Back to normal????

I don't know what that is anymore. We've been in our own little world for the past 4 months, and leaving that is hard.

Greg didn't go to work this morning because his stomach was bothering him. I have no doubt his stomach felt aweful, but I believe it's pure anxiety. Last week he was anxious to prove he could get back to work. Now he's just anxious, and not in a good way. He left a very high stress world for a while, and getting back into it is hard. I know, I've done it. Or tried to do it I should say. It didn't work out for me.

He just left for the afternoon about a half-hour ago and I miss him so much I am at the point of tears. I think he was at that point when he left. We've never spent much time apart, and we'd both gotten used to being together all the time. And for the past 4 months my main focus has been taking care of Greg. Now I'm feeling a little lost. I miss him so much I have no motivation to do anything. He really is my heart and my best friend.

Greg loves his job. He loves the work he does and the people he works with. They are like a family, and like any family, day-to-day there can be problems and conflicts, but overall he's very happy there. And we're happy he's there. He works for & with good people who've done a lot for us these past few months. And he's less than a mile from home so he comes home for lunch everyday. But it's a stressful job. Getting used to that stress level took time, and it will take time to get used to again. I want to do everything I can to help him. So I want to make home a refuge, but that means cleaning and sorting and organizing. All things I'm not really motivated to do now.

Gregory has the best outlook of us all. He's loved every minute of having his dad home. But as Greg was leaving, he was doing his happy dance. I asked what he was so happy about and he replied, "It means we're getting our lives back!"

Just a bit more snow...

I stumbled across several YouTube videos of Dec. 11th's snow day in New Orleans. Here's a sample...

Merry Christmas!

So much for blogging everyday in December. It's something I like to do when I am alone, and that just hasn't been happening much.

Greg continues to recover from surgery. Everyday is a little better. And when he does have pain, it's an achy pain, not the nerve pain he was having before. His first outing was the office Christmas luncheon. He then went shopping 3 days in a row (probably his personal record), and insisted on washing the truck, w/Gregory's help last weekend. He went back to work Monday, and stayed til about 3. He claims he never heard the doctor say he could go for half days after 2 weeks - he claimed he said back to normal. Tuesday he went in but worked through lunch and just came home around 1:30. I doubt much work was going on in the office anyway. His office was closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and Fridays are always a half day.

Christmas Eve I made it to church for the 3:00 service. It's the only time of the year that we sing anything that could be called "traditional". I missed the usually pumped-up worship time, but enjoyed singing the traditional songs and really listening to the words, the meanings. We had hot chocolate and cider available on the way in/out. Yum. We also had communion, which we only do about 6 times a year. That is one thing I do miss from Catholic church. It was a special service and I was glad to have made it.

On the way there, I stopped at my friend Brandie's home. Her oldest son lives with his father, and he was visiting for the day. I hadn't seen him in several months, probably close to a year. He was as tall as me, and I had on heels!

Here's her family:


It was my intention for us to have gumbo for Christmas eve/day, but it just got too warm and muggy for it. I'll do that next cold spell. So we ended up having leftover buffet for Christmas Eve. We'd told Gregory he could open one present Christmas Eve. We had already let him open 2 gifts other evenings when he was begging. I like opening the presents gradually. I think the smaller gifts get to be appreciated that way, and it's not so overwhelming. But by Christmas Eve eve, he was really driving me batty asking things like what time on Christmas eve could he open the present, who decides what he opens, etc. I've never liked the placing of gifts to be opened much later under the tree. For the first several years, we didn't put any gifts out until a day or 2 before Christmas. This is the first year they went under the tree earlier, and it was torture for everyone. It just doesn't feel like the Christmas spirit to constantly be telling a child "no" about a gift. And, personally, if I've got a gift for you, I want you to open and enjoy it as soon as possible. I don't intend this to sound morbid, but what if I have a gift for someone and I'm waiting to give it to them, and one of us doesn't live to the magical day of opening. Time is precious, and no one is promised tomorrow. If you have a gift, a wish, or a thought, share it NOW!

Anyway, before I went to church I pulled Greg aside and asked if he would mind opening all the gifts that night. The waiting game was just making everyone miserable. He didn't mind. So after church, we had a quick leftover buffet for dinner, and then went riding to see Christmas lights. Gregory had opening a gift on his mind, so looking at lights wasn't high on his list, as you can see.


The Messenger family has decorated their home and both neighboring lots for over 40 years. Each year they add a new setting. Not all of them have withstood the test of time, but they have scenes on display from as early as 1964!















We then returned home and Gregory asked which present he could open. When I told him, "all of them", he asked several times if I was serious. So we had gift exchange at about 9PM Christmas Eve. I got a wonderful robe I've wanted for a while, a new printer/scanner, and a sandwich grill (from Gregory). Greg got a new gun (yuk), an electric razor from me, and a nice book about guns from Gregory. Gregory made it well known that all he wanted was an Xbox 360 Elite. He said he didn't mind waiting til after Christmas, and he would give us his Christmas money to help pay for it. I told that to my mom and she was so touched by his understanding that she gave me money she'd beeen making babysitting for a neighbor. So it was under the tree, along with the accessories and a game. He was so excited. He was just as excited to give Greg & I our gifts as he was to open his own.

