Ivan

Reading everywhere about the devastation of Ivan. Hard to believe what Floridians have suffered this summer and now flooding all up and down the east coast.

Two co-workers had water damage in their homes…they both live along the river which is seeing the worst flooding in almost a decade. Our total personal loss…so far…has been the apples off the tree in the back yard. They weren’t ready to pick so I left them and most were knocked to the ground in the wind. But there was significant rainfall just to the north and west of us so streams and the river are breaking records, but the sump pump kept our basement dry.

Our extended family has been lucky also. We have lots of relatives in FL and so far the worst of each storm has gone to the south, or north, or west of them. They lost power for short times and had tree limbs to clean up, but that was it. My SIL owns a trailer right on the water in FL and although houses and trailers all around were destroyed hers, is sitting there waiting for her to return this winter…I hope. She and my BIL bought that right before he died. She spent one winter there without him and had just returned last year when she got the call that Alex (her 3 yo grandson) had a cancerous brain tumor. She drove straight through to VA to be with her daughter and family and has been a real godsend throughout this ordeal. Alex is doing real well now and I pray she’ll get a much-deserved break this winter…for at least a month or two.

So I am ever so grateful that my nuclear AND extended family has done well through these times.

My DH and I are wondering though….He works in a community center that includes a Senior Daycare Facility. They get direct calls from Emergency Management in crises and Friday they got a call to move everyone to a safe part of the building immediately. Fortunately most of the Seniors had left for the day, but he helped move staff and the few elderly people into the designated room and then he went outside to check. Someone at the school across the way began screaming at him to get inside. He looked over and TWO funnel clouds were coming across a field right at the building. They disappeared into the clouds before they got to his building.

Once the Emer Mgt people said it was safe, he and his staff headed home. He’d driven a couple miles up the road into an area where it was obvious a tornado had just gone through…debris all over the road, power lines down, one utility pole snapped like a toothpick. He’s driving along carefully when “WHOMP” wind starts throwing his brand-new (four day old) truck all over the road, bouncing it up and down, and it got pitch dark. He’s trying to control the truck when a transformer on the other side of the road blows. He sees the cars ahead coming towards him all pulling over to the side of the road, but he’s just trying to hold on to the steering wheel. Finally he gets out of it. It was at least a wind shear but maybe a small tornado that actually hit him!!! Last I heard a total of 17 tornados had been confirmed in that area Friday evening. I told him that it was a sign that he shouldn’t have bought that truck. We traded his Subaru and my dad’s old truck in on it and the payments aren’t bad, but I dread getting into ANY payment while we still have a kid in college, and a daughter talking marriage. We’re stuck with it now! Of course, the Subaru isn’t as heavy and it might have been thrown more in that wind so maybe it’s good he was in the truck!

Again, I’m just thankful that my nuclear AND extended family made it through okay. Now to watch for Jeanne and Kent!

I know, I know

It’s been a while since I posted anything . I haven’t had much to actually write about although a couple noteworthy dates have passed.

My dh celebrated his birthday. I actually surprised him with a copy of the book his grandfather wrote. As I expected, he was quite pleased with it although I wouldn’t say he was excited. He didn’t want to go out for dinner so I fixed some of his favorite foods and we ate “in”…just him, the kids and my brother.

The same week the local state U celebrated its 150th anniversary and I mentioned to him that it would be nice to donate something of his grandfather’s to the school. About 100 years ago, his grandfather and great-uncle graduated from that school. They both went on the become successful and fairly well-known in their chosen fields. I doubt anyone at the school today would know anything about either of them. I know more about his grandfather, but have been told repeatedly that the brother was far more “successful” or “wealthy” or famous. They both had countless patents issued to them, etc. My dh’s grandfather was considered a “pioneer” in weather forecasting and received a doctorate from Columbia U. His brother was in railroading and is responsible for some invention that “revolutionized” rail travel/freight carrying or something.

