Hurricane Irene (Aftermath)

So after having no power for 3 1/2 day, Dominion Power came through and got it back up and running.  I didn't realize how much I missed noise (the TV or the A/C running).  Nor did I realize how much my animals missed it.  LOL

Boy Scout Pumpkin

I had to laugh when this arrived the day AFTER Irene left the area.  Pumpkin feels he is now totally prepared for the hurricane.  And when the next one comes, he's all for bugging out.  I on the other hand am not so sure.  But it's good to always be prepared.

He'll be glad that we're moving back into the bedroom.  The air mattress is fine, but life is so much better when you sleep on a mattress that won't eventually deflate.  Not that we're spoiled or anything.  lol

Darby's Elation!

Darby greeted me in the window when I came back from running some errands.  The power was back on and she was OH SO happy! She definitely did NOT like the air mattress.

Life is going to start getting back to normal now that we have power.  And now clean up can begin in earnest.  It's hard to undertake any major projects when you know that you have no A/C to go to.  I really don't like being hot, sweaty and tired.  And really who does?

Thanks again to my friends Steve and Greta for coming over to help me chop up the larger branches in mine and my neighbors yard.  I really appreciate it.  And a special thanks to Dominion Power for being so quick to return power.  I know there's over 1 million customers that are without power, so kudos for the quick response.

Hurricane Irene (Weathering The Storm)

The wind and rain has started, but the main event isn't supposed to happen for another 5 hours. We've already had a tornado warning.

So I thought the animals and I would check in and let you know how we're fairing.

And fair warning, I named none of my animals.  They came to me this way.  So laugh at your own peril.

Commander Poo Poo is a bit nervous, but he's an old man.

Darby is a touch nervous.

Kyla's not worried.  Just make sure the feeding schedule's not interrupted.

Pumpkin could care less.  Why did I interrupt his nap?

So I bet you might be wondering what I'm doing while we are being inundated with wind and water.  Besides keeping an ear out for a change in the wind and watching the news.

Well let me show you!

Plenty of reading material as well as a crossword puzzle.

Yes I color and doodle.  I get bored.  And how can you not love a fresh box of crayons or colored pencils?

Also having a yummy beverage near is a good idea.

Fear not family and friends, we are safe and sound!  And as you might notice, I still have power.  Fingers crossed that this continues.

Hurricane Irene (Incoming)

Everyone has a plan for emergencies.  Right?  Especially if you live in an area where hurricanes can happen.  And anyone who's weathered a hurricane is now nodding their head in agreement with me.  If you've never experienced this joy, let me share with you what happens in my household.

As any Navy spouse knows, if you're spouse is on a ship then said spouse will NOT be home when the hurricane hits.  The Navy will be sending him or her out with the ship to avoid the incoming weather.  So you're on your own.  Take a deep breath because you can handle it.

First and foremost you should keep an eye on the news.  That's what's going to give you your heads up.  Sadly, I'm REALLY bad at this.  But I always manage to have enough time to take care of what needs to be done.

Secondly figure out if you're gonna stay or if you're going to flee the area.  I stay, because I'm not that worried.  I've weathered numerous tropical storms and 3 or 4 hurricanes.  It's old hat to me.  I'm no wimp.

Next?  Be sure to stock up on your supplies early, because the stores can get crazy as the hurricane gets closer.  People panic.  Here's a small sampling of things you should have on hand.

* Stock up on bottled water.  Enough for everyone in the house for a week at least.  This includes your pets.  Fill up containers as well.

*Get enough food to last 7-10 days.  Go for the prepackaged stuff that does not need refrigeration or heating.  You never know if you're going to have power or how long it will be out.  I get granola bars, trail mix, tuna and crackers.  And don't laugh, but we have MREs too.

* Pet food.  Be sure to have enough food for your furry babies in this 'emergency'.

* Batteries and flashlights.  I personally like the single touch puck lights.  Candles and matches are a good idea as well.  I personally do touch puck lights because I have cats that are WAY too curious.