Christmas day was very quiet. We'd all stayed up very late and slept in. We had breakfast for lunch, and Greg cooked some most excellent chicken breasts on the grill for dinner. All in all it was a great Christmas, Gregory says "best ever!" It was nice. And we still have several family members to celebrate with, so it's not over yet!




Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Sneaux!

It began to snow at about 5:00 this morning and it came down in big flakes for 3.5 - 4 hours steady. This is the most snowfall here in my lifetime. It's not like me to wake up at 5:30, much less wake up my child at 5:45, but I had to. It wasn't fair for us to be enjoying it without him. It's 2:30 in the afternoon now, 39 deg.(F), and about half of it has melted. The trampoline still has a heavy coating, the roof is still mostly white, the snowman is standing tall. I don't know if we're supposed to get anymore or not. The sun is peeking out now, a little at a time.


The last time it snowed here, Gregory was 3.5, and it fell at night so we didn't get to see it coming down. We just enjoyed what was left when we got up.

Home sweet home

Greg's surgery went very well yesterday. It lasted just under an hour. He awoke saying his leg did NOT hurt. The leg pain is really what's been keeping him down, so to hear that was incredible. So far, everything has gone wonderfully. He tolerated anesthesia well, was only on morphine for 12 hours or so, tolerated eating very well and walked the hall w/the PT standing taller than I've seen in a long time. Those were the required markers to go home, so home we are. We got out about noon. Of course, his low back still hurts. But he feels so much better. He's not pale anymore; he's not wincing at every move. He can return to work part time in 2 weeks and sees the doctor for follow-up in 3 weeks. I'm sure he'll be working from home in a day or two.

Thanks to all for the prayers, healing thoughts and positive energy sent our way!

12 hours...

Plans have changed and we have to be at the hospital by 6:30 AM. We are NOT early risers. So I'll be taking my melatonin a bit early tonight. Right now we are waiting for my FIL to arrive and then we'll get something "out" for dinner.

I got some ornaments on the tree, but there are so many to go through! My mom brought about twice as many ornaments as I already had. And she's got it organized. The boxes have notes of what ornaments are in it and who it came from/when she got it. My child will not be so lucky. :)

So send all of your prayers, healing thoughts, and positive energy our way. I'll update tomorrow if I am able to.

Love you all!

Christmas tree

We got the tree assembled and light tonight. This is my favorite time. I love my ornaments, but there's something about a tree with just white lights on it that's so beautiful to me.

I discovered some coffee mugs from a New Orleans department store, which closed at least 20 years ago. I'm excited to see what else Mom's brought me. I do know that there are a few boxes that she wants my sisters and I to go through. All of those ornaments are special to me, but I know many of them have much more sentimental value to my sisters. Some may have been from their mother or grandmother (we're half-sisters). I won't put up a fight for ornaments. After 20 years of marriage, we have quite a collection of our own anyway.

So tomorrow, we begin to decorate the tree!

Good & not so good

This morning my parents brought us their artificial tree to use this year. There's no way we could have a real tree this year w/what's going on. Anyway, she'd not put it up in years, and happily agreed to bring it. I think it's mine now, as my mom made references to storing it in my attic. She also brought boxes of ornaments! Some are from my grandmother and many from my childhood. There's still much we haven't gone through. Gregory & I have gotten the bottom half of the tree together. It's big, and it's full! I want to put the lights on the bottom before moving any higher, and they're still in the attic. So that'll wait ‘til tomorrow.

This afternoon, I went to Walgreen’s. When I came out, a young couple was walking away from where I was parked. They asked me if that was my truck. Yes, Greg's truck. They told me that man (pointing to a car parked a few rows over) hit your truck. He hit it trying to turn into the parking spot. So I walked over and his window was down just a little and I asked him, "Sir, did you hit my truck?" He said he couldn't hear me. So I repeated it louder, "Did you hit my truck?" He said, "I don't think so." Poor thing he was obviously quite old, & I believed he couldn't hear me. So I called the police and an officer came out. By this time his wife had come out and I told her what had happened. The officer took down all of the information and will file a report, but there's no investigation since it was an accident on private property. So he didn't get a ticket, but there'll be a police report and I got all of his vehicle & insurance information.

I could tell he was scared, maybe even confused. I felt bad for him. The police officer asked him how long he and his wife had been married. He said 60 years. She said, no, 69 years. She said she was 89 and he was 92. After the officer left he apologized, and I assured him it was okay, it was fixable, and wished him a Merry Christmas.

I've never had to deal with anything this grown-up before, so I guess I will start by calling my insurance company. Like I said, he wasn't ticketed, but the report will state that he did hit my vehicle (his headlight was smashed from it), so I believe his insurance will pay for it. It's not very bad. In fact if the couple hadn't pointed it out to me, I don't think I would have noticed it until we washed it. It's very low on the driver's rear fender panel.

So, I had to go home and tell Greg that his truck, his pride and joy, which he has earned with much hard work, was dented. I told him all about it, and he got dressed to look at it. He agreed, he probably wouldn't have noticed until washing it too. His final word, "Could have been worse." I've never loved him more.

