well, I wrote that stuff on Monday, and had to wait till we got landlines back to post it.
I am sorry to have left y'all hangin, I have just been kinda lazy. The kids were supposed to go back to school on Wend. BUT, they called and cancled it again. saying they had too many staff still out of town, and couldnt get in food. They would come back on Monday. oh joy.
Tuesday we had to have gas. We loaded the drum and into town we went. 200.00 later we were safe for a few more days. We didnt have to stay in line long. And luckily we got a store that was not rationing it. Once we got home and unloaded the drum we went over to the old folks road and cut a hickory tree. It was leaning over the road and was low enough I could barely get my truck under it, we were worried it would fall. Plus it makes great BBQ wood. BR went down on the tractor and I went in the truck. It was a cool day so I parked on the lane to my grandfathers, left the kids in the truck with the windows down and a movie going (remember, we live in the COUNTRY. PLUS, this is down a dirt road, you turn OFF the dirt road to go to my grandfathers, or come strait and hit us cutting up the tree. AND noone could get in with out me seeing them.)
I unloaded the loggin chain cause BR had left it in my truck and toted it down the lane. That sucker is HEAVY. BR cut the tree and it fell smack into the road, liek we knew it would. BUT the end of it fell BEHIND a stump, so he got on the tractor and tried to pull it. Instead he tore up the road. So he is trying to decide where to cut it and I see a HUGE line truck coming down the lane. THis is literly a ONE car lane. Tree's and drop offs and no room to pull over. I have had to back smooth out of this sucker MORE than one time cause I met someone going in or coming out. I ran down to talk to them. The guy asked me "what in the world have y'all screwed up now?" I just laughed and told him that we were cutting it up and skidding it out so it didnt fall. Plus they couldnt have went under it. He asked if any poles were broken down past it, I told him no. we talked for a few minutes and he told me that they would have our lights back on that night or the next day.
I just looked at him like he was crazy. I couldnt belive it would be that soon. and told him so. I also thanked him, told them how much we appriciated them and that I was impressed. He couldnt belive I wasnt mad.
Seriously. I went over a month during Rita with out electric. less than a week is... amazing.
BR skidded the tree out and we commenced to cutting it up. Less than 2 hours and we had the trailer loaded down, all the branches piled up and were ready to go. The kids helped ALOT. I was impressed. I did get to play on the tractor some. Of course I also had to be the one throwin the chain when ever he needed it picked up by the bucket. I did have a owie moment. I had just unwrapped the chain and he was lifting the bucket, he turned it a little, and the chain came sliding out of the bucket and the hook hit me right on top of my foot followed by 20 feet of chain. I dont know how it didnt break it. That sucker still hurts 3 days later.
In the meantime my grandfathers generator quit. BR said we would bring ours over there in the morning and hook up his freezers, and we would trade out until he could get it fixed. I could handle that. As long as I got it at night to watch TV. Our other one was still at my inlaws.
Once we got it all loaded we had to come home and get cleaned up. Our water hadnt went out this time. but there still was NO hot water. BR took a shower first. Then I got in. I told him before I ever got in to just ignore me. From the second I steped under the water until I was finaly able to get all the soap off me I screamed, I cussed, I hollered, I cried. The kids actually came running into the bathroom to make sure I was okay. Then they all laughed.
You cant wash soap out of your hair with ice cold water. I promise.
It was still daylight and the kids have not spent a single minute inside since all this started. They went out and disapeared into the woods. We went out and got supper started. A little while later BR came in and asked me if I knew where my kids were. I said I didnt. He said they were out and had found the french mulberrys. They had painted themselves and each other with them. They were SOOO not going to like the cold shower..
And they didnt. We told them and told them. But they wouldnt listen.
They cried, they whined, they kept jumping out and still were stained red. I'd just make them get right back in.
Once it got dark we decided to watch a little TV. We were already waisting gas in the generator. May as well enjoy a creature comfort or two. So we watched the news. Nothing about Ike. a few side notes, but the local channels were off and he was already out of the national spotlight. I couldnt get online yet and so we were still in the dark about alot of things. We decided to switch over to a show we watch. The kids were still sleeping here in the living room and it was around midnight. It was nice and cool outside (THANK GOD!) and we got about 1/2 way through the show and the generator quit. It wasnt out of gas, so we went out. We fought with it, we drained it, the gas had water in it. It had fouled out the spark plug. BR cleaned it up the best he could, it took for freakin ever to drain 5 gallons of gas out of it. Then we filled it up and tried again. After 2 hours of sitting outside with a flashlight and trying to fix the dang thing we gave up.
Its VERY hard for us to sleep with no noise. no fan, no fish tank bubbles, no TV. nothing. around 3:30 we finally fell asleep. I had set my phone alarm for 7. My grandfather was going to town and I wanted him to pick up a spark plug. I stumbled out of bed, came in and picked up the phone to call him. I asked him to pick me up a spark plug. HE said he would and we talked for a few minutes. My uncle had let him borrow his generator since they had already gotten lights back, so he wouldnt need ours. Then it dawned on us, we were talking on the land line! I didnt even realize I was on it. I was still in a stupor from no sleep.
The kids woke up and there was no going back to sleep. BR was able to sleep for a few more hours. My grandfather showed up at 10 with a new spark plug. and BR went out to try and fix the generator. His hand was literly with out feeling. I bet he pulled that cord at least 300 times the night before. He couldnt even make a fist.
It started right off. I called and spoke to my sister in law, she wanted to have a "we survived the hurricane' party. Just hamburgers and such, and since BR still couldnt work he was going to cook them.
about 2 hours later the generator went back off again. BR went out and worked on it. The new spark plug was all fouled up. he cleaned it, and tried to get it restarted. he redrained all the gas. 5 more gallons wasted. well not totaly. I found a fire ant pile and relished in the fact that they would die. It was just NOT going to work. at all. I called my sister in law ad asked her to pick me up a few more spark plugs. The gas was good. We had gotten rid of all the bad gas. We just couldnt fiqure out what was wrong. mechanics we AINT.
I was out and was helping BR tear apart the carburator, trying to find SOME reason for it to not work. The kids were in the house watching Bow and playing. Then Brett came runing around the side of the house. He was screaming that the lights were on. BR and I just looked at each other funny. Then we told him to make sure everything was unplugged and we went back to working on the generator. Lights this soon was way too good to be true and we needed the back up. After another hour we gave up. the lights hadnt flickered and we needed a break.
I called Suzie and told her that we had lights. She switched to us having beef tips, gravey, rice and biscuts. Cause we could actually cook on a stove. BR told her he still wanted those spark plugs, we didnt trust something that was too good to be true. And he was NOT going to let that engine whoop him.
I started laundry, and gathered up everything to make biscuts. And did more laundry, and MORE.
My mother in law called me when she got home. She said that she had just had the scare of her life. I asked what happened. She said that she went in to use the bathroom and heard water running. At first she didnt realize what it was (they are on a well, and hadnt had water since the lights went out), then it dawned on her. And she jumped up, ran outside and saw the porch light was on. She couldnt belive it! She had been home for an hour.
We went over to my mother in laws and all the daughter in laws started cooking.
We had a good night. The kids played outside and Rayley convinced her uncle Luke to catch one of the old nags so she could ride her. She came in and asked if she could ride Blondie and we sent her to find her uncle Luke. He came in and she asked him if she could ride. he told her "I cant catch that horse, she will think I want to ride her and run" Rayley told him "silly, I could show you how you do it. You hid the lead rope behind your back and dont let her know you are going to ride her." He told her that that old horse was smarter than that. She said "well, I reckon she aint" and he asked just what made her think that. He had known that horse for longer than she had been alive and that she was a smart old horse.
Rayley said "well, I dont know who is dumber, you or the horse, but Matt is standing in the pasture right now holding her waitin on me to get you to get me up on her. I bet he's been there for 10 minutes"
Sure enough, There stood Matt, holding the horse. Luke took her out to ride. 99% of the time you really dont catch these horses. Luckily they aint mean. Just lazy. They dont want to be ridden!
while we were there my MIL cleaned out the fridge in the kitchen and then started putting all the food back in it. They had stoped trying to run 2 fridges and a freezer, plus fans, TV's and other essentials, so they were trasnfering food back to the inside fridge. Every time I opened it I would say it wasnt cooling. But kept being told it would take a while. Then about 4 hours later I went to the other one and got out a coke. They were hot. Since theyhad been cold when I put them in there I commented on it. It dawned on my sister in law that noone had plugged it back in.
We visited for a few hours and then came home. The kids fell into bed, I didnt even try to get them to take a bath. It was just too late.
The next morning they got up and went strait outside. back to playing. I set about cleaning the house, doing more laundry and trying to pick up all the extension cords. Putting the surge protectors back where they came from and returning all the phone calls that I had on my voice mail.
BR was able to go back to work, and although he didnt pull but one load it was at least some money to go on the paycheck.
Once they came back in I told Rayley to go and take a bath. She looked at me crazy. then she said "is there hot water yet?" I told her yes, and she gladly went and got clean. The boys too.
I havent went to town again, so I dont know if its slowed down up there much at all. the day we went I couldnt belive how awful it was. Everyone was scrambiling to get what supplies they still needed to live, grocery stores were trying to keep things on the shelves, only staying open for short periods, and gas stations were awful.
Things here at home are getting back to normal. They cut the hay yesterday, I will have to go and load it tomorrow or the next day, I am starting to see the bottom of the laundry room floor, or I was until the kids had to clean their rooms, and I cooked a roast today.
The generator is still sitting otu there needing fixed. BR has already forgotten about it. I think in a few weeks (praying we dont get another hurricane) I will take it into the shop and get it fixed. I am starting to run low on supplies so I will have to go in and get groceries soon. we are down to 2 cases of water. ANd the freezer is getting low.
The kids have eaten me out of house and home. Not to mention, all this 'at home' time is eating into my 'school year quiet time'. I rely on the 5 days a week that I am down to 2 kids to keep my sanity. BR is back to work. partly. there is still problems hauling oil. he isnt working as long of hours, and is home alot more. home and awake.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Nothing like a little hurricane to keep you on your toes.
Well, the sent the kids home early from school on Thursday.
Then they were out on Friday. BR finally turned the TV off of the news and put it on Rambo. So I went in the bedroom to watch the news.
Boredom and agervation set in right around 7. So we headed over to my inlaws.
BR’s two brothers and their wives were there, plus the parents.
We just went over to visit. They have a front porch and we sit out there and talk. We waited till the lovebugs had went to roost. Sitting outside when they are at their peak and its 95* is miserable. And since they don’t have AC in the living room that was NOT an option.
