with that. I saw the National Guard at the place that was supposed to be giving out supplies near our house yesterday, but that was just to protect the area and people handing out supplies (which weren't really being given out at that location). But, I will say, I have not ventured more than 5 miles from our house since before the storm on Sunday, so i'm really not sure what it looks like "in town" and at the stores, etc.

Blogging from boredom

There isn't much to do over here other than play on my computer, so you're in luck! You get another post today! Who knew it was your lucky day. We ventured out of the house today and went to a small convenience store a few miles away that opened on generator power and got a few 12 packs of soft drinks and some chips. We are ok for another day or two with food, so no worries there. A major grocery store opened up about 20 miles from us and has power (so you can use a debit card!!), so we will probably go there tomorrow or the next day, if we can.

Here is my hurricane posse - Bryce, Cameron, & Bradley:

Walter & I got the boys out in the yard today and we cleaned up all the branches, sticks, and junk that landed in our yard. Cameron & Bradley even went into the boat slip and the dock and dislodged some plants/weeds that have been growing under there for a couple of months, so they really cleared the place out!!

Our propane company brought their truck out today and topped off our propane tank, which is great. They have assured their customers that they will be out and getting the propane to us. I wont even tell you how much it is costing to run our generator, but it's worth it not to be sitting here in the dark, sweating, and worrying about losing everything in our refrigerator/freezer. Well, ok, maybe I will tell you since i'm looking at the bill - $50/day! Our neighbors have the whole house generator that runs everything in their house (A/C included) and theirs is costing $100 day! FEMA may reimburse these expenses, I'm told. Also, our mail and garbage service came today! How people get out and work in all this mess, not to mention the fact that their families probably have needs that aren't being met right now, is beyond me, but it was nice to see some normalness going on.

There is supposed to be a site set up a few miles from us where you can get MRE's, ice, water, etc. We went to see if they were giving anything out yet, but so far the "pods" haven't shown up yet. If we can get over to the grocery store, we wont need anything from the site, but it's nice to know that is an option. It's scary when you can't buy gas to get to wherever you need to go to shop for supplies.

I mentioned yesterday that the condo where we lived before moving to our house a year ago (where we lived during Katrina) lost it's chimney and has a gaping hole in the roof. Well, someone told us last night that the townhouse where we lived before that in Baton Rouge lost part of its roof during the storm!! So, the last 2 places we've been during hurricanes both had the roof damaged during the storm! That really seems like some kind of sign to me!!

Wednesday

So, here we are! And yes, we've been here many times before, but this seems to be the worst yet. The electric companies say that it could be 2 - 4 weeks before everyone has power again. Walter is certain after seeing the damage for himself that it will be a month before we have power again. I really don't think it will be that long, especially with all of the help that is coming from electric companies in other areas. We will have to wait and see who is right!! There are 2 main electric companies and fortunately, we are with DEMCO, the smaller of them. In Baton Rouge, Entergy has about 250,000 people without power, whereas in our area, DEMCO has about 90,000, so maybe our company will get to use quicker.

Regardless, we are doing fine with our backup generator. The propane for our generator is expensive though, and the truck will have to come at least once a week to keep our tank full. My next door neighbor's backup generator still isn't working, but someone is supposed to be coming out to look at it today. We had them over for some of Walter's homemade Gumbo last night, but they haven't wanted to stay here. They have a gas generator running their refrigerator, a fan, and a couple of lights. I will say again that our backup generator is probably the best investment we have ever made. I wish now we'd splurged and gotten one that runs the whole house (a/c and all), but we are far from being uncomfortable here and I feel extremely lucky to be riding out this time with a house full of power.

It is being said that the winds and wind gusts during Hurricane Gustav equal Hurricane Betsy's in 1964. Betsy was the worst storm here in many years. We are starting to see a few gas stations open and it looks like today there are more groceries stores opening using generator power. Walter & I did our hurricane supply shopping thinking it would just be the two of us here, then Cameron decided to ride the storm out here rather than his dad's house, then we adopted Bryce & Bradley through the storm, so i've been worried about running out of drinks and snacks (which obviously aren't necessities, but we enjoy them), but so far we are doing ok. I may try to get out tomorrow and pick up some more.

Cameron & I don't have school/work until at least Monday. I can't imagine that the schools will have electricity next week and there is no type of generator systems in the schools, so there is no way to go until all of that is back on. I guess they'll have to shorten our other holidays throughout the year to make up for the days or something.

All of our families and friends are doing ok. My brother-in-law, Ed, had some damage from falling trees at his house, but nobody was hurt. My parents were going to come out and stay with us today, but when I told them we had 3 teenage boys here, they decided to go to Houston to my sister's house. God forbid, someone have to spend time with teenagers, much less their own grandson! My step-son, Sean, & his girlfriend tried to come here from Baton Rouge yesterday, but they couldn't find gas to get here. I've kept in touch with my friends throughout the storm and everyone seems to be doing ok. I'm grateful for that!