4 more days...

Only 4 more days until Greg's surgery. It's been a bad week for him. He's having trouble sleeping. He can't sit for very long. But he has been able to make it to work 4 days this week, half days that is. He goes until he can't think anymore, and then he comes home.

I'm beginning to think ahead. We've been stuck at this roadblock for a while, and while it sucks, it has become our routine. It'll be nice to get back to other routines. And I'm hopeful to see just how much better he'll feel. He's likely had this injury for a long time and it finally got severe enough to stop him. He's always had some back pain, since the day I met him in 1985.

My niece is getting married in March and I really want to dance with my husband at the wedding. And it'll be nice to be able to focus some more attention on Gregory. He's really been flying solo for a while. We've missed so many outings because of Greg's condition combined with my car being out of commission. We hope to go ice skating next Friday!

My FIL will come up Monday and stay at the house at night to sit with the furbabies. It'll give Gregory the choice of coming home if he doesn't want to stay at the hospital with us. And it'll give my FIL something to do. He's a very nervous guy to begin with, so letting him help us will help him.

I'm off to bed now. Early for me, but I'm really exhausted these days.

A Christmas favorite

6 more days...

We've looked forward to this for a while, and now that it's so close, it's become surreal. Well, for me it has. Greg's getting nervous. Because he didn't get the relief he'd hoped for with the injections, he's saying "I hope it works". I feel for him. I've had several surgeries, but most were emergencies, so no sit and wait time.

We continue to receive blessings through this all and I refuse to be overcome with concern about finances. My daily needs are met daily. If I don't have it today, I don't need it today. :)

So surgery and then 2 weeks later BAM Christmas. Believe it or not, I've been able to get some bargain shopping done. Still need to pick up a couple of toys for the church toy drive though.

Getting to know you Christmas version

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Love both, but since egg nog is only available at Christmas time, I'd chose egg nog.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? If it's wrappable, it gets wrapped :)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree, blue on the house (also blue) - none outside this year :(

4. Do you hang Mistletoe? No. The whole house is a *kiss me* zone!

5. When do you put your decorations up? Around Dec 10th (like to leave them up a while after X-mas)

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Candied Yams!!


7. Favorite memory as a child? Going to Mass at St. Louis Cathedral

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? There was never a moment when I *knew*. I just remember around 4th grade the kids who still believed were made fun of. I can remember thinking I didn't really believe, but I'd better believe just in case!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We usually do. I don't like opening everything at once - too overwhelming. We like to start opening one gift a day a few days ahead. I think the gifts get a chance to be appreciated individually that way, especially the *smaller* gifts. And I believe that if I have a gift for you, why wait? I want to see you enjoy it now. :)


10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, lots of sentimental orniments, paper chain garland Gregory & I made a few years ago, and tinsel

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Since It's never something I have to live with, LOVE it! It snowed when Gregory was about 5, enough to cover outdoor toys and shrubs most of the day. Now he complains about it never snowing *anymore*. I remember school closing due to snow when I was in K.

12. Can you ice skate? Yep! And I get to go skating in 2 weeks!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I remember having to find a gift on the tree when I was almost 6. It was a smiley face ring that I wear to this day (on my pinky now). And I remember the year our cat found a real mouse under the tree! I'd dare say that was her favorite Christmas.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Making sure I don't forget the Reason for the Season, and making sure my child doesn't either. It's important to me to share our blessings with others, most especially at Christmas.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cheesecake. I know it's always there, but the holiday season is the only time I indulge.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Getting our tree & decorating it, along with watching our favorite Christmas movies.

17. What tops your tree? A star

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? GIVING!! We are so blessed all of the time that giving is a need for me.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Come O Come Emmanuel, Do you Hear what I Hear, Little Drummer Boy (can't decide on 1)

20. Candy canes, yuck or yum? So-so. The make pretty decorations!

21. Favorite Holiday Movie? A Christmas Story

Good news...

Hurricane season '08 is over!!!!

Giving Thanks

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving holiday, but this has been a season of thanks. When, from the outside, it might appear we are in a bad spot, time after time we have been blessed throughout this whole ordeal. An employer who has been very understanding and generous about Greg missing work. Soap sales that seem to come out of nowhere. And most especially when and where we least expect it, blessings are placed in our hands. Just when I think we've gotten all we will, God says, "Watch this..."

As for yesterday, it was great. All of Greg's immediate family were here. My SIL & I put together a great meal and everyone went home with much leftovers. Miss Stella was quite a joy. She's a very happy child who knows how much she's loved. It was a great day, and we all konked out a bit early. I'll admit it was nice not to have to drive anywhere!

New Song

I'm really enjoying this song right now!

Hillsong - You'll Come

Need I say more?

see more pwn and owned pictures

Too early for Christmas??

This is sooooooo Bullitt!!