The kids eventually fell asleep, but we were still talking. Eventually the wind picked up some. Nothing bad, but by then it was nigh on 2am. We spent the evening alternating between sitting out and talking, and coming in to catch the news. Galveston was getting hit badly. At 3:30 the lights went out. We had till about 6:30 for daylight.
For the most part we just watched the wind blow. And blow it did. It was laying the trees down pretty good, and snapping off branches all over. But the porch was situated so the wind was coming from the back of the house.
Bow woke up around 2:30 and never went back to sleep. We alternated holding him, playing with him and entertaining him. Rayley woke up around 4. She wanted to go out in the yard and try to fly. She was NOT happy when we wouldn’t let her. The inlaws do have a HUGE old Oak tree that has quite a few dead parts, and we did worry about it falling and hitting the house.
My sister in law and Brother in law went upstairs to get some sleep. About 30 minutes later their was the most GOD AWFUL bursts of wind. Suzie came back down the stairs right quick. About 5 BR went to one of the bedrooms and went to sleep. He slept till 9:30. He missed all the good parts.
Where we were sitting on the porch, we look out over a pasture, then there is a line of tree’s. Around 4:30 I was sitting on the porch, feeding Bow dry cereal, My father in law and sister in law were sitting there. BR had just gotten up to walk out to the back porch and get a coke. Luke my other brother in law was sitting behind us, in the dog trot playing with his cell phone.
I started to hear a loud noise. It was louder than the roar of wind through the trees, and somehow struck a chord with me. We could see green flashes behind the trees’ and fiqured these were transformers blowing. Finally I turned to Elray and asked him, “is that what a frieght train sounds like?”
“yep, I reckon it is”
and there we sat. For a full 30 seconds. Then it dawned on us. Suzie, Elray and I all jumped up like our pants were on fire and we vacated that porch right quick and in a hurry. We ran past Luke, who looked at us kinda funny, and into the living room. BR came off the back porch asking if we were crazy.
It dawned on Luke what we had done.
Finally Elray went back out and said it must have just been the wind going down the Roederville Road.
So we all took up our positions on the porch again.
When Daylight came we were more able to see the wind. There were times when you had to hold on to an upright to stay standing. But the wind felt good. The house was still in the 90’s.
Around 7 I got ahold of family, and started texting friends to make sure they made it. I fiqured noone was sleeping through this anyway. Everyone was fine. No major damage. Just lights out, branches all over and lots of tree’s topped.
I also started texting friends in other states to let them know I was alive. They were in turn writing me with updates about the rest of the world. Which was so needed. And letting me know just how much more wind we would be subject to. Hours was the general concensus.
There wasn’t much rain. It was constant wind. It was still a cat 2 when it hit us. The kids woke up and then ALL of them wanted to go out and play in the wind. They were not happy about having NOTHIN to do. Brett wanted me to go and wake up his daddy in Mason’s room. I asked him why. He said “so he could at least watch a movie on that TV.”
We told him to just sit and stare at the one in the living room. Something would happen on it eventually.
We went and checked on our house as soon as BR woke up. The wind was still whipping, but we hadn’t planned on staying over there and the dogs needed out badly. If Duke didn’t have a heart attack. We drove over and everything was fine. Duke was already outside. The door was open. Not the screen door, but the real door and the screen was shut. Darla was glad to see us. She was in her cage so she wanted out.
Unfortunatly Ike didn’t get rid of our lovebugs. He didn’t come in till after dark, and they were back in full force.
We went and got our other generator to take to Elray and Martha, I got some bread and lunch meat and we went back over. It was WAY too hot to sit in our house. Even with a fan going. So we opted for the porch, where Ike was still coming through with a few decent gusts.
We stuck around till about dark, then came home and got our generator going. The kids didn’t understand why on earth they couldn’t go and play in the mud. Since there was NO water and our community water has a problem with going out, we didn’t want them getting filthy.
Once we got here, we had no more cell service, and the phones had went out completely. Which is typical. We took showers (there was still hot water) and turned on the TV. The kids got to sleep in the living room and we all sweated. It was awful. I did get to sleep eventually, then Matt woke me up. They had all been watching Movies and BR had fallen alseep. They wanted me to change the channel, cause the show coming on “wasn’t appropriate for kids”. It was some scary movie.
When we woke up on Sunday I asked BR if he wanted to drive and get a newspaper. We did. Lights were out 40 miles up the road. The gas station was open, but the paper was a double edition put out on Friday night. They were running on generators and had nothing left on the shelves.
We were able to catch the radio and it seems like Jasper didn’t get hid badly. Since we actually live closer to Tyler County than Jasper we got what Woodville got and they are in pretty bad shape over there.
They lifted our mandatory evacuation on Monday morning. But are telling people that if you come back its at your own risk. Some stores in Jasper are opening. Walmart is opening for like 8 hours a day. Letting a few people in at a time. And most of our stores are able to get gas, but the lines are LONG and its limited.
We were lucky that I filled up that 55 gallon drum before Gustav. My grandfather, inlaws, and great aunt plus us are all using it. The generators use about 7 gallons every 10-12 hours. Making it very expensive to use them.
BR has been home since Friday night. There was no sense in him trying to haul oil when there were so many cars on the road.
And now he cant do it cause there is no electric to pump the oil off their trucks, and there is noone allowed in Tyler County unless you live there. That’s where most of their wells are.
They cancelled school for Monday and Tuesday. So BR and the kids are watching Movies. I would prefer to watch the news. At least on Friday I could go in the bedroom and watch TV, while they watched Rambo in here. I am considering hooking up the other TV to the generator. They are watching Airplane II right now and its all I can do to not scream. They keep having to rewind it cause they are laughing so hard they cant hear what is happening.
They cant go outside. The skeeters and lovebugs are TOOO bad. Yesterday BR and I went out on the tractor and cut a pine tree off our power line. Between the skeeters and the lovebugs you couldn’t do anything. Our lines are not down, but there are hundreds down, plus all the transformers that have blown. Its going to be a long process. And since we are still paying out the rear for Rita on our electric bills I dread seeing what happens here.
We actually pay for electric, and then half as much again for the ‘recovery effort’ from Rita. Now they will double that for the recovery effort from Ike.
I got about 9 text messages around 3:40 this morning. They had been sent yesterday. I swear, if I ever see Bill Curtis in person I am going to knock the HELL out of him. If they can get AT&T service and ‘find’ the internet at Amelia Airharts plane, surely they can find it here in the middle of Texas.
Its time to fiqure out something for supper. I guess I will get out some chicken to BBQ. Funny how when you don’t have choices, you end up craving something that you cant get.
I reckon I could pull the microwave out of the wall, and then heat up stuff like that. But that’s such a PITA.
Right now we are very lucky, we have a fan going. Can watch the TV, I am alternating between the fish tanks (expect when I plug in the computer) and the fridge and freezer are going. I have a few cases of water, loafs of bread and powdered milk.
This time the Red Cross and FEMA are not in my area handing out food, water, and ice. So its all coming directly out of your house. If you didn’t have it before hand you are hurting for it. I feel sorry for those that were relying on them to come down here.
Of course the laundry is PILEING up. And I am SOOO not into a wash board and creek. I have done that before, and I hope I don’t have to do it again.
THis was written on MOnday, I dont have enough battery power to write my update through today. But will get on later and get it done.
Then they were out on Friday. BR finally turned the TV off of the news and put it on Rambo. So I went in the bedroom to watch the news.
Boredom and agervation set in right around 7. So we headed over to my inlaws.
BR’s two brothers and their wives were there, plus the parents.
We just went over to visit. They have a front porch and we sit out there and talk. We waited till the lovebugs had went to roost. Sitting outside when they are at their peak and its 95* is miserable. And since they don’t have AC in the living room that was NOT an option.
The kids eventually fell asleep, but we were still talking. Eventually the wind picked up some. Nothing bad, but by then it was nigh on 2am. We spent the evening alternating between sitting out and talking, and coming in to catch the news. Galveston was getting hit badly. At 3:30 the lights went out. We had till about 6:30 for daylight.
For the most part we just watched the wind blow. And blow it did. It was laying the trees down pretty good, and snapping off branches all over. But the porch was situated so the wind was coming from the back of the house.
Bow woke up around 2:30 and never went back to sleep. We alternated holding him, playing with him and entertaining him. Rayley woke up around 4. She wanted to go out in the yard and try to fly. She was NOT happy when we wouldn’t let her. The inlaws do have a HUGE old Oak tree that has quite a few dead parts, and we did worry about it falling and hitting the house.
My sister in law and Brother in law went upstairs to get some sleep. About 30 minutes later their was the most GOD AWFUL bursts of wind. Suzie came back down the stairs right quick. About 5 BR went to one of the bedrooms and went to sleep. He slept till 9:30. He missed all the good parts.
Where we were sitting on the porch, we look out over a pasture, then there is a line of tree’s. Around 4:30 I was sitting on the porch, feeding Bow dry cereal, My father in law and sister in law were sitting there. BR had just gotten up to walk out to the back porch and get a coke. Luke my other brother in law was sitting behind us, in the dog trot playing with his cell phone.
I started to hear a loud noise. It was louder than the roar of wind through the trees, and somehow struck a chord with me. We could see green flashes behind the trees’ and fiqured these were transformers blowing. Finally I turned to Elray and asked him, “is that what a frieght train sounds like?”
“yep, I reckon it is”
and there we sat. For a full 30 seconds. Then it dawned on us. Suzie, Elray and I all jumped up like our pants were on fire and we vacated that porch right quick and in a hurry. We ran past Luke, who looked at us kinda funny, and into the living room. BR came off the back porch asking if we were crazy.
It dawned on Luke what we had done.
Finally Elray went back out and said it must have just been the wind going down the Roederville Road.
So we all took up our positions on the porch again.
When Daylight came we were more able to see the wind. There were times when you had to hold on to an upright to stay standing. But the wind felt good. The house was still in the 90’s.
Around 7 I got ahold of family, and started texting friends to make sure they made it. I fiqured noone was sleeping through this anyway. Everyone was fine. No major damage. Just lights out, branches all over and lots of tree’s topped.
I also started texting friends in other states to let them know I was alive. They were in turn writing me with updates about the rest of the world. Which was so needed. And letting me know just how much more wind we would be subject to. Hours was the general concensus.
There wasn’t much rain. It was constant wind. It was still a cat 2 when it hit us. The kids woke up and then ALL of them wanted to go out and play in the wind. They were not happy about having NOTHIN to do. Brett wanted me to go and wake up his daddy in Mason’s room. I asked him why. He said “so he could at least watch a movie on that TV.”