* Refill any prescriptions that are needed.  You have no idea when the pharmacy might reopen and if you, someone in your family or your pets need a prescription you don't want to be caught empty handed.

*  You can never go wrong with a little more TP on hand.  Ever notice how you seem to use more when in a crisis of some sort?

* Find things to keep you and your family entertained (books, games, coloring books etc.).  Nothing's worse than a cranky pants whining about how BORED they are.

* Be sure to have a first aid kit.  Especially if you're accident prone like me.  Prepare for the worst and hope for the best is my motto.

* If you have a generator (and they really do pay for themselves after 2 power outages), be sure to get gas for it!  Nothing's worse than having the means to power your home, but not the way.

There are a few things you should do around your home before the hurricane hits too.  You need to make sure it's ready.

* Put away your lawn furniture.  You don't want that patio table and chairs to do damage to the house.  Tie loose things down or put them in a shed or garage.

* If you have branches you're worried about, then get them down.

* I mow my grass before hand so that I won't have to worry about it after the hurricane.  No one wants to mow their grass after a hurricane and go back into an un-airconditioned house.  Ick!

* Fill up your vehicles.  Gas stations can run out of gas (believe me it's already happening) and you don't want to have an empty tank if you need to leave.

*Do all your laundry before the hurricane arrives.  Why stress about dirty socks when you don't have to?

*If you have a dishwasher and it has dirty dishes in it, then run them through a cycle.   You don't want that stinky smell do you?

* Act as if you are going to loose power.  Charge everything that can be charged.  Your phone, your ipad, your kindle, flashlights, whatever needs a charge.  I highly recommend buying something that can charge your portable items.  I found a Black and Decker Power To Go.  I've charged it and am ready.

If things get hairy and you do have to flee, be sure to have a bug out bag ready.  Be sure to take important paperwork with you.  And anything you just can't bear to be without.

And the most important thing??

Stay safe!

I Felt The Earth Move Under My Feet

Okay I was sitting when the tremors from the earthquake that hit Mineral, VA hit us.  Norfolk is about 146 miles away from Mineral.

But I couldn't let this pass without at least mentioning it.  I mean two nuclear reactors in Virginia went offline and Congress evacuated the building.  Not that I really care about Congress, but it's newsworthy.  Right?  I promise not to start ranting about Congress.  This is not the post for it.

Oops, sidetracked.  Sorry!

The earthquake registered at 5.9 and was felt from North Carolina all the way to New Hampshire (I'm just saying what they report.).

Things here are fine though.  Nothing came off the walls.  No damage as far as I can see.  Since I was at the dealership, I wasn't home so I don't know how my animals reacted.  I'm betting they didn't even notice.  I got a bit nervous at first, because I thought something was wrong with me but was relieved when the other customer in the room looked around nervously.  Then there was a break in the news reporting what had happened.  Color me thankful.  I was wondering if someone had slipped me a mickey.  lol

Now as long as Hurricane Irene by passes me I'll be fine.  Fingers crossed.

Any Port In A Storm

So here at our house we're weathering a Nor'easter. If you don't know what it is, then let me educate you. The best way for me to describe it is a wanna be hurricane. Only the rain stays for more than 8 hours as does the wind. My cats have decided to hunker down together to weather this one out.

On the bright side, my sweet baboo is home. So it's junk food, movies and sweats day! Luckily we had some branches trimmed off one of our trees a week or two ago. So we don't have to worry about branches. We're just listening to the wind and watching the rain come down in sheets. Flooding is predicted.

Have You Ever Wondered...

How do squirrels nap?

Well I do. I mean do they curl up? Lay on their backs? What do they do? I don't watch documentaries on animals or anything. Unless I've got insomnia. Hm. Maybe that will help with the sleeping issue I have. I need to see if there are any documentaries on. Sorry got off topic there.

Well we have a family of squirrels in our back yard. They provide lots of entertainment for the cats. Well maybe not entertainment for the cats, but I laugh a lot at their antics.
So over the past weekend my sweet baboo spotted them up in the tree and brought it to my attention.