Surgery

We saw the surgeon today, and after talking with him, and talking it over this weekend, Greg is scheduled for surgery Tuesday Dec 9th (3 weeks). The hurniated part of the disk, the part that's pressing on the nerve and causing the pain will be removed, not the entire disk. The rest of the disk looks very healthy. The surgeon saw no problem with getting another injection between then and now, but because we were delayed at the surgeon's office, we weren't able to see the shot doctor. The next available appoinment there was Dec 2nd. And that wouldn't be for a shot, just for a visit with the doc. So that's off for now. Now we just need Greg to make it another 3 weeks in pain.

He should be in hospital overnight, then a gradual 6 week recovery. They said he should be able to be back in the office a few hours a day in 2 weeks. Which to Greg means he can work from home as soon as he can sit up. He's hard to keep down.

This whole process has been slow as molasses. Getting from the GP to the orthopedic took 2 weeks (because we complained about the original 4 weeks). Then getting to the shot doctor (again with much calling and complaning) took another 2 weeks, and then 4 days till the 1st shot. It's an outpatient procedure under some sedation, so not just an office visit thing. Then 2 weeks till the 2nd shot. That was 2.5 weeks ago.

Prayers for peace, pain relief, and a financial miracle are greatly appreciated!

Mikey & JoJo

While in Metaire alone, I took the oportunity to see both of my sisters. My sister Donna had her grandbabies which was great. I hadn't seen them in person in about 3 months. They've both grown so much. Mikey & I played with his hotwheels on his MeMe's super slick hall floor. He talks so much now, and he even sounds like his daddy. And he was calling me Aunt Penny. That sound you hear is my heart melting. I was so young when my niece and nephews were born that none of them ever really called me Aunt Penny. But now I have my sisters' grands to call me Aunt Penny. Little JoJo was a hoot. He's just all smiles. He looks just like big brother Chase right now. He's not quite walking, but very ready to run after big brother Mikey!

Stella's 1st birthday

Well, Gregory stayed home with his still recooping dad today while I went off to Metairie for Stella's birthday party. The party was a Strawberry Shortcake theme. So many people! Darlene has a large family, and there were quite a few of our extended family members there as well. For all of the people and commotion, Stella had a great day. She played, she danced, she tried to feed me marshmallows, and when I left, she had nursed to sleep outside in the cool breeze. I'd say she had a good day!

Halloween

Our Halloween started with a trip to the clinic for Greg to get his second steroid injection. Grgeory & I wore our halloween t-shirts, though Greg was a little uncomfortable wearing a grim reaper t-shirt to have a *procedure* done. :)

There's never been any trick-or-treating in our immediate neighborhood. For several years, we went with friends to a huge subdivision a few miles a way and hit the halloween jackpot. But the last 2 years, Greg didn't want to go. He's not into crowds. Two years ago we went with one friend to his grandfather's neighborhood. That was nice, because as we walked around, they knew everyone. It was like a huge block party. And after trick or treating, Greg & Jacy got to give out candy for a while. He really enjoyed that. Last year, we didn't make any plans ahead of time. Gregory really didn't want to go. That was the worst point of his *don't want to leave the house* period. He was quite glad when I told him that I had candy & he didn't have to go trick-or-treating just to get the candy.

This year, with all of Greg's back problems, we had nothing planned. My friend Brandie (with 5 kids) whom we usually had gone TrT with had no vehicle. So we decided Wednesday night that we'd put together a little Halloween party here. The kids were cool with it, as long as they got candy. So we made some witches brew punch, some mummy dogs (pigs in a blanket with mustard dots for eyes), snake sandwiches (sandwich in a rolled tortilla, sliced and shaped like a snake)& some monster toe cookies. We put up our spider webbing and our black lights and some halloween music. We bobbed for apples and had a pinata filled with much much candy. It was low key, but very fun.

In the end, Gregory decided not to wear a costume. He instead tried shaving and it went horribly wrong. :) He had more fun with that one dollar tube of theatrical blood!

It's been a while...

So much has been going on, and yet life feels like we're on hold all at once.



Greg has a herniated back disk. He's had back problems for as long as I've known him, but nothing like this. The tree that fell and put a hole in our roof and big dents in my car also damaged Greg’s back. It happened moving the heavy wet trunk to the street. After a week he went to the doctor, then back again 2 or 3 times over the next 2 weeks. Then a MRI - herniated disk. He's had one steroid injection, and will probably have another, but he's not really getting any relief. He's just getting better at tolerating it. He's ready for surgery. He's ready to begin healing and put this behind him. Surgery will only treat the problem temporarily - it's time to start really exercising that back!

So for the past 6 weeks or so, we've been dealing with doctor appointments, missing work, a teeny tiny paycheck, and prayers and blessings from people all around us. We'll be just fine. I may have a panic attack or two as I open the bills that are coming, but we'll still be fine.

Then about 2 weeks ago, I found out my cousin Brandy had a lump on her forehead. Four years ago we lost a 34 yr. old cousin to breast cancer. So when this didn't go away right away, Brandy became the squeaky wheel she needed to be to get her self to the right doctors. Nearly 2 weeks ago, she had surgery and a very large, aggressive tumor was removed. It was a long and invasive surgery. The surgery was considered very successful, and she actually went home 4 days later. But when she returned at the one-week point to have the packing removed from her nose, they found she's been having brain fluid leakage. So she's been back in the hospital, flat on her back and will be until it stops. I'd imagine at some point if it doesn't stop on it's own, surgery would be an option.