We told him to just sit and stare at the one in the living room. Something would happen on it eventually.
We went and checked on our house as soon as BR woke up. The wind was still whipping, but we hadn’t planned on staying over there and the dogs needed out badly. If Duke didn’t have a heart attack. We drove over and everything was fine. Duke was already outside. The door was open. Not the screen door, but the real door and the screen was shut. Darla was glad to see us. She was in her cage so she wanted out.
Unfortunatly Ike didn’t get rid of our lovebugs. He didn’t come in till after dark, and they were back in full force.
We went and got our other generator to take to Elray and Martha, I got some bread and lunch meat and we went back over. It was WAY too hot to sit in our house. Even with a fan going. So we opted for the porch, where Ike was still coming through with a few decent gusts.
We stuck around till about dark, then came home and got our generator going. The kids didn’t understand why on earth they couldn’t go and play in the mud. Since there was NO water and our community water has a problem with going out, we didn’t want them getting filthy.
Once we got here, we had no more cell service, and the phones had went out completely. Which is typical. We took showers (there was still hot water) and turned on the TV. The kids got to sleep in the living room and we all sweated. It was awful. I did get to sleep eventually, then Matt woke me up. They had all been watching Movies and BR had fallen alseep. They wanted me to change the channel, cause the show coming on “wasn’t appropriate for kids”. It was some scary movie.
When we woke up on Sunday I asked BR if he wanted to drive and get a newspaper. We did. Lights were out 40 miles up the road. The gas station was open, but the paper was a double edition put out on Friday night. They were running on generators and had nothing left on the shelves.
We were able to catch the radio and it seems like Jasper didn’t get hid badly. Since we actually live closer to Tyler County than Jasper we got what Woodville got and they are in pretty bad shape over there.
They lifted our mandatory evacuation on Monday morning. But are telling people that if you come back its at your own risk. Some stores in Jasper are opening. Walmart is opening for like 8 hours a day. Letting a few people in at a time. And most of our stores are able to get gas, but the lines are LONG and its limited.
We were lucky that I filled up that 55 gallon drum before Gustav. My grandfather, inlaws, and great aunt plus us are all using it. The generators use about 7 gallons every 10-12 hours. Making it very expensive to use them.
BR has been home since Friday night. There was no sense in him trying to haul oil when there were so many cars on the road.
And now he cant do it cause there is no electric to pump the oil off their trucks, and there is noone allowed in Tyler County unless you live there. That’s where most of their wells are.
They cancelled school for Monday and Tuesday. So BR and the kids are watching Movies. I would prefer to watch the news. At least on Friday I could go in the bedroom and watch TV, while they watched Rambo in here. I am considering hooking up the other TV to the generator. They are watching Airplane II right now and its all I can do to not scream. They keep having to rewind it cause they are laughing so hard they cant hear what is happening.
They cant go outside. The skeeters and lovebugs are TOOO bad. Yesterday BR and I went out on the tractor and cut a pine tree off our power line. Between the skeeters and the lovebugs you couldn’t do anything. Our lines are not down, but there are hundreds down, plus all the transformers that have blown. Its going to be a long process. And since we are still paying out the rear for Rita on our electric bills I dread seeing what happens here.
We actually pay for electric, and then half as much again for the ‘recovery effort’ from Rita. Now they will double that for the recovery effort from Ike.
I got about 9 text messages around 3:40 this morning. They had been sent yesterday. I swear, if I ever see Bill Curtis in person I am going to knock the HELL out of him. If they can get AT&T service and ‘find’ the internet at Amelia Airharts plane, surely they can find it here in the middle of Texas.
Its time to fiqure out something for supper. I guess I will get out some chicken to BBQ. Funny how when you don’t have choices, you end up craving something that you cant get.
I reckon I could pull the microwave out of the wall, and then heat up stuff like that. But that’s such a PITA.
Right now we are very lucky, we have a fan going. Can watch the TV, I am alternating between the fish tanks (expect when I plug in the computer) and the fridge and freezer are going. I have a few cases of water, loafs of bread and powdered milk.
This time the Red Cross and FEMA are not in my area handing out food, water, and ice. So its all coming directly out of your house. If you didn’t have it before hand you are hurting for it. I feel sorry for those that were relying on them to come down here.
Of course the laundry is PILEING up. And I am SOOO not into a wash board and creek. I have done that before, and I hope I don’t have to do it again.
THis was written on MOnday, I dont have enough battery power to write my update through today. But will get on later and get it done.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
3 days till D day. Or should that be H day?
Yesterday was my FULL day.
PTA meeting at 9
pay bills
get 6 tires rotated (they freakin HATE to see me comin!!)
pay bills
another PTA meeting (and a meeting about that belt fiasco)
pay bills
Baseball practice (Matt did VERY well!!)
Since my day had started at 5:30, by the time I got home I was ready to colapse. It wouldnt be so hard, if it wasnt so dang hot out there. Just miserable.
I did manage to go to walgreens. I got about 60.00 worth of stuff and paid about 12.00. Not the best, But I am proud of me. I got bottled water and chexmix. and some cleaning supplies.
Oh and I had two tires you could see the air in. they wanted to sell me two more. 379.00. And the guy was shocked when I told him to just put them on the back on the inside. I know I need new tires. But dang. The guy tried to tell me why I had wore off all the tread on just the inside half. he started by saying
"its a little out of line"
Hmmmmm.. NO, its ALOT out of line It looks like I took a razor and shaved half the tire off.
"that can happen when you hit a little pot hole"
hmmm. How about when you bounce up your driveway like a mexican jumping bean? its a 8 inch ditch between my road and my driveway. And at times it gets so rough that I have to use 4 wheel drive and a heavy foot.
"and since your truck sits up so high it is easier to get out of line"
Yep.. that height comes in handy with that 4 wheel drive.
"dont you worry, its not really anything you did wrong"
I finally had to tell him "I drive a One ton, 4 wheel drive ford. The Engine outweighs most passenger cars, Of course its out of line. I am just lucky all 6 tires are still headed in the same general direction"
"we can fix it, and it will only be 50.00 with the new tires"
I decided to get back to him on that. I have free rotation for life since I bought all 6 tires there 2 years ago. If I keep going in, get the good 4 rotated and turned and all that, I might can get a few more miles out of them. I just have to remember to go in and get it done. these actually still looked good. on one side. The other side looked like you had taken a filet knife and cut them to the bone. Which you could see a little of. Little wires sticking on in a few places.
Now I didnt see BOTH tires, they just brought in the one. I knew it was bad. Been saying for months I needed to do something about it. But I didnt realize my tire rotations were free. Had I known I would have been in before now. I dont think the other tire was as bad. I know it wasnt. But One really is.
The sad thing is, I dont have mud grips. I have little street tires. I would LOVE to put mud grips on my truck. It would look SOOO good with mudgrips. But I cant afford it. I thought about doing it two at a time. They'd cost about the same. But last longer. More tread for me to wear off.
I didnt have time to go to walmart or anything else. Now I wished I had. I will be going back Friday, BUT that damn huricanne is bearing down on us and our store shelves will be wiped out by the time I get there. I have to do the Bulldog store on Friday, get started getting the yearbooks together and run more errands.
I just hope they have school on Friday. Beaumont has already started canceling schools for tomorrow and Friday. And BR has warned me that he wont be working this weekend, he cant work with all the evacuation traffic.
Brett woke up this morning with a headache. After about 10 minutes of crying I sent him back to bed. when 6:07 came I told Matt to load up and got Bow headed out the door. Then Brett came running in and asked if he had time to get ready. I told him to hurry. Amazingly enough he was dressed and ready in less than 3 minutes. There is something to be said for a shaved head. ;) Matt said it was because my grandfather was coming to eat lunch with them today at school. It was grandparents day and they had asked him to come. He had to be there at 11 for Matt and 11:45 for Brett. They were thrilled to death.
I got Bow back to sleep and fell asleep about 7. The phone rang at 8:03. the school nurse had Matt in her office. He had a tummy ache. She had sent him back to class, but was worried about him. I told her if he came back to let me know, and send the brat home with my grandfather. She said she would. Aparently he got better, cause she didnt have to call me back.
Rayley pulled something today that I have tried to avoid since the day I had children. I keep ALL sissors put UP. I dont let them have them at all. Well, I still find them in the boys room. Aparently Rayley found them too. She cut her bangs. plumb up to the scalp. this child has no hair. never has. we just now got some length back on it from when the Brett got the comb stuck in it. And before that (on the day of a pagent) there was the incident with the drill. That left a bald spot.
I tried to cut it as best I could. I was sorta able to fix it, but we lost alot of length and I am NOT a beautician. It looks awful. You cant just cut blonde hair and expect it to look good, you have to know what you are doing. Every sissor mark shows. I dont know why she doesnt have hair like the boys. They HAVE to have a hair cut once a week at the least. BR shaves his head every day. But it has taken Rayley over 4 years to get past her shoulders. And now I had to cut 3 inches off it.
Matt had homework tonight and I asked him to get on it as soon as he walked into the house. At 9:41 I sent him to bed, crying and screaming that I hated him. There was no talking to him. He still has a page to read, 5 sentences to write and 4 questions to answer.
OH and one of the sentences is "Did you watch Johnny Carson last night?"
How old is this crap that they are using? I used to sneak and watch Johnny when I was their age. Jay Leno is getting ready to retire. I know that the structure of sentences havent changed in 30 years, But honestly, Couldnt they find something that would appeal to the kids more? Thats like asking them if they watched the Brady Bunch. Matts teacher isnt even old enough to have watched Johnny!
I have gotten a few loads of laundry done. The kids are supposed to wear Red, white and blue tomorrow. In honor of Sept. 11th. They call it Patriots day. Call it was it was. 9-11. The day our world as we know it changed. The day we were attacked on our own soil. Instead of turning it into a 'feel good' day, use it to show who we are. That we are a country that you cant hold down.
But I have ironed and hung up 6 pair of jeans, and 6 shirts so far tonight. And I am through. The kids dont have the concept of 'take it off when you get home' so it doesnt get dirty. They could wear most things more than once. Instead they take them off and hang them on the floor.
Tomorrow I will try and get 'ready' for the influx of problems that only a huricanne will bring. we have until Saturday before he hits. And he should be a Tropical storm by the time he gets to us, so we are safe. Its just the evacuation and having all the kids and BR home for 4 days.