I tried to be as quiet as possible when I snuck outside, but as you can see from the first picture I disturbed some one's nap. The other guy just didn't care. He never even moved.

Now my only other question is..

How do they keep from falling off?

Cause that would really suck to fall off a tree limb and splat to the ground while sleeping. Ew. Hope they don't dream of falling.

Mother Nature Isn't As Sweet As Some Claim

You know how they say it's not nice to mess with Mother Nature. Well I'm declaring war on the witch! And she started it.

It all started over the Memorial Day weekend. My sweet baboo and I were working out in our yard. Mowing, raking, cleaning and pulling leaves. You know trying to keep our property healthy. On Monday I notice a rash on my neck, elbows and chest. I figured it was heat rash, due to the location of it and the fact that I had been sweating a lot. Hey it was hot that weekend.

However, it started to spread. So I know I have poison ivy,
poison oak, poison sumac or, get this one, Virginia Creeper. I didn't even know about this one until yesterday. It doesn't affect most people. Which would explain why my sweet baboo is unaffected. But can apparently present like poison ivy. At least that's what I've been told. Ugh!

So I started using Benadryl cream, calamine lotion and taking Benadryl to keep it at bay. I also started sleeping on the couch to prevent infecting anyone else in the house. Needless to say I've been miserable.

By Friday it was so bad that I couldn't use the Benadryl cream because it hurt. Brought me to tears, that's how bad it was. So I immediately made a doctor's appointment. Luckily they could get me in the next day, early. I wished it was sooner, but hey I'll take what I can get.

So now I'm on a steroid to help keep the itchiness down. And of course one of the side effects is sleeping problems. Hence the reason I'm up at two in the morning writing this. I got about 3 hours of sleep before I decided to start this rant.

So it's on Mother Nature. I will get you back for this. Not only are you making me itchy and irritable. You are messing with my sleep. No one wants to be around me when I'm crabby. Hell I don't even want to be around me. I will get you back for this. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will.

Now I need to put more calamine lotion on and try not to wake the hubby.

The only thing keeping me sane (or somewhat sane) is the calamine lotion and the Poison Ivy soap my buddy Greta makes. BTW Greta I need more!

Cabin Fever

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Getting up to somewhere in the 70's. So my sweet baboo and I opened the windows and went outside to work on our yard.

It was so nice I actually put on shorts. Thankfully I was in the back yard so I didn't blind anyone with my shiny white legs. Argh! I'm blind!

That is until the cold front came through and the temperature dropped 10 degrees or so. That's when we beat a hasty retreat into the house. Of course we also figured out that we needed to go out and get a few things. Upon leaving we both noticed Pumpkin sticking his head out the window to see where we were.

Can you hear him asking to go with?

Mother Nature + Fashion = Pink Lizard?

No this photo is not doctored. I opened the Virginia Pilot this morning and this is what I see.

Scientists have found that a pink lizard species is more than 5 million years old, longer than any other iguana has lived on Galapagos. And when Charles Darwin made his study of the Galapagos Island in 1835, he missed the pink and black iguana. The iguana has no scientific name as of yet.

Park rangers ignored the pink and black striped reptiles after happening upon them in 1986. They thought the stripes were just stains. Personally, I think they look like rejects from the 80's fashion era. Scientists report that they can average 3-5 feet. And they live exclusively around the Isabela Island Wolf Volcano, an area Darwin never explored. Sure give the guy an out.

The population size, , eating and reproductive habits are still unknown. And no young animals have been discovered, according to a park statement. Uh oh! Fear not though pink iguana we'll find a way to get you back to a bigger population.

Okay I've done my bit to educate the world.

Can't you just see it now? Once the population is back up the pink iguana will be all the rage to have as a pet. Good Lord! What is this world coming to?

The Gull Whisperer

So July 29th was the last day my parents were in town. What to do? What to do? Hmm. Mom wanted to go to the beach, so I took her and Dad to Easton's Beach. It's also known as First beach. We got there early, so it wasn't crowded at all. Mom really wanted some shells. Dad picked up one only to discover it was still inhabited. That's when we discovered Mom's the Gull Whisperer. She'd get those clams cracked open and toss them out to the gulls.