I went to see her today, and she looks great. She lives about an hour and a half away, but is in hospital near me. I couldn't believe how good she looked. No swelling, no bruising, no shaved head. Her surgeon told her he's a fan of hair and her incision was just past her hairline and really can't be seen. But she's miserable. She's a go go go girl and lying on her back in one room for several days is not her cup of tea. Tuesday will be the 2-week mark, so pathology reports should be coming in soon. There is a slight possibility the tumor was not malignant, but it's pretty much assumed that it was. Nailing down just what they're dealing with is a big deal to determine where to go from here. I know she wants to just get this all behind her and get back to living. I met her 2-year-old son today. He is adorable! Of course I've seen many many pictures, but hearing that cute little Cajun accent was priceless.

And then there's me. For the first time in several months, I'm having a uveitis flare, and it's in both eyes. Dealing with this is such a pain. The flare itself is very painful, and the drops I use to treat the outbreak and the pain blur close-up vision. Everything past my arm's length is perfectly clear; anything closer is a total blur w/out my reading glasses. And I have no depth perception, so driving at night is out of the question. It'll take a few weeks to treat this and then get my vision back to normal. Ha! Normal. What a concept!

I did have the pleasure and blessing of being able to watch much of the webcast of my church's women's conference this weekend. I really enjoy listening to Christine Caine, and she always draws a great crowd. Her passion becomes my passion. It's contagious.

And it's not a coincidence that she spoke last night of not giving up in the waiting, of not quitting because it's not happening in your time frame. In ways, it feels like life stopped here Sept 1st, and yet at the same time, so much has happened since then.

Just for the heck of it...

Copied from Stephanie...

Go to urban​dicti​onary​.​​com and type in your answe​r to each quest​ion in the searc​h box, then write​ the FIRST​ defin​ition​ it gives​ you.


1) Your name?​​ Penelope
A character off a popular skit on SNL, (Saturday Night Live.) She is the ultimate one-upper, and always strokes her hair while telling you how much better she is than you.
"Girl: "I just had a baby! I'm so happy."
Penelope: "Well I just had three babies and a cat... Yeah, they're all perfect and I'm ecstatic..." "

2) Your age? 41
A good looking or HOT, female. Used as a code so others will not know what you are talking about.
"Look at that 41 behind us or thats a 41 at the door."

3) One of your frien​ds? Brandie
An Intelligent woman, usually brunette, gorgeous, and goal oriented. She's one to speak her mind and you do not want to mess with a Brandie. She's liable to attack at the slightest insult and she has a mean right hook. However, she can be won over by a really nice hug.
"She just totally decked him, she's such a Brandie."

4) There was no #4

5) Favor​ite color​? green
yes... it is most definitely referring to the marijuana... and also, upon occassion, any substance with similar uses. too, properly, of course, it is a golfing term, but that's really not very much fun, now is it?
"'yo, where da green at?'"
(oh my...)

6) Birth​place​? Lafayette
The center of cajun culture in louisiana.Very cool town.Bigger than what what most people think.Home to the university of louisana and is the states 5th largest city. Lafayette has a lot of potential but it is slowly losing its uniqeness to strip malls and 5 lane roads which can be found in any other city.

7) Month​ of your birth​day? January
(could NOT use the first definition, this is #2)
One of the worst month's of the year for most people. Either after New Years, where as you did some so incredibly stupid you'll regret it forever. Or that your going back to work or school. Either way you hate it.
"Oh sh*t! It's January again."

8) Last person you talked to? Greg
A scottish word used mainly in Glasgow meaning to always get drunk and flirt with women
"Do you like him?
Yeah hes ok but hes a bit of a greg...
Really, i thought he was shy?
Nah he flirts with all the girls when he's drunk"
(ROFLOUPMP!!!) Did I ever tell you how we met??

9) What did you last eat? Chocolate
the yummiest, tastiest thing in the whole wide world. chocolate also makes u happy and makes u feel better.
whenever u feel down just have some chocolate it makes u feel better !!!!!

10) Your nickn​ame? Penny
Nothing printable...LOL!

Sunrise ???

Following Stephanie's good advice and keeping it light tonight...

I can't imagine being a sunrise person, unless I've been up until sunrise... Maybe that's it.

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

Hair

Stole this one from Donna...

Your Hair Should Be Red

You are a passionate person... both in love and in life. You have many causes that are important to you. You can be very intense. You are very fiery. You speak up, and you don't mince words. You also have a very flamboyant personality. You love to show off. (NOT!) You are both eccentric and expressive. You like to share your unique point of view. You can become quite impassioned. So impassioned that you can seem a little overbearing. Moi??

What Color Hair Should You Have?

Summing up 11 days...

While we were down, I'd think of things and think, "I should write this down." I didn't. So this is what I remember, how I remember it.

We came home Monday night (09/01) to a rough neighborhood, tree wise. Three of the 4 streets making up our block had trees down across them. The first real damage we saw was a big tree on the little Church of Christ building around the corner. There were trees and large limbs down all over, but none seemed to have damaged homes.