I want to pray it doesnt hit close to me. But that would be wishing it on someone else. Thats hard to do. Either way, someone somewhere is going to loose their house, someone somewhere is going to spend money they dont have evacuating, and someone somewhere is going to have an awful weekend. I just pray that everyone is safe.
PTA meeting at 9
pay bills
get 6 tires rotated (they freakin HATE to see me comin!!)
pay bills
another PTA meeting (and a meeting about that belt fiasco)
pay bills
Baseball practice (Matt did VERY well!!)
Since my day had started at 5:30, by the time I got home I was ready to colapse. It wouldnt be so hard, if it wasnt so dang hot out there. Just miserable.
I did manage to go to walgreens. I got about 60.00 worth of stuff and paid about 12.00. Not the best, But I am proud of me. I got bottled water and chexmix. and some cleaning supplies.
Oh and I had two tires you could see the air in. they wanted to sell me two more. 379.00. And the guy was shocked when I told him to just put them on the back on the inside. I know I need new tires. But dang. The guy tried to tell me why I had wore off all the tread on just the inside half. he started by saying
"its a little out of line"
Hmmmmm.. NO, its ALOT out of line It looks like I took a razor and shaved half the tire off.
"that can happen when you hit a little pot hole"
hmmm. How about when you bounce up your driveway like a mexican jumping bean? its a 8 inch ditch between my road and my driveway. And at times it gets so rough that I have to use 4 wheel drive and a heavy foot.
"and since your truck sits up so high it is easier to get out of line"
Yep.. that height comes in handy with that 4 wheel drive.
"dont you worry, its not really anything you did wrong"
I finally had to tell him "I drive a One ton, 4 wheel drive ford. The Engine outweighs most passenger cars, Of course its out of line. I am just lucky all 6 tires are still headed in the same general direction"
"we can fix it, and it will only be 50.00 with the new tires"
I decided to get back to him on that. I have free rotation for life since I bought all 6 tires there 2 years ago. If I keep going in, get the good 4 rotated and turned and all that, I might can get a few more miles out of them. I just have to remember to go in and get it done. these actually still looked good. on one side. The other side looked like you had taken a filet knife and cut them to the bone. Which you could see a little of. Little wires sticking on in a few places.
Now I didnt see BOTH tires, they just brought in the one. I knew it was bad. Been saying for months I needed to do something about it. But I didnt realize my tire rotations were free. Had I known I would have been in before now. I dont think the other tire was as bad. I know it wasnt. But One really is.
The sad thing is, I dont have mud grips. I have little street tires. I would LOVE to put mud grips on my truck. It would look SOOO good with mudgrips. But I cant afford it. I thought about doing it two at a time. They'd cost about the same. But last longer. More tread for me to wear off.
I didnt have time to go to walmart or anything else. Now I wished I had. I will be going back Friday, BUT that damn huricanne is bearing down on us and our store shelves will be wiped out by the time I get there. I have to do the Bulldog store on Friday, get started getting the yearbooks together and run more errands.
I just hope they have school on Friday. Beaumont has already started canceling schools for tomorrow and Friday. And BR has warned me that he wont be working this weekend, he cant work with all the evacuation traffic.
Brett woke up this morning with a headache. After about 10 minutes of crying I sent him back to bed. when 6:07 came I told Matt to load up and got Bow headed out the door. Then Brett came running in and asked if he had time to get ready. I told him to hurry. Amazingly enough he was dressed and ready in less than 3 minutes. There is something to be said for a shaved head. ;) Matt said it was because my grandfather was coming to eat lunch with them today at school. It was grandparents day and they had asked him to come. He had to be there at 11 for Matt and 11:45 for Brett. They were thrilled to death.
I got Bow back to sleep and fell asleep about 7. The phone rang at 8:03. the school nurse had Matt in her office. He had a tummy ache. She had sent him back to class, but was worried about him. I told her if he came back to let me know, and send the brat home with my grandfather. She said she would. Aparently he got better, cause she didnt have to call me back.
Rayley pulled something today that I have tried to avoid since the day I had children. I keep ALL sissors put UP. I dont let them have them at all. Well, I still find them in the boys room. Aparently Rayley found them too. She cut her bangs. plumb up to the scalp. this child has no hair. never has. we just now got some length back on it from when the Brett got the comb stuck in it. And before that (on the day of a pagent) there was the incident with the drill. That left a bald spot.
I tried to cut it as best I could. I was sorta able to fix it, but we lost alot of length and I am NOT a beautician. It looks awful. You cant just cut blonde hair and expect it to look good, you have to know what you are doing. Every sissor mark shows. I dont know why she doesnt have hair like the boys. They HAVE to have a hair cut once a week at the least. BR shaves his head every day. But it has taken Rayley over 4 years to get past her shoulders. And now I had to cut 3 inches off it.
Matt had homework tonight and I asked him to get on it as soon as he walked into the house. At 9:41 I sent him to bed, crying and screaming that I hated him. There was no talking to him. He still has a page to read, 5 sentences to write and 4 questions to answer.
OH and one of the sentences is "Did you watch Johnny Carson last night?"
How old is this crap that they are using? I used to sneak and watch Johnny when I was their age. Jay Leno is getting ready to retire. I know that the structure of sentences havent changed in 30 years, But honestly, Couldnt they find something that would appeal to the kids more? Thats like asking them if they watched the Brady Bunch. Matts teacher isnt even old enough to have watched Johnny!
I have gotten a few loads of laundry done. The kids are supposed to wear Red, white and blue tomorrow. In honor of Sept. 11th. They call it Patriots day. Call it was it was. 9-11. The day our world as we know it changed. The day we were attacked on our own soil. Instead of turning it into a 'feel good' day, use it to show who we are. That we are a country that you cant hold down.
But I have ironed and hung up 6 pair of jeans, and 6 shirts so far tonight. And I am through. The kids dont have the concept of 'take it off when you get home' so it doesnt get dirty. They could wear most things more than once. Instead they take them off and hang them on the floor.
Tomorrow I will try and get 'ready' for the influx of problems that only a huricanne will bring. we have until Saturday before he hits. And he should be a Tropical storm by the time he gets to us, so we are safe. Its just the evacuation and having all the kids and BR home for 4 days.
I want to pray it doesnt hit close to me. But that would be wishing it on someone else. Thats hard to do. Either way, someone somewhere is going to loose their house, someone somewhere is going to spend money they dont have evacuating, and someone somewhere is going to have an awful weekend. I just pray that everyone is safe.
Monday, September 8, 2008
'Plecia nearctica' must mean Pain in the ass in latin
I wasnt going to blog until tonight.
But I just went outside to tell BR bye and take out the trash. And I got swarmed. I swear, if love bugs (they have other names too, telephone bugs, *explitive* bugs and their latin name Plecia nearctica)
were dangerous, or bit it would be an epidemic. they would have the goverment down here trying to get rid of them.
You can say "the skeeters are everywhere" or "I was swarmed by flys" But honestly, you dont know what swarmed is, until you literly cant breathe for fear of sucking one down your throat. If you swing your arm in front of your face you kill at least 20. I am NOT exagerating. These things are awful. And they just get worse every year.
They are not like anything you have ever seen, there is no fear or avoidence. There is just absolute coverage. They get all over you. They are on everything you touch. And they smush SOOO easily, there is no picking them up and throwing them out. If you touch one you have smushed it on you. And they STINK. I cant desribe the smell. But it perments everything around you. If you turn on the AC in the truck its all you can smell.
They die on anything and everything and 'cook' in the heat.
And they only live 2-3 days, so all of them that get in to the house die. and they are EVERYWHERE. Bow tries to eat them. The cat eats them. Its nasty.
Now, you might say "2-3 days, just deal with it", NO ONE lives 2-3 days. they are out for weeks on end. about 6 weeks to be exact. Twice a year. EVERY year. Spring and late summer.
I drove 16 miles yesterday. 8 to BR's job and 8 back. and my truck was covered. By the time I got to the yard I couldnt see the road. I had to clean my windshield before I could attempt to drive home.
Here are some pictures of the front of my truck after just a 16 mile trip, and we had washed some off.
and you cant just spray them off. you have to scrub them off. I had to wash my truck last night just so I could see out the windshield the next time I go to town. I took these pictures before and after. Did you notice my antenna? something that little and it is absolutly covered.
And I hate to wash my truck. BR sees every little scratch and ding, and gripes the whole time.
I couldnt clean out the inside, because during lovebug season you have to race out the door, race into the truck and slam the door as quickly as possible to cut down on the amount that get in with you. They land on you and crawl. and although they are not dangerous, (unless you breathe enough in and literly drown), it IS dangerous to be driving 70 miles an hour and feel something crawling on you and get freaked out.
I walked out on the porch to take a picture of one and when I came back in about 35 seconds later, Rayley picked 17 out of my hair. I was NOT out there but a few seconds. I had no desire to be out there. Upon reflection, I can see NOTHING that would be needed to be done so badly as for me to subject myself to these vile creatures.
I Decided to steal this picture off the net. I did go out to take a pic, but they swarmed my camera and I couldnt get them OFF the lens long enough to get a picture. Plus I smushed some while I was trying to push the picture takin button.
These bugs are not native to here. They came in on a ship from somewhere. Just like fireants did. If you drive 75 miles north of here you dont have them anymore. I know that most of the gulf coast is covered in them. But this is the worst season in a long time. They thrive on wet ground litter. eating and laying eggs in the decaying leaves and such.
AND I have not seen a use for them. Honestly, there is NO USE. they are just a worthless, nasty, miserable little bug. I really feel sorry for anyone working outside during lovebug season. They thrive around anything white. Heat draws them (machines and such running), and there is NOTHIN to use to get rid of them.
I have read all about them, they have no actual use, They say they pollinate flowers. WEll, all our flowers got pollinated WELL before the 1940's when they first appeared in Galveston.
They are more of a danger than a benificial insect. Not to mention they are destructive. Just a few days of them being dead on your car and their decomposing bodies eat the paint off. ANd Destroy the chrome. When they get hit and end up on the radiator they clog it up and will cause your car to overheat. OR if you go daily to the carwash to clean them off you will end up bending the delicate fins on your radiator and having to buy a new one.
As we were driving yesterday I was hitting them so often and with such quick sessesion that it honestly sounded like it was raining.
Even when we have June bugs its not this bad. Granted, they are bigger, and when they splatter they make a bigger mess on the windshield, but they are not as numerous.
And the old joke "what was the last thing that went through that bugs mind when it hit the windshield?" (their butt) doesnt even give you a grin during lovebug season. Plus, you know they are just arguing. Its the male and the female connected together. So thats why they just flit around with no real purpose in life. They constantly argue.