Needless to say the gulls were in HEAVEN. I mean it was free food. And there was no work on their part. She had a very large following. Dad and I were laughing our butts off about this. All I could think of was Finding Nemo and the sea gulls saying 'Mine! Mine! Mine!' Which always gives me the giggles. An old legend that the hubby and I like is that sea gulls are actually the souls of sailors. Just a bit of trivia that puts a smile on my face.

I think Mom and Dad actually enjoyed this the most out of everything we did during their stay with us. We gathered a lot of large clam shells while there. I soaked them all in warm bleach water out in the sun for an hour and then let them dry in the sun for another hour before we packed them up. Mom wanted to use them in her flower garden. Which I think is a very cute idea. And luckily all the shells that she packed made it safely back to Illinois. In fact I used some of the left overs in my flower bed. Hey it's not like I'm taking them with me when I move.

On the plus side I did find three pieces of sea glass while I was walking with my parents. It was the first time I'd ever found sea glass. I found two pieces of green and one piece of white. I was so excited. I know it's the little things that excite me.

All in all it was a very nice visit and I missed them when they left. Thanks for coming out to visit me Mom and Dad!

Full Moon?

So my parents come all the way from southern Illinois to visit us and spend something like 9 hours traveling. We won't get into how long they got stuck at JFK. That was a nightmare with all the delays. And what does my mom want to do?



That's right she wants to weed my front flower bed. She says she enjoys weeding. I know you're all thinking I'm horrible for posting this picture, but Mom gave me permission to post this. So if she doesn't have any problems with it why should I? And I didn't take the photo, the hubby did.

My flower bed was filled with weeds. Not anymore, thanks to Mom. And luckily we finished just before the rain hit. And what were the boys doing while we were out weeding? Why they were playing the Wii!

How Can You Not Smile?

When you say daffodils? The mere word brings a smile to my face. It's almost comical saying the word. There's just something about them. They are the most cheerful flower ever. So bright and cheery. Peeking through the grass to announce that yes indeed Spring is here! So cheer up.

This bunch appeared in front of our home. I decided that I just had to take a picture of it. It gave me a smile so I thought I would share. Hope it brightens your day like it does mine.

Blow Baby Blow!

Well spring is here! It's rained both Wednesdays that we've been here and I'm wondering if this is going to be a trend. Sucks with Wednesdays being trash day, but the predictability is kind of nice. However the wind started up late last night and I'm wondering when it's going to pick up the house and carry us off. It's been whipping around like you wouldn't believe. It's so bad that the dog doesn't even want to go outside. Yikes! Guess there's some truth to spring coming in like a lion. Let's just hope it goes out like a lamb real soon!

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful fall day. And at 72 degrees the hubby and I are sitting on the back porch enjoying the last of the nice weather. I say this knowing that by this time next week it's predicted to be in the low 50's. Hey just the other day I had the house closed up and the heat on. Now I have the heat off and the windows open. No wonder people get sick so much with this crazy weather! So instead of cleaning my kitchen I'm out here playing on the computer. I'll get to it tonight. Yeah right. I only plan on having company this weekend and my parents are coming Tuesday. I am the queen of procrastination! Hey I even convinced my dog to come out and he's now sniffing around in the backyard. An accomplishment I must say since my dog lives for sleeping on my bed.

Favorite Time of Year

October is here! Which of course means fall is here. This is my favorite time of year. Why you might ask? Well for one, and possibly the most important, Jim and I started dating in October 16 years ago. It seems like only yesterday. Another fact is the change in the weather and the leaves changing color. And one of the best reasons is Halloween is in this month. My most favorite holiday! And that's all I've got to say about that.

Oh yeah one last thing. Leave the Christmas crap where it is until after Thanksgiving! I don't want to see it next to Halloween stuff. For God's sake that's just wrong!