We'd left Greg's office to get our refrigerator on the generator. We have a gas stove, run the fridge on the generator, add a fan, lamp, TV, and DVD player - we'd be okay. Except Greg couldn't get the generator to start. And he tried until he was so angry he couldn't stop trying, IYKWIM. But he gave up and just went to sleep. Not such a happy birthday for him. Gregory asked to take some Melatonin early, so he was out fairly soon as well. I poured myself a glass of wine and sat on the porch with my flashlight and Pic mosquito repellant coil. I could see some light in the sky. It was still very cloudy, so any light would have reflected, but that light was coming from somewhere in our town.

I woke up Tuesday morning to the sound of the generator running. Greg had taken it apart and cleaned and reassembled it. So now we had cold food, and TV, our first distraction. No cable, so it was DVD fest. When we have bad storms go through, several radio stations across the state become one and broadcast aftermath information. Basically, people call with questions, they ask on-air, and they pass along information they receive. Things like "does anyone know of a Laundromat open in XYZ area?" or "Are they letting people into XYZ area yet?" "Where do we go for supplies?" Through the radio, we learned that Baton Rouge was in rough shape with over 90% out of power.

What sucks is that we also lose cell phone reception. I had forgotten that after Katrina we were very popular - we had a real old-fashioned attached-to-the-wall fully corded landline phone. Thankfully I'd given that number to Stephanie, and when I stopped answering her text messages Monday evening, she called. She sounded exactly as I imagined she would, and it was though we spoke everyday.

It rained (but not stormed) for most of Tuesday and Wednesday, and that thankfully kept things relatively cool. We were comfortable sleeping with just a fan, and even reached for the cover a time or two. I think by Thursday we'd heard that our area was expected to be back on by Tuesday (09/09). Not great news, but better than not knowing at all. Having a day to look to really helped Gregory. He was so patient and so helpful through it all. Oh, he had moments of "I miss the computer", "I miss cable", but we all had those.

Wednesday morning, our big, loveable cat Andy went out with the others in the morning. He didn't go out much, and he usually stayed on the porch and came back in within an hour or so. But we haven't seen him since. I searched for him all day Thursday, looking through piles if debris and in ditch culverts. I dreamed I found him wet and battered in a debris pile. I finally told Gregory Saturday or Sunday. I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell him. But I knew he both could and would want to pray about it, so I did. I just said I hadn't seen him since Wednesday. Gregory had a dream about finding him too, similar to mine. We searched the neighborhood again, but no luck.

I think Thursday cell reception got a bit better, and we were able to send texts sometimes. I had my friend Brandie and her kids (Baby Alena was just 3 weeks old) on my mind and heart. I knew they had no power AND no generator. And the way her apartment is built, there's no getting a breeze in that place even with every window open. She had sent me a text message on Tuesday morning that I got Thursday evening. It said she was out of formula and need a ride to auto zone, her van wouldn't start. I had no car to get to her during daylight. Greg was back at work as well, and didn't want to leave the generator unattended. They were getting stolen. And by the time he got home from work, it was curfew (6am - 6pm). I couldn't get to her (about 8 miles away) and I couldn't get her to any open stores. But when I finally did get in touch with her, she let me know that people had been stopping by to check on them and she'd go sit in their cars with the baby & the A/C for a while. She'd been able to get to the store. I had prayed for others to help her, and they did. Yea! Then she called me Friday night and said, "Listen to this..." and I hear the Hannah Montana theme song. They had power! I was so happy for her.

So Saturday I took a big batch of laundry to her house and Gregory got to play video games with her boys. We spent the day with electricity. Then we went back home to a dark neighborhood to fix dinner by lamplight... By then, it was getting hot. Really hot! And humid! I'd finish cooking with sweat dripping off me and go straight to a cold shower. We did a lot of showering!

By Sunday people were asking if we'd seen Ike. We'd heard about him via radio, but still had no cable, so no "seeing" the storm. And we weren't ready to think about that yet anyway. LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU...

Staple groceries became very had to find. We had a freezer full of meat, so I could cook, but that made the house so friggin' HOT! I hadn't gotten any sandwich meat pre-storm because we wouldn't need it. Boy did I regret that decision! Stores that were open had big signs out front of what they didn't have - most included milk, bread, and meat. That gradually got better and by Monday night, we were eating sandwiches. :)

Monday afternoon, one of Greg's friends from work brought us his generator, 3 times the wattage of ours (it's the size we need - we got gouged for ours after Katrina, and it's really too small for more than a couple of days use) so we now had an A/C unit running (glad we still have window units!) and washer/dryer hooked up. And Gregory could hook up his PS2. Video games at last! I believe it was Monday that the cable came back up as well.