Had another crazy week at work last week and I managed to accomplish everything I had to do while fighting a terrible bug and running a fever. Finally lost the fight on Friday and spent all day in bed. Saturday I managed to move out to a chair and stare at the tv all day….have no idea what I was watching. I had hoped that I would feel human again by Sunday, but woke up with a fever again. Finally by Sunday evening I was okay. Worked all day yesterday, fine, but was totally exhausted by the time I got home. I didn’t take my temp. this morning but felt like I might have a fever when I got up this morning. It seems to be okay now. I HAVE to kick this thing today. I can get away with doing the minimum at the office today, but I have two very long days, tomorrow and Thursday, and an important meeting on Friday. I HAVE to be 100% for the rest of the week.

Such is life.

Can I breathe now?

Both my kids are back in school. It's so difficult for me to accept that back to school means something very different in my life than it had for so long. My daughter is back to school...but as the teacher, not my child the student. She was promoted into a special program for this year that means more money, but it also means more responsibility and more work. She's stressing out a bit this week, but I'm sure she'll be fine once she establishes a routine. I'm so proud of her. She was planning to start grad school this fall. With the new responsibilities at work, I'm glad she's waiting.

My son also has returned to school, too. But there was no back-to-school shopping. No new backpack or sneakers or lunch box. I got him a pack of mechanical pencils and notebook filler paper. AND I wrote a couple huge tuition and textbook checks but it's just not the same.

Backing up to three years ago when he was a HS Senior...That was the year my parents became ill and I was with them every weekend... then almost every weekend and a few times during the week. It eased up some when my mom went into the nursing home, but that was at the end of the school year. He is a great kid and managed with no apparent trouble, but it meant that his mom was telling him what he should be doing (ie completing applications, following up contacts by interested college coaches, ordering the corsage for prom) instead of helping him. He waited so late to apply to any schools (April the idiot!) he didn't get into his first choice when based on his grades and SAT's it should have been a certainty. Anyway, he was pretty depressed about that and was hedging going to another school so he actually listened to his parents and went to the local Community College. He did real well for two semesters. He had two friends at the CC with him and a bunch of friends who were Seniors in HS so he seemed pretty content. That spring his dad and I couldn't get him interested into applying to four year schools. We suggested he stay a third semester at the CC. That ended up being a big mistake. All his friends were away at school and he was taking a bunch of classes that didn't interest him. His dad and I kept saying that we wouldn't be disappointed if he chose to quit school but he had to have a "plan". We weren't going to let him quit, work some minimum wage job and freeload off mom and dad. He came home one evening and announced that the store where he worked had offered him a full-time manager's job and he wanted to quit school for a year to do that. We told him that was a perfectly acceptable "plan".

During the past year, he has been working full-time and pretty much nothing else. I've been concerned that he wouldn't return to school, but also appreciate that he has to decide for himself exactly what he wants to do. He has insisted that he wants a college education and he recognizes that he does NOT have any saleable skills right now other than retail management, but he's just immature enough to not be able to make decisions. I honestly believe that a bachelor's or higher degree may not be for everyone and there are plenty of other options, but he needed SOME training or someTHING more than he has right now.

Out of the blue almost, he announced one evening this summer that he had met with an admissions counselor at the nearby four-year university and registered for classes. He will take four classes each semester of this year CC but is enrolled at the university also. Next August he will begin taking classes at the university (he is already accepted) to complete his BBA. If he is working for a BBA, and working an average of 32 hours/week at his job, his employer will pay 100% of his expenses for two classes a semester. His plan is to take four each semester so that he will have no debt when he graduates...even if it takes an extra semester. I think it's a great "plan" and only hope that 4 classes and a full-time job won't be too much. I know he is capable of the school work. It's the time management that worries me.

But he's a really great young man. And I'm proud that he's made a few decisions about his life and future.

Didn't expect this to be so long. But I could brag about my kids forever. I'll close with that.