Its also why they are called love bugs, telephone bugs (they say hello and hang up) and *explitive* bugs. Although I do tell the kids they are called that cause its shortened from "There are those *explitive* bugs again".
But I just went outside to tell BR bye and take out the trash. And I got swarmed. I swear, if love bugs (they have other names too, telephone bugs, *explitive* bugs and their latin name Plecia nearctica)
were dangerous, or bit it would be an epidemic. they would have the goverment down here trying to get rid of them.
You can say "the skeeters are everywhere" or "I was swarmed by flys" But honestly, you dont know what swarmed is, until you literly cant breathe for fear of sucking one down your throat. If you swing your arm in front of your face you kill at least 20. I am NOT exagerating. These things are awful. And they just get worse every year.
They are not like anything you have ever seen, there is no fear or avoidence. There is just absolute coverage. They get all over you. They are on everything you touch. And they smush SOOO easily, there is no picking them up and throwing them out. If you touch one you have smushed it on you. And they STINK. I cant desribe the smell. But it perments everything around you. If you turn on the AC in the truck its all you can smell.
They die on anything and everything and 'cook' in the heat.
And they only live 2-3 days, so all of them that get in to the house die. and they are EVERYWHERE. Bow tries to eat them. The cat eats them. Its nasty.
Now, you might say "2-3 days, just deal with it", NO ONE lives 2-3 days. they are out for weeks on end. about 6 weeks to be exact. Twice a year. EVERY year. Spring and late summer.
I drove 16 miles yesterday. 8 to BR's job and 8 back. and my truck was covered. By the time I got to the yard I couldnt see the road. I had to clean my windshield before I could attempt to drive home.
Here are some pictures of the front of my truck after just a 16 mile trip, and we had washed some off.
and you cant just spray them off. you have to scrub them off. I had to wash my truck last night just so I could see out the windshield the next time I go to town. I took these pictures before and after. Did you notice my antenna? something that little and it is absolutly covered.
And I hate to wash my truck. BR sees every little scratch and ding, and gripes the whole time.
I couldnt clean out the inside, because during lovebug season you have to race out the door, race into the truck and slam the door as quickly as possible to cut down on the amount that get in with you. They land on you and crawl. and although they are not dangerous, (unless you breathe enough in and literly drown), it IS dangerous to be driving 70 miles an hour and feel something crawling on you and get freaked out.
I walked out on the porch to take a picture of one and when I came back in about 35 seconds later, Rayley picked 17 out of my hair. I was NOT out there but a few seconds. I had no desire to be out there. Upon reflection, I can see NOTHING that would be needed to be done so badly as for me to subject myself to these vile creatures.
I Decided to steal this picture off the net. I did go out to take a pic, but they swarmed my camera and I couldnt get them OFF the lens long enough to get a picture. Plus I smushed some while I was trying to push the picture takin button.
These bugs are not native to here. They came in on a ship from somewhere. Just like fireants did. If you drive 75 miles north of here you dont have them anymore. I know that most of the gulf coast is covered in them. But this is the worst season in a long time. They thrive on wet ground litter. eating and laying eggs in the decaying leaves and such.
AND I have not seen a use for them. Honestly, there is NO USE. they are just a worthless, nasty, miserable little bug. I really feel sorry for anyone working outside during lovebug season. They thrive around anything white. Heat draws them (machines and such running), and there is NOTHIN to use to get rid of them.
I have read all about them, they have no actual use, They say they pollinate flowers. WEll, all our flowers got pollinated WELL before the 1940's when they first appeared in Galveston.
They are more of a danger than a benificial insect. Not to mention they are destructive. Just a few days of them being dead on your car and their decomposing bodies eat the paint off. ANd Destroy the chrome. When they get hit and end up on the radiator they clog it up and will cause your car to overheat. OR if you go daily to the carwash to clean them off you will end up bending the delicate fins on your radiator and having to buy a new one.
As we were driving yesterday I was hitting them so often and with such quick sessesion that it honestly sounded like it was raining.
Even when we have June bugs its not this bad. Granted, they are bigger, and when they splatter they make a bigger mess on the windshield, but they are not as numerous.
And the old joke "what was the last thing that went through that bugs mind when it hit the windshield?" (their butt) doesnt even give you a grin during lovebug season. Plus, you know they are just arguing. Its the male and the female connected together. So thats why they just flit around with no real purpose in life. They constantly argue.
Its also why they are called love bugs, telephone bugs (they say hello and hang up) and *explitive* bugs. Although I do tell the kids they are called that cause its shortened from "There are those *explitive* bugs again".
Sunday, September 7, 2008
GO AWAY IKE!!
80 some odd years. The oldest person I can find in my family, that has lived here all his life, and NEVER has he evacuated for a freakin huricanne. NEver been told to before 3 years ago. That was said to be the storm of the century. Well, I reckon we are lucky and gona get to relive it.
I have a therory as to why we are getting huricannes. And everyone I have ran this by seems to be inclined to belive me. The newsmedia have sold their souls in exchange for a real huricanne to come into the gulf, and do something bad to New Orleans again. And they wont quit till it happens. Keep watching. the wind is going to blow and you will see the horns that Geraldo is now sporting.
I just cant fiqure out why Bush would conjour up this huricanne, when the last one went so badly. You'd think that he would give up. The huricanne didnt work, blowing up the levees didnt work. I guess he just feels the need to waste millions of tax payers dollars for no good reason. Other than to make us evac and use up all the oil and spend more money on gas.
Either way, I am NOT a happy camper. I truthfully cant evacuate. For more than one reason, but the biggest one being that its so expensive to do so. They havent turned the oil back on in the feilds like it was 2 weeks ago. They turned it off for the huricanne, BUT had already turned it down cause the price went down. So BR is not working as much. and even when you do come home there are all the bills waiting and if you get hit, you have to run a generator. Gas is high. Generators cost ALOT to run and you never know how long you will be doing it.
Oh well, the good news is, the kids will be out of school again. yee-haw.
I was talking to a few friends. We have done the PTA for years together. When Rita aka 'the huricanne that never was' came through I was President of the Primary's PTA. had a WONDERFUL network of people, and lots of projects going. We were RIGHT in the middle of making buttons that we had sold. And another friend had just opened a coffee shop. (she is to blame for my caffine habit. She introduced me to expressos. I even had my own coffee named after me. the Spe'chelle'tee its 5 expresso's, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of steamed milk.)
Well when RIta came through it blew apart the town. And my volunteers went every which way. We ended up having the WORSt year. I couldnt get help, nothing turned out right and I of course was to blame. It didntmatter that 3/4 of the ladies had substantial damage to thier homes, and the other 1/4 moved away. Or that the school flooded, loosing all our buttons, pictures and other things, or that we couldnt go back for weeks.
That was the last year, until this one, that I was a member of that board. This year I went back. I had been on the board for the other school. But had avoided this school. There were other problems other than the huricanne, but that was the straw that broke the camels back.
Anyway, as we were all sitting around last week, calling and bitching about the storm, discussing the fact that NONE of us could afford to evacuate, it dawned on me. I was talking to the coffee shop friend. She just reopened another coffee shop. Her other being lost in the storm.
I told her that ONE of us was going to have to give up. Either she gave up her coffee shop, or Rayley went her first 4 years with out me being on the PTA board at her school. She laughed adn said "I hadnt thought about that!". We tried to find another common link. Since in the ensuing years we havent even had the first inkling of being hit by another huricanne. not even close.
Nothing came to mind.
Later that night I was talking to the other friend, She was staying home too and just going to brave Gustav. After we discuss that, we got to important PTA stuff. She had called me and wanted to know if I remembered how to make the buttons, it had been years since we had done them. We had borrowed the machine from the primary school, so we could do pictures of the bulldog to give each kid as they got bulldog of the week.
Yep I said "3 to be exact".
She said "oh wow, your right!!, remember how awful it was when Rita came through and we lost ALL the pics of the kids with the bulldog!?!?"
"yes, I remember it, I was president and had to personally refund ALL that money. I am SOOO glad your president this time and will have to...."
"OH SHIT!" we both said at the same time.
Yep. common denominator.
Now I dont know which of the 3 of us is causing this. But I am still going to blame it on the news media. I am not sure if they are wanting it to totaly kill New Orleans, or if they want all the oil platforms wiped out. But either way, they just might get their wish if these stupid storms keep coming.
A hamburger joint in town even has their marquee up saying "go away IKE!" I agree.
Today my sister in law called, she wanted the kids. SO I woke them up, and asked if their rooms were clean. That Aunt AManda wanted to come and get them. Rayley got RIGHT on cleanign, didnt cry, didnt whine and actually did a pretty decent job! The boys didnt do too shabby either.
I got them dressed and she got here. SHe played with Bow for a few minutes and then they left. Bow followed them to the door and tried to open it and go with them. He got VERY mad when he couldnt pull it open. and really got mad when he banged on it and noone would open it back up. He wanted to go with them. I dont know why anyone wont take him. They use the excuse that he is still nursing. That does NOT matter. He can go all day with out nursing. and drinks milk if he gets thristy, or tea, or water, or juice.
He did play for a while in the floor. He gets into everything. And then eats it. He is starting to do real well standing up. And is learning to keep his balance.
My grandfather called when they had been gone for about 45 minutes. He wanted to take them to lunch. I told him the 3 big kids were gone. But he could have Bow. He said he didnt think Bow would enjoy a hamburger. He has never seen this kid eat.
So I was stuck with the kid. Finally they came home. And Bow was THRILLED!!
They finished up the laundry they had piled in their room and never put up when it was clean before. and they played with Bow. They really do love him and are great with him.
And he worships them. He will go and play while they do. Then he will come in here, crawl up, nurse for a few minutes and then get back down and go play. Or sometimes he will just come in here, crawl up and talk to me for a few minutes and then get down and go play. Its like he is checking in. making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be.
Well BR is home and wants to watch a movie. Something about a man eating croc.
Friday, September 5, 2008
A learning curve
"I dont wana be a cowgirl when I grow up anymore!"
"you dont?"
"nope, I wana be a republin!" "they get to throw ballons in the house!!"
"Thats great baby, but if you are a republican, you can still be what ever you want to be"
"So I can still be a hunter and be a republin?, or a princess?, or a cowgirl? "
"Yes, you can. Heck Bertha Sue, you can even be President. "
"then can I boss the boys around?"
"sure, but you might have to give them a pardon first"
and with that she went back to dancin. Hey, if all it takes is some balloons and confetti being thrown to get my kids involoved in politics then I am ALL for it!