Tuesday came and went. No one in our immediate neighborhood had power. The main drag and the stores on it were up, but not home. The power company outage reporting number was still a recording promising no time frame. Late Wednesday evening (after dark) someone knocked on our door. It was our neighbor Mike from across the street. Seems that his neighbors to the left and to the right had power, be he didn't. We didn't either. There are 6 houses on our street, 3 had power, and 3 did not. Thursday afternoon we saw work trucks. COOOOOOOL! Closest we've been to power in 11 days. But our next door neighbor (a renter) still had a big limb on his house that was pulling the lines down. The power company had repeatedly told people they were not going to cut limbs on private property. The homeowner was responsible "for making sure you are ready to receive power." Well, with that limb there, he was not ready to receive power, which seemed to be why WE (& Mike) still didn't have power. Mike and I joked that we'd tell the guys to cut the neighbor off at the street and hook us up! The owner of the house was leaving the limb there because people were telling him the elec. co. would take care of it since it was on the line, but that was not so. So the power guys talked with the guy living next door and he went off and came back with a ladder and a reciprocating saw. He got on the ladder and cut back the pieces hanging and got it close to the line. Then the power co. guy got on the ladder with his chainsaw and trimmed back just 8 or so inches of the limb that was on the power line, leaving the rest on the roof. There were 3 trucks parked out front, and several hard-hatted guys walking the street. I was sitting at my desk where I can watch without being seen when the ceiling fan began to turn. Oh, I'm tearing up typing this. It's just such an overwhelming thing, when you've been without for so long to know that it all works now. I opened my front door and wanted to run out and hug each and every one of those guys. Instead I called out a "THANK YOU!" in my crackling voice. A HUGE "You're welcome!" came back. I sat on the porch and cried as my boy ran around the house yelling, "Power's on! Power's on!" Stephanie had just texted me to see if we were back up yet, so I let her know when we were.

I had promised Gregory he could use the computer first. I wasn't ready to face the email or answer the well-meant questions yet. It took a few days for me to get back into it. And besides, everyone was talking about Ike, and my groups include people in Texas who were going to get what we'd just gotten.

That is if we didn't get it - for quite a while, it was iffy. That sucked. It gave me that feeling of having an egg beater put to my brain. Who's ready to go through that again so soon? At least we had a month between Katrina and Rita. We got more rain, a few more broken limbs fell from the trees, and we lost power again for a few hours, but we were otherwise unaffected. But many people near us in lower lying places got flooding from Ike that came right on the heels of Gustav. There was no time for the water to go down.

Unaffected. That word is so dismissive. We didn't get the brunt of the storm. But how could we not be affected? Shell-shocked and barely back in the light, here we go again, maybe. Maybe not, but be ready! So back we all go to the insane stores that aren't restocked yet, and are only open ‘til 6 PM. We were affected. Trust me.

By the Saturday following the storm, Greg had done enough roof repairing and tree cutting and debris hauling to really hurt his already bad back. He went to the doctor Monday and Wednesday for it. They give him pain pills and muscle relaxers. He gets no real relief from either. He's only not in pain if he's lying flat on his back. He's a believer of chiropractic care, but he's not found one who can really get the deep low back area which is the worst of his pains, so he's somewhat given up on that approach. He said the word "surgery" a while back, so I know it's getting worse. It's taking longer and longer for him to heal when he gets hurt. He is still in a lot of pain today and still using a back brace. But still he gets up, after not really sleeping, and goes off to work leaving me and the boy to sleep. I let him know how thankful we are for that sacrifice, but probably not enough. I remember when I was the one working full time and he was a student with later classes. I resented the hell out of having to get up and go to a miserable job while he lay sleeping.

So that's how we get to today. It's a nice one, only 70 degrees out, no tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic, gorgeous blue sky. I look out my window and see squirrels chasing each other around my live oak tree, and 4 or 5 black birds coming and going at the birdbath.

Today I am thankful for
***My incredible husband
***My electricity, which allows me to connect with you
***My beautiful still-sleeping son
***The incredible view of nature outside my window
***And most importantly, for my God who met each of our needs through all of our turmoil, kept us calm, and is returning us to *normality*.

We've changed, I've changed. You can't go through something like that and not be. I'm not trying to make it more than it was, we were always safe and were really only inconvenienced. But we have new memories and experiences, and that has made us just a little different.




This house is about half a mile from us...

Ten Reasons Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas

(This is one of those "laugh or cry" situations)


Ten Reasons Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas:


Number Ten:
Decorating the house (with plywood).



Number Nine:
Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.



Number Eight :
Last minute shopping in crowded stores.



Number Seven :
Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.



Number Six:
Family coming to stay with you.



Number Five:
Family and friends from out of state calling you.



Number Four:
Buying food (& booze) you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities .



Number Three :
Days off from work.



Number Two:
Candles.



And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

Riding the storm out

Yes, I'm an REO fan...

We've left home and are sheltering at DH's office, pets and all. We're experiencing guts of 90+mph winds. There's a constant drizzle, but no big rain right now. Many trees down around us, including one in our yard - well, at least one, it fell before we left. It clipped my car. Probably only enough damage to cover my deductable. There's a tree blocking our street, but not from our yard this time! On the ride here, we saw many big trees broken and lots of limb debris in the roads. I wish I'd brought my wine with me, LOL! But I have my internet, DH has his weather channel, and the boy has his Nintendo DS (and cartoons), so we are occupied enough to forget for a few minutes at a time. It's 3:30 PM, and very dark outside now, but somewhat calm. We may be catching a little bit of the eye right now. The bad weather isn't over by a long shot. We could have another 8 - 12 hours of this.