I haven't left the house other than a couple of trips down the street. There are still trees and power lines in the roads everywhere you go and I really don't have any desire to get caught in that!! We went to visit with Cathy, Brent, & their house guests last night, and then Cathy & Brent came down here to drink hurricanes and get a break from their house guests! Today, Cameron, Bryce, Bradley & I will be cleaning up trash in the yard.

The day after Gustav

What a mess! There is so much damage all throughout the state. I feel really fortunate that we are safe and didn't have any damage here. Our generator is working fine, but the house is hot, especially upstairs, because we can't use the window units when it's raining outside. The windows in our bedrooms are unusually shaped, so Walter had to use plywood around the window units to make them fit into the windows, but rain can come in too. Downstairs we were able to use the window units in the kitchen & the office to try to cool off the bottom floor. Walter & I slept on the sofas last night and the boys were happy to use several fans in the bedroom. This morning, the rain and wind has stopped, so I opened all of the windows upstairs. Hopefully, that will cool things off. I am expecting my mom & step-dad to come stay here as well as Walter's son, Sean & his girlfriend if they do not have power at their homes before long, so I am hoping we can have cool places for everyone to stay.

There was a surge of water in the rivers as predicted, but since we are up so high, that wasn't a problem for us. Our dock is underwater, but that isn't a big deal. I'm sure many houses in our area are about to get water in them, if they haven't already. Here is Walter out on our dock taking his lights off before they go underwater.

During Katrina, we lived in a condo down the street while we were building our house. We lived there until a year ago, when we were finally able to move into our house. We drove by the condo yesterday, and the chimney was ripped off the roof and there is a large, gaping hole in the roof!! I hope nobody lives there now and I'm glad we don't! I'm sure the place is full of water! Here is a picture of the condos with all of the boat house roofs ripped off on one side. Half of them are laying in the street on the other side! You can also see where 2 of the chimneys are laying on top of the roof. Our condo was on the other side, but the same thing happened.

Walter went to work this morning, but his plant is out of power, water, etc., so he came home and will go back when there is something he can do. The electric companies are saying there may be no power for weeks, so who knows when we will all be able to get back to school and work.

It's over!!

Gustav has come and gone, leaving us with a couple more days of rainy weather in the forecast. We are fine here, just a lot of cleaning up to do in the yard and waiting days or weeks for the power to come back on. We have our backup generator, so we have the use of all of our lights, fridge, freezer, computers, tv, etc. Really, everything but our air conditioner, but we have some small window units hooked up to keep the house cool. This generator is the best investment we've bought based on how well it worked when we really needed it. It is really not noticeable that we don't have electricity, and when it might take a week or more to come back on, this is priceless. We went through Hurricane Katrina with 1 fan and 1 small black & white tv for over a week, so this has been nice.

The news is saying that the damage is the worst they've ever seen in Baton Rouge & surrounding areas. We have seen a few houses with major damage in our area and feel fortunate that we escaped any damage. There are curfews in effect from 8pm until dawn, so hopefully people will heed that warning and stay inside.

Afternoon update

The winds have really gotten strong here and it's definitely the worst we've had so far. Walter thinks the winds are worse than they were during Katrina, but i'm not sure I agree. From what the news is reporting, this should be the worst of the storm and then we'll be left to deal with several days of power outages and lots of rain. I'm pretty sure everyone's power is out at this time. We've checked on our family and friends, and other than some trees down, everyone seems to be ok. Here is a video clip of our backyard from the little bit I could step outside and record.



The New Orleans airport has closed and all flights have been cancelled, which means that we do get a full refund for our tickets to New York! Yay! I think the final total was $814, so I am excited about that!

Power is officially out

It's official...we've lost power, but thankfully, our backup generator is working as planned. Our a/c doesn't run on the backup power, but all of our ceiling fans do and we can run window units once the storm passes, if needed. Also, as long as the internet company doesn't lose power, we should have internet (and phone) access as well. Walter is outside with the next door neighbor who's backup generator came on, but isn't running any of their electricity! I hope they can get it fixed because otherwise they'll end up over here, which is fine, except their extremely demanding 6 year old great niece is with them, and I don't think i'm into having her yell at me in my house for the next couple of days. Yikes.

The weather is definitely getting worse, but not nearly as bad as what i've seen in other storms. It is very windy and branches are falling every where you look, but so far, I think it's going to be ok. We have an odd thing happening with one of our picture windows in the living room. When a strong wind comes through, the window moves a little - sort of pops out just a little and then goes back to how it was. I've moved everything from in front of the window because I can see it breaking at some point if the wind gets worse. I hope not, but you never know.

Cameron, Bryce, and Bradley are doing fine with the storm. They were a little nervous sleeping last night, but there really wasn't much bad weather during the night. They are 15 & 16 years old, so I think they are paying more attention to the news and the storm than they have in the past.

I'm seeing on the news where the water is topping the levees in New Orleans and there are a couple of loose barges threatening to breach the levees. That's all bad stuff and I hope everything will be ok with that. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers here in Louisiana and hopefully, this storm will pass on through soon.