They have actually watched most of the RNC with us. ANd they watched the DNC. They have questions, and we answer them as best we can. They dont necisarily know this is a ground breaking year, but they know that its important. And amazingly enough they ask important questions.
Anyway, that was this afternoon while we were watching the DVR. This morning was NOT alot of fun.
5:30 came WAY too early. The alarm was going off right as BR walked in the door. I had to wake up the kids. They were NOT all excited.. But there were no tears. They had laid out their clothes last night, so they just put them on and came in here and sat down. I had to make them get up and brush their teeth, then I let them go back to sleep. And I did too. The alarm was set for snooze, so it kept waking me up. In less than 4 minutes BOTH kids were dressed and ready to go.
But alseep.
At 6:10 we headed down to the hiway. I made Brett get a Dr Pepper. I never let my kids have cokes. Sprite yes, Cokes NO. But this morning I fiqured they would need one. So we loaded up and headed down. They drank the whole DR pepper between them. It was a 16 oz bottle and they had it gone in 2 minutes. I didnt even get drink! LOL
I came back home and Bow was wired. I did get him to settle down so I could take a little nap. Then Rayley woke up. So I gave up. I started cleaning up. I wasnt doing any laundry. While the boys room got searched last night for Matts belt I had found quite a bit of laundry. So they were going to have to do laundry when they got home.
At 10:30am the phone rang. It was the school. The subsitute assistant principal was calling. To tell me that Matt was in her office. I was afraid of this. He was up all night, got less than 5 hours of sleep and doesnt do well when he is tired. He is my child that will ask me if he can go to bed. He has always been this way. Very few things interest him enough to keep him awake past his bedtime.
But she assured me he wasnt in trouble. Instead he was in her office cause he wasnt wearing a belt. I told her I was aware he wasnt wearing a belt, I had written a note to his teacher this morning explaining that I couldnt find it. I was still looking. Well she went on to explain it was the dress code. I told her I realized that, but fiqured it was best to come on to school and learn, then to worry about a belt. I asked her if his pants were dragging below his rear. No, he looked real nice. a starched shirt, clean and starched jeans. A fresh hair cut. (this is a weekly occourance, and its not just cut, its shaved. to the scalp, except on the very top). I asked her what she wanted me to do. COuld I bring him a belt.
UMMMM NO. I couldnt. I dont have one. I cant afford one this week, and I live 20 plus miles from town!
But I did her one better, I offered to just come and get him.
I got both Rayley and Bow up and got them dressed, hair brushed, and ready to go. I had to get dressed too. This did NOT make me happy.
As I was walking out the door she called back. Sorry she had upset me. She would even aquire a belt for matt. That is NOT what I wanted. I would find a way to get him a belt. I just wanted to find the 25.00 cowboy belt he already has. He just had it a week ago. She begged me to let him stay. Why I am not sure. He had already made it to 10:00. thats the cut off for being counted there and them getting paid for his attendance. (convient that I didnt get teh phone call till 10:30). She stressed how she wanted him there to learn. I told her I did too. But last time I checked wearing a belt was not condusive to learning. and the fact that she had him and a dozen other kids lined up outside her office from the start of the school day until then was not exactly teaching them anything.
I am not disputing that the kid needs to follow the dress code. But there was MUCH better ways to go about this.
1.) Give him a warning. and then call me. But leave him in class
2.) Call me and remind me that he needs a belt, but dont interupt his class time
dont make these kids sit outside, like criminals because they dont have on a belt. There was over a dozen of them. I talked to a friend who had seen them. When I called her she KNEW what I was calling about. They had sat out there from the time of the Friday Pep Rally being over before 9 till after 10:30.
I also informed her that I wasnt happy about all the homework last night. She tried to give me the crap about knowing it was hard cause the kids were still on a summer schedule, and the week out cause of the huricanne didnt help. My kids DIDNT get off schedule cause of the huricanne. they still went to bed at 8. My kids got off because the teachers expected them to do 5 days worth of work in ONE night. Less than 3 hours as a matter of fact.
I also told her that I am VERY picky about what my children wear, and they had been wearing belts to school every day LONG before it was part of the dress code that they tuck in their shirts and wear a belt. That they dont get to wear T shirts EXCEPT on friday, and have ALWAYS tucked in their shirts. She agree'd that he did look nice, and then told me that she understood kids loosing stuff. Cause just last night she had driven to walamrt at 10:00 just to buy her nephew who is living with her a belt. Cause he had already lost his.
Well, I am glad that she is able to
1.) afford to buy something on a whim. AND the gas to go and get it
B.) doesnt have 4 kids that she has to take everywhere with her cause she is the only one at home at 10 at night and
3.) lives close enough to consider a trip to walmart as a 'quick trip'.
But I cant.
I agree'd to leave Matt at school. But only cause BRett had gotten Bulldog of the week. and if I pick up one, I have to pick up the other. And he was the big man is his class today so I didnt want to disturb him. PLUS I have dealt with these kids for over a week. when they should have been in school. If I brought him home I would have a tired, whiney kid on my hands. And since it was the teachers who wanted that homework done, they should have to put up with them.
But I went on to town. Went to the western store, woke up both kids and got them out, went in, found the belts, and got Matt a new belt. Loaded the kids back up, drove to the school, got the kids BACK out having to rewake Bow, walked in, NICELY put it on the desk, and wisely decided NOT to ask to speak to the principal, had it sent to his class, and took the kids BACK out, strapped them BACK in, MUCH to Bow's displeasure, and drove home. That is 1/4 of a tank of deisel. around 6 gallons, a new belt and wasted time. Because a BELT was keeping my child from learning. On the 8th day of school.
I do plan to speak to the acting principal when I go in for my PTA meeting. Our regular principal is out sick, so our assistant has taken over her job, wth a retired principal coming in to work in her position.
I try very hard to make sure my children respect the rules, and dont make a fool of me. I work very hard at the schools. Spending my time and money to help them. I am one of the VERY few volunteers up there. And honestly, I think part of the reason we dont have more is because of the way they treat parents. They are so tired of having to deal with stupid crap that they dont even want to come up and better the school for their children. I dont expect special treatment for my children because of it. I really dont. When they are bad, bust them for it. But you need to think before you waste the time and money of the parents for something so trivial as a belt. His pants were NOT down around his knees. he was very nicely dressed, he just didnt have a peice of leather wrapped around his waiste.
I havent decided yet what we are going to do when one of them looses their belt again. I know it will happen. Its inevitable. I have 2 options. A.) tie a peice of twine around his waiste and send another note.
OR 2.) keep him home, and write a note stating:
"Please excuse Matt/Brett for missing school yesterday, He was unable to learn due to the lack of a belt. We have since located it and therefor he was qualified to return to school."
Of course this will result in an unexcused absense. But thats okay. They already get one a year. On Presidents day. I refuse for them to go to school that day.
The Boys did come home and do a load or two of laundry. Nothing major, Towells and socks. And Brett was VERY proud of his Bulldog of the week award. I am too. Last year he got it at the very end of the year. I fiqure it was given to him then 'cause you are supposed to give each child the honor at least once. I am hoping that this time he earned it. He has gotten a few complement tickets. Those are tickets you get for doing something nice and you get to turn them in for a prize.
Oh and According to the 'cone of uncertainty' Huricanne Ike is headed into the gulf. I am guessing enough of the media prayed or sold their souls that it has changed course and is headed for the New Orleans area. Unfortunatly, we are JUST CLOSE enough that if it gets off course just a little bit, we could be hit. Not a good thing..
"you dont?"
"nope, I wana be a republin!" "they get to throw ballons in the house!!"
"Thats great baby, but if you are a republican, you can still be what ever you want to be"
"So I can still be a hunter and be a republin?, or a princess?, or a cowgirl? "
"Yes, you can. Heck Bertha Sue, you can even be President. "
"then can I boss the boys around?"
"sure, but you might have to give them a pardon first"
and with that she went back to dancin. Hey, if all it takes is some balloons and confetti being thrown to get my kids involoved in politics then I am ALL for it!
They have actually watched most of the RNC with us. ANd they watched the DNC. They have questions, and we answer them as best we can. They dont necisarily know this is a ground breaking year, but they know that its important. And amazingly enough they ask important questions.
Anyway, that was this afternoon while we were watching the DVR. This morning was NOT alot of fun.
5:30 came WAY too early. The alarm was going off right as BR walked in the door. I had to wake up the kids. They were NOT all excited.. But there were no tears. They had laid out their clothes last night, so they just put them on and came in here and sat down. I had to make them get up and brush their teeth, then I let them go back to sleep. And I did too. The alarm was set for snooze, so it kept waking me up. In less than 4 minutes BOTH kids were dressed and ready to go.
But alseep.
At 6:10 we headed down to the hiway. I made Brett get a Dr Pepper. I never let my kids have cokes. Sprite yes, Cokes NO. But this morning I fiqured they would need one. So we loaded up and headed down. They drank the whole DR pepper between them. It was a 16 oz bottle and they had it gone in 2 minutes. I didnt even get drink! LOL
I came back home and Bow was wired. I did get him to settle down so I could take a little nap. Then Rayley woke up. So I gave up. I started cleaning up. I wasnt doing any laundry. While the boys room got searched last night for Matts belt I had found quite a bit of laundry. So they were going to have to do laundry when they got home.
At 10:30am the phone rang. It was the school. The subsitute assistant principal was calling. To tell me that Matt was in her office. I was afraid of this. He was up all night, got less than 5 hours of sleep and doesnt do well when he is tired. He is my child that will ask me if he can go to bed. He has always been this way. Very few things interest him enough to keep him awake past his bedtime.
But she assured me he wasnt in trouble. Instead he was in her office cause he wasnt wearing a belt. I told her I was aware he wasnt wearing a belt, I had written a note to his teacher this morning explaining that I couldnt find it. I was still looking. Well she went on to explain it was the dress code. I told her I realized that, but fiqured it was best to come on to school and learn, then to worry about a belt. I asked her if his pants were dragging below his rear. No, he looked real nice. a starched shirt, clean and starched jeans. A fresh hair cut. (this is a weekly occourance, and its not just cut, its shaved. to the scalp, except on the very top). I asked her what she wanted me to do. COuld I bring him a belt.
UMMMM NO. I couldnt. I dont have one. I cant afford one this week, and I live 20 plus miles from town!
But I did her one better, I offered to just come and get him.
I got both Rayley and Bow up and got them dressed, hair brushed, and ready to go. I had to get dressed too. This did NOT make me happy.