Continued prayers for this to continue to not be too bad. It's bad enough, but it could be so much worse. We are blessed to have a place to go.

Gustav, Hanna, etc.

I feel like a little kid. I want to dig in my heels and fold my arms and just yell, "NO!" I am so not emotionally ready for these damn storms. The prep is mostly done, and now we wait. I went to the store last night and it was nuts. Many many empty shelves. No bread, fruit, canned meat, toilet paper, paperplates/cups, batteries, bottled water, more I am sure. I just hate that this thing is 6 days away and could go anywhere in the gulf, but because everyone around us is panicing, I have to go through this prep with a bunch of idiots. I believe in being ready. But do the shelves of the stores have to be empty 6 days ahead of time? NO! That's retarded! This whole town needs to take a chill pill.

And those stupid storms need to go away!

Healing well

I took the bandage off to peek, and Gregory's cut is healing nicely.

"Mom, I hurt myself."

Nothing will stop you in your tracks like the sight of your child bleeding.

Yesterday, I had called my friend Brandie and told her I'd come over and help her get some clothes washed and dinner made & allow her to get a shower. I was leaving about 1:00, and Greg reminds me we are supposed to go to a birthday party at his office at 2:00 (free awesome food). So, okay, I'll go a little later than planned. I ran out for a quick errand, then came home to get ready. It was nearly 2:00, and I asked Gregory to put on a shirt from his closet (his *nicer* casual shirts). I was in the bathroom when I heard him say, "Mom, I hurt myself." I have NEVER heard that before. I go into his room and he has his hand to the side of his neck and there's blood just pouring down his hand and neck. I thought he'd stabbed himself in the neck with something. My first words were to Greg; "we may need to go to the ER." I have NEVER said that before. I asked, and he said he'd slipped on a blanket and hit his head on the doorjamb.

I got him into the bathroom and started cleaning him up to find the wound. It looked very small, but I realized I'd have to cut some hair to get to it. As I began to cut, I saw it was bigger than I originally thought (but not huge). The scissors weren't helping much, so I got Greg's clippers out. Gregory claimed to be in no pain, but it was awful (for me) to be using that machine so close to his open wound. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly and I decided it could be closed with butterfly strips. I found the ones I had, but they were so old... So off I go to get new strips. When I got back he was still doing well, playing the video game rental that he got in the mail. Back in the bathroom again, I cleaned up the little bit of blood that had dried on it, put Neosporin on it, and put 2 butterfly strips on it.



Not much later, the strips were beginning to fall off and Greg said it really needed to be shaved with a razor. And I thought using the clippers was disturbing! I never want to have to shave around a wound again! That was traumatic (for me!). Still through it all, he complained of no pain. He was a little mad about the blanket that made him slip (I do feel responsible for that. All of the blankets and sleeping bags from the slumber party are piled in the corner by his closet. It's a corner I don't see unless I am in his room, so I just don't think of it). And he was a bit concerned about how his hair would look. After the fact, he wanted me to shave the other side to match. My first reaction was "No", but if he asks again, I'll do it. It's his hair.

Thankfully, it's the back of his head, on the left side. He never saw me cutting, and the faces I was making while doing it. And it really won't show. There's enough hair left over it to cover the gap. He thought I was crazy for taking a picture, but he is a bit proud of his war wound.



He's in his room, yelling at the video game. All is well.
:)

more baby love

Let's see - Saturday night, before being born, her name was changed from Melina to Alina. And Sunday night it was changed to Alena. Alena Kristine, final answer. :)

(Almost) the whole family. Missing is big brother Devin, age 15, who lives with his dad.

Brandie and her little girls...

Eyes wide open!

A new baby to love

Well it's just been a good baby weekend. We saw all of our babies in New Orleans yesterday. And today, Alina Kristine finally made her grand entrance. Brandie had called me last night to let me know it wouldn't be long. I was suprised she made it all night. She called me about 10:30 AM & said she was hurting, was going to call her doctor and go lie down for a while, but let me know to be ready. She called me back within 10 minutes & said I'm having a baby! This is baby #6. Number 5 came within 2 hours of labor, 20 minutes after getting to the hospital. I got to her house about 10 mintues later and it took us a good 15 minutes to get out the door. She was really hurting and not even responding to our questions. She was just concentrating on breathing. So I put on my flashers and off we went. I ran red lights carefully and flew down the interstate. We got to the hospital, got her in a wheel chair, and then she and her husband went back for assessment. When they hadn't called us to join her in 10 minutes, I knew she'd given birth already. I was right. Alina was born before all of the admission paperwork was done. But we still got to see her right away. She was having some breathing trouble, so she went to the nursery for a couple of hours. Her hands and feet were somewhat blue for a little while, but that gradually got better and she was nice and pink all over. She was just born so fast she didn't get much contraction squeezing which helps clear the lungs. Big sister Angelina and I finally left about 5 PM when things had all settled down, and my camera batteries were out. :)

But it's good to be home to my own baby...