As I was walking out the door she called back. Sorry she had upset me. She would even aquire a belt for matt. That is NOT what I wanted. I would find a way to get him a belt. I just wanted to find the 25.00 cowboy belt he already has. He just had it a week ago. She begged me to let him stay. Why I am not sure. He had already made it to 10:00. thats the cut off for being counted there and them getting paid for his attendance. (convient that I didnt get teh phone call till 10:30). She stressed how she wanted him there to learn. I told her I did too. But last time I checked wearing a belt was not condusive to learning. and the fact that she had him and a dozen other kids lined up outside her office from the start of the school day until then was not exactly teaching them anything.
I am not disputing that the kid needs to follow the dress code. But there was MUCH better ways to go about this.
1.) Give him a warning. and then call me. But leave him in class
2.) Call me and remind me that he needs a belt, but dont interupt his class time
dont make these kids sit outside, like criminals because they dont have on a belt. There was over a dozen of them. I talked to a friend who had seen them. When I called her she KNEW what I was calling about. They had sat out there from the time of the Friday Pep Rally being over before 9 till after 10:30.
I also informed her that I wasnt happy about all the homework last night. She tried to give me the crap about knowing it was hard cause the kids were still on a summer schedule, and the week out cause of the huricanne didnt help. My kids DIDNT get off schedule cause of the huricanne. they still went to bed at 8. My kids got off because the teachers expected them to do 5 days worth of work in ONE night. Less than 3 hours as a matter of fact.
I also told her that I am VERY picky about what my children wear, and they had been wearing belts to school every day LONG before it was part of the dress code that they tuck in their shirts and wear a belt. That they dont get to wear T shirts EXCEPT on friday, and have ALWAYS tucked in their shirts. She agree'd that he did look nice, and then told me that she understood kids loosing stuff. Cause just last night she had driven to walamrt at 10:00 just to buy her nephew who is living with her a belt. Cause he had already lost his.
Well, I am glad that she is able to
1.) afford to buy something on a whim. AND the gas to go and get it
B.) doesnt have 4 kids that she has to take everywhere with her cause she is the only one at home at 10 at night and
3.) lives close enough to consider a trip to walmart as a 'quick trip'.
But I cant.
I agree'd to leave Matt at school. But only cause BRett had gotten Bulldog of the week. and if I pick up one, I have to pick up the other. And he was the big man is his class today so I didnt want to disturb him. PLUS I have dealt with these kids for over a week. when they should have been in school. If I brought him home I would have a tired, whiney kid on my hands. And since it was the teachers who wanted that homework done, they should have to put up with them.
But I went on to town. Went to the western store, woke up both kids and got them out, went in, found the belts, and got Matt a new belt. Loaded the kids back up, drove to the school, got the kids BACK out having to rewake Bow, walked in, NICELY put it on the desk, and wisely decided NOT to ask to speak to the principal, had it sent to his class, and took the kids BACK out, strapped them BACK in, MUCH to Bow's displeasure, and drove home. That is 1/4 of a tank of deisel. around 6 gallons, a new belt and wasted time. Because a BELT was keeping my child from learning. On the 8th day of school.
I do plan to speak to the acting principal when I go in for my PTA meeting. Our regular principal is out sick, so our assistant has taken over her job, wth a retired principal coming in to work in her position.
I try very hard to make sure my children respect the rules, and dont make a fool of me. I work very hard at the schools. Spending my time and money to help them. I am one of the VERY few volunteers up there. And honestly, I think part of the reason we dont have more is because of the way they treat parents. They are so tired of having to deal with stupid crap that they dont even want to come up and better the school for their children. I dont expect special treatment for my children because of it. I really dont. When they are bad, bust them for it. But you need to think before you waste the time and money of the parents for something so trivial as a belt. His pants were NOT down around his knees. he was very nicely dressed, he just didnt have a peice of leather wrapped around his waiste.
I havent decided yet what we are going to do when one of them looses their belt again. I know it will happen. Its inevitable. I have 2 options. A.) tie a peice of twine around his waiste and send another note.
OR 2.) keep him home, and write a note stating:
"Please excuse Matt/Brett for missing school yesterday, He was unable to learn due to the lack of a belt. We have since located it and therefor he was qualified to return to school."
Of course this will result in an unexcused absense. But thats okay. They already get one a year. On Presidents day. I refuse for them to go to school that day.
The Boys did come home and do a load or two of laundry. Nothing major, Towells and socks. And Brett was VERY proud of his Bulldog of the week award. I am too. Last year he got it at the very end of the year. I fiqure it was given to him then 'cause you are supposed to give each child the honor at least once. I am hoping that this time he earned it. He has gotten a few complement tickets. Those are tickets you get for doing something nice and you get to turn them in for a prize.
Oh and According to the 'cone of uncertainty' Huricanne Ike is headed into the gulf. I am guessing enough of the media prayed or sold their souls that it has changed course and is headed for the New Orleans area. Unfortunatly, we are JUST CLOSE enough that if it gets off course just a little bit, we could be hit. Not a good thing..
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Gustav GO AWAY! and take IKE with you!
Its 11:00 and Matt is still working on his homework. I kid you not.
Every week on Monday they get a packet of 4 or 5 pages for language arts that they have to do and turn in on Thursday, and then they have to do math and anything else they decide to send home.
This is fine. Except when you dont go to school ALL week because of a freakin huricanne, go in on Thursday and all of this is due on Friday.
The kids have to get up at 5:30 every morning. They catch the bus a little before 6:20. Then they dont get home till pert near 5:00. God forbid I have anything I have to do in the evening, or they want to do something other than eat and do work.
So, they came home at 5:00. Were starving to death, I let them eat a little bit, We tried to find Matts belt. The rules state each child must wear a belt and tuck in their shirt. Well, Matts belt went missing the week before school started. And we havent been able to find it since.
After a little while, of me looking and them holding and loving on Bow, we had to stop. I knew they had homework. Brett had a project that is one that they would send home at the begining of the week and turn in on Friday. Plus he had to read like 20 pages our of a text book. I think he had laungage arts too. But honestly, it wasnt worth it.
His project was to draw a map from the school to his house. And color it.
We worked on that, Matt worked on his and Brett went to bed at 10:45. Matt is still working and crying at 11:25. (I keep having to stop wrighting to help him and keep him awake).
I know they are exhausted. I am. ANd tomorrow they will get in trouble cause they are not minding, or are irratible. I like for them to be in bed by 8. I am pretty strict about this. even on a good night that only leaves us 3 hours to visit, eat, bath and for them to see Bow and I.
I really dont get the point of homework for a 3rd or 4th grader. They have spent all day at school. Why torture them when they get home too? And why torture the parents? Seriously. I end up being the bad guy, because I have to keep on them. Make them redo it, scream, holler and threaten. They end up crying, being miserable and hating the whole concept of school. so honestly, what good does it do?
In the real world I am not expected to bring home work with out compensation. Why should they be? I cant fiqure out if its trying to force us to spend time with our kids, or what. But if the time spent is spent having to ride them to get something done, what good has it done?
Bow woke up a few days ago with a stuffy nose. And he is steady getting worse. He has been a good baby today. But you can tell he doesnt feel good.
He is really growing. He is standing on his own, and I expect him to walk any day now. He will say a few things. Although dada is still his favorite. He will hit the bedroom door and holler it when he knows BR is in there asleep.
He said "sugar' the other day when I was asking him for some sugar.
He will say "ice cream" if he sees the bluebell tub or an ice cream cone.
This last week has been awful. It started with the realization that Gustav was headed our way. well last week ended that way. I knew what I needed, and my grocery shopping day fell right on the day that everyone else decided to go and pillage and plunder the stores. There was NO water at walmart, Bread was runnign short and I almost never found crackers. there was no veinna sausages, hot dogs or other stuff I needed.
I had to drive BACK to a differnt store to get water. BR was out for work. I came home, filled up my truck, then gathered up all the gas cans I could find and filled them up. of course right as I pulled into the gas station to fill them I was lucky enough to feel the first drops of rain. The huricanne was still days out. But we had quite a few rain showers last week. Well when this one hit it REALLY hit. I was standing out there, trying to fill up gas cans. The wind was whipping so hard that I could barely stand up. And the rain was coming down in SHEETS. I was under a canopy and it was coming in strait across. I was soaking wet before I could even get the first can filled up. I just went ahead and finished. When I finally got home I was so wet that I was wiping water OFF me. I literly wrung out my bra and panties. I was able to wash my hair with out getting under the water when I got in the shower to wet it. I kid you not.
Then the next day I decided that there was no sense in waiting until we ran out of gas around here and the lights got knocked out and you couldnt get gas, that I should fill up the 55 gallon drum. This meant getting the pump out. IT was NOT coming out easy. I ended up having to call my brother i law and asking him to drive over here and help me unscrew the cap. It was too hard for me to do it. Then we put in a little gas, cleaned it out and got it all loaded. Then I was off to fill er up. NOT fun. It cost me a fortune! But if the lights go out and you have to run a generator you need it. IT takes about 10-12 gallons a day to run one. And last time we were with out electric for over a month.
that was on Friday. BR was trying his hardest to pull some oil, but with all the people evacuating he couldnt drive on the roads. People litelry were bumper to bumper and wouldnt let him out. He came on home not long after I finished getting the barrel all squared away. I reckon he got home about 11 that night.
Saturday we cleaned up the yard. stuffed all the possible projectiles under the house or under a low tree. And he built up some water dams on the road. Our driveway is VERY steep and the water runs off our hill and cuts HUGE ruts in it. So he was trying to save what little bit of driveway we have left. Its almost to the point that to come and see me you either have to put it in 4 wheel drive or walk.
Of course BR didnt work that night either. They were evacuating Jasper and between the people out of Beaumont, the people in Jasper and the people from Lousianna you coulnt drive out there to save your life.
They had gustav headed to New Orleans by then, but we were supposed to get hit by a cat one. And its hard to tell if the news media just wants it to hit NO o bad that they are trying to wishful thinking it over there, or if its gona hit there. But folks from south of us were takin it serious.
Most folks I talked to here at home were staying put. Noone could afford to go far, and unless you have ever evacuated with 2 million other people at the same time, driving 30 hours strait, you just dont realize how taxing it is. Plus with the horses, and BR's job, plus the high gas prices, staying here and finding a place to hunker down was just much more feasable.
On Sunday they decided that we didnt have to leave. But they had shut down all the wells and BR couldnt haul oil. Of course they had cancled school for Tuesday and Wend. With Monday being a holiday anyway I was already dreading the long weekend. We went ahead and continued to prepare for no electric, and that also means no water, so we moved extra stock tanks to the horses, filled up bathtubs and tried to make sure that everything was as prepared as we could get it.
BR and I just sat here and watched TV with the kids. We got lucky this time. Gustav barely even gave us any rain. it turned and we didnt even get the 10 plus inches of rain they told us we would get.
And the lights never blinked. I am sure we will end up getting one this year. There are just too many out there for one to not hit us.
Tuesday when BR tried to go back to work he couldnt even cross the intersection. The cars were just bumper to bumper.And the love bugs were so thick you couldnt breathe. So again we sat around watching TV. The kids have been watching the RNC with us, and are starting to really grasp the conecpt. I hope they continue to be interested. I have always tried to be informed. and always vote. but this year I am watching everything I can about it.
BR finally tried to go to work on Wend. unfortunatly there still wasnt any oil to haul, and there were still thousands of people on the road, Not to mention the love bugs. so he was home by 7:45. which worked out well for me. He cut the boys hair. Well, technically, he shaved their heads. They have a little on top, but he shaves the rest with a razor. They were excited to go back to school today. And I was excited for them. belive me. I was so excited for school to start and then this happened and they were out for a week.
Tonight BR went back to work, and there is still not much out there. When they turn back those wells they really turn them back. They cant afford an oil spill.
of course there are a few downsides to NOT getting a huricanne. We ended up with ALL of lousianna's Love bugs. if you have never had the privledge of seeing a love bug your life is sorely lacking. AND you get triple the skeeters.
The skeeters are a health hazard, they are agervating and miserable. But they are NOTHING compared to love bugs. Or telephone bugs, there is another name for them, but its not socially acceptable.
At least with skeeters you can get a repelant. Love bugs are about the size of a fly. they have no purpose in life except to breed. The minute they find a member of the opposite sex they 'hook up' and fly around like that. unfortunatly unlike flies they are NOT scared of you. They land ALL over you. in your hair, on your face, your clothes, your arms. They stink. They eat the paint off your car. They get in your house, in your fridge, your cabinets, your nose, your front seat. your back seat, you cant put your hand on the banister to walk up the steps with out killing them, open a door with out smushing them, Bow eats them, heck, everyone eats them, you cant help it, they fly in your mouth. But Bow picks them up off the floor to eat them. And they STINK. I dont know why they smell, but they do. on bad days you cant drive more than 10 minutes with out having to stop and clean off your windshield.
I reckon I should quit whining and go to bed. 5:30 comes early and I cant seem to get enough sleep here lately.
Every week on Monday they get a packet of 4 or 5 pages for language arts that they have to do and turn in on Thursday, and then they have to do math and anything else they decide to send home.
This is fine. Except when you dont go to school ALL week because of a freakin huricanne, go in on Thursday and all of this is due on Friday.
The kids have to get up at 5:30 every morning. They catch the bus a little before 6:20. Then they dont get home till pert near 5:00. God forbid I have anything I have to do in the evening, or they want to do something other than eat and do work.
So, they came home at 5:00. Were starving to death, I let them eat a little bit, We tried to find Matts belt. The rules state each child must wear a belt and tuck in their shirt. Well, Matts belt went missing the week before school started. And we havent been able to find it since.
After a little while, of me looking and them holding and loving on Bow, we had to stop. I knew they had homework. Brett had a project that is one that they would send home at the begining of the week and turn in on Friday. Plus he had to read like 20 pages our of a text book. I think he had laungage arts too. But honestly, it wasnt worth it.
His project was to draw a map from the school to his house. And color it.
We worked on that, Matt worked on his and Brett went to bed at 10:45. Matt is still working and crying at 11:25. (I keep having to stop wrighting to help him and keep him awake).
I know they are exhausted. I am. ANd tomorrow they will get in trouble cause they are not minding, or are irratible. I like for them to be in bed by 8. I am pretty strict about this. even on a good night that only leaves us 3 hours to visit, eat, bath and for them to see Bow and I.
I really dont get the point of homework for a 3rd or 4th grader. They have spent all day at school. Why torture them when they get home too? And why torture the parents? Seriously. I end up being the bad guy, because I have to keep on them. Make them redo it, scream, holler and threaten. They end up crying, being miserable and hating the whole concept of school. so honestly, what good does it do?
In the real world I am not expected to bring home work with out compensation. Why should they be? I cant fiqure out if its trying to force us to spend time with our kids, or what. But if the time spent is spent having to ride them to get something done, what good has it done?
Bow woke up a few days ago with a stuffy nose. And he is steady getting worse. He has been a good baby today. But you can tell he doesnt feel good.
He is really growing. He is standing on his own, and I expect him to walk any day now. He will say a few things. Although dada is still his favorite. He will hit the bedroom door and holler it when he knows BR is in there asleep.
He said "sugar' the other day when I was asking him for some sugar.
He will say "ice cream" if he sees the bluebell tub or an ice cream cone.
This last week has been awful. It started with the realization that Gustav was headed our way. well last week ended that way. I knew what I needed, and my grocery shopping day fell right on the day that everyone else decided to go and pillage and plunder the stores. There was NO water at walmart, Bread was runnign short and I almost never found crackers. there was no veinna sausages, hot dogs or other stuff I needed.
I had to drive BACK to a differnt store to get water. BR was out for work. I came home, filled up my truck, then gathered up all the gas cans I could find and filled them up. of course right as I pulled into the gas station to fill them I was lucky enough to feel the first drops of rain. The huricanne was still days out. But we had quite a few rain showers last week. Well when this one hit it REALLY hit. I was standing out there, trying to fill up gas cans. The wind was whipping so hard that I could barely stand up. And the rain was coming down in SHEETS. I was under a canopy and it was coming in strait across. I was soaking wet before I could even get the first can filled up. I just went ahead and finished. When I finally got home I was so wet that I was wiping water OFF me. I literly wrung out my bra and panties. I was able to wash my hair with out getting under the water when I got in the shower to wet it. I kid you not.
Then the next day I decided that there was no sense in waiting until we ran out of gas around here and the lights got knocked out and you couldnt get gas, that I should fill up the 55 gallon drum. This meant getting the pump out. IT was NOT coming out easy. I ended up having to call my brother i law and asking him to drive over here and help me unscrew the cap. It was too hard for me to do it. Then we put in a little gas, cleaned it out and got it all loaded. Then I was off to fill er up. NOT fun. It cost me a fortune! But if the lights go out and you have to run a generator you need it. IT takes about 10-12 gallons a day to run one. And last time we were with out electric for over a month.
that was on Friday. BR was trying his hardest to pull some oil, but with all the people evacuating he couldnt drive on the roads. People litelry were bumper to bumper and wouldnt let him out. He came on home not long after I finished getting the barrel all squared away. I reckon he got home about 11 that night.
Saturday we cleaned up the yard. stuffed all the possible projectiles under the house or under a low tree. And he built up some water dams on the road. Our driveway is VERY steep and the water runs off our hill and cuts HUGE ruts in it. So he was trying to save what little bit of driveway we have left. Its almost to the point that to come and see me you either have to put it in 4 wheel drive or walk.
Of course BR didnt work that night either. They were evacuating Jasper and between the people out of Beaumont, the people in Jasper and the people from Lousianna you coulnt drive out there to save your life.
They had gustav headed to New Orleans by then, but we were supposed to get hit by a cat one. And its hard to tell if the news media just wants it to hit NO o bad that they are trying to wishful thinking it over there, or if its gona hit there. But folks from south of us were takin it serious.
Most folks I talked to here at home were staying put. Noone could afford to go far, and unless you have ever evacuated with 2 million other people at the same time, driving 30 hours strait, you just dont realize how taxing it is. Plus with the horses, and BR's job, plus the high gas prices, staying here and finding a place to hunker down was just much more feasable.
On Sunday they decided that we didnt have to leave. But they had shut down all the wells and BR couldnt haul oil. Of course they had cancled school for Tuesday and Wend. With Monday being a holiday anyway I was already dreading the long weekend. We went ahead and continued to prepare for no electric, and that also means no water, so we moved extra stock tanks to the horses, filled up bathtubs and tried to make sure that everything was as prepared as we could get it.
BR and I just sat here and watched TV with the kids. We got lucky this time. Gustav barely even gave us any rain. it turned and we didnt even get the 10 plus inches of rain they told us we would get.
And the lights never blinked. I am sure we will end up getting one this year. There are just too many out there for one to not hit us.
Tuesday when BR tried to go back to work he couldnt even cross the intersection. The cars were just bumper to bumper.And the love bugs were so thick you couldnt breathe. So again we sat around watching TV. The kids have been watching the RNC with us, and are starting to really grasp the conecpt. I hope they continue to be interested. I have always tried to be informed. and always vote. but this year I am watching everything I can about it.
BR finally tried to go to work on Wend. unfortunatly there still wasnt any oil to haul, and there were still thousands of people on the road, Not to mention the love bugs. so he was home by 7:45. which worked out well for me. He cut the boys hair. Well, technically, he shaved their heads. They have a little on top, but he shaves the rest with a razor. They were excited to go back to school today. And I was excited for them. belive me. I was so excited for school to start and then this happened and they were out for a week.
Tonight BR went back to work, and there is still not much out there. When they turn back those wells they really turn them back. They cant afford an oil spill.
of course there are a few downsides to NOT getting a huricanne. We ended up with ALL of lousianna's Love bugs. if you have never had the privledge of seeing a love bug your life is sorely lacking. AND you get triple the skeeters.
The skeeters are a health hazard, they are agervating and miserable. But they are NOTHING compared to love bugs. Or telephone bugs, there is another name for them, but its not socially acceptable.
At least with skeeters you can get a repelant. Love bugs are about the size of a fly. they have no purpose in life except to breed. The minute they find a member of the opposite sex they 'hook up' and fly around like that. unfortunatly unlike flies they are NOT scared of you. They land ALL over you. in your hair, on your face, your clothes, your arms. They stink. They eat the paint off your car. They get in your house, in your fridge, your cabinets, your nose, your front seat. your back seat, you cant put your hand on the banister to walk up the steps with out killing them, open a door with out smushing them, Bow eats them, heck, everyone eats them, you cant help it, they fly in your mouth. But Bow picks them up off the floor to eat them. And they STINK. I dont know why they smell, but they do. on bad days you cant drive more than 10 minutes with out having to stop and clean off your windshield.
I reckon I should quit whining and go to bed. 5:30 comes early and I cant seem to get enough sleep here lately.
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