Keeping an eye on weather

Well we got a bit of rain as predicted. It's still raining right now, not storming, just raining. It hasn't cooled it down out there much, but it's better than yesterday was.

I've been keeping a close eye on Hanna all morning and tracking it online. My daughter's online Math tutor lives in Myrtle Beach, and our neighbor's son is in the Marines at Camp Lejeune. So we're praying that they both are safe and out of harm's way.

We know that the base emergency operations center was fully activated at 8am, and the base emergency shelters will open later this afternoon. So we're pretty confident that he is safe. But we're not sure if our tutor has evacuated or what's going on with her. This is a vacation week for us so we've not really had contact with her.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier this week or not, but my husband's niece was home for Labor Day. She's been in the National Guard two years now. She ended up getting sent overseas earlier this year. She left in January for the Iraq/Kuwait border for a year tour. It's been hard on my mother in law with her being over there because she raised her all of her life. So she really enjoyed having her back for a week. Now she's gone again. She just returned to Kuwait yesterday. Thankfully her tour is almost up, and with any luck she'll stay on American soil for a while. We hope.

I'm going to go finish making my way around to journals now. I was so tired last night I never got to them all. If anyone in J-land is in the area of Hanna, or has family in the area, my family is keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Tags: Hanna, hurricane, tropical storm, military

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It's so hot!

Gosh it's hot and humid here! Temps reached nearly 90 today, but it's about 80 out now. However the humidity is still at 62% and I am dying! My house is a huge 11 room/5 bedroom colonial. It takes three air conditioners and a few ceiling fans to keep this place comfortable. Well, my fan in the kitchen is broke, and cooking dinner was just absolutely unbearable.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler with a chance of a storm. I hope we do get the storm. Maybe it will cool it off a bit. Actually we're supposed to have chance of storms tomorrow and Saturday, and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking of storms, I hope everyone here in the US is out of harm's way with Hanna moving in. And then we have Ike and Josephine out there too. My family is praying that Ike is not too dangerous, and that Josephine just dies out.

These storms have been doing a number on Haiti haven't they? My goodness. Last thing I read was something like 75 people died due to Hanna, 75 due to Gustav, and 50 due to Fay! That was earlier today so I'm sure it's more now. The photos I saw were just terrible. I couldn't even look at all of them because it reminded me so much of Katrina. People on their roofs, animals stranded (and animal carcasses laying everywhere), aid unable to get into the areas hit bad. Just horrible. And Ike is not far behind.

I went for a walk earlier to get my evening coffee. On the way home I went around the block. There is a company around the block that runs three blocks. In the weeds by the fence that runs along the perimeter there were some raccoons. So I thought I'd try and go home, get my camera, and come back. Now I figured one of two things would happen. Either A) I'd barely make it home before my heel started killing me, and would not be able to go back out. Or B) I'd get home, get the camera, make it back, and they would be gone. Well I did make it home and back. And they were still there! So I got some photos of them. I am not as close to them as it appears from the photos. It just looks like I was because I used my big lens. I guess I may have been close enough though because the one was hissing and making a chittering kind of noise.






So that was my excitement for the day. I love seeing wildlife. And I really love when I can get a photo or two. I'm hoping this weekend I can get out to the park. I want to see what I can photograph. Usually there are lots of birds and squirrels, and if I'm quick enough I might get a chipmunk.

I guess I should wrap this up for now. I haven't made my way around to journals yet today. Guess I'll go do that now and check the updates for Hanna and Ike also.

Have a good night.

AIM/AOL/Bebo

I wonder if anyone has noticed at the top of their AIM profile there is a message. It says "Changes Are Coming to Your Profile Experience!" And then you can click to learn more. What you get is a short little explanation of what is going on. AIM profiles are moving to Bebo. There is a longer explanation that I found by digging around a bit.

I did a google search of Bebo and it said "Allows users to share photos with music, and blogs, and draw on members' White Boards." When I went to Bebo, which Wiki says is a a social network service, I don't know what to think of it. I didn't see anywhere for blogs, but I'm thinking AOL is perhaps going to moving everything over there eventually. Because Wiki says that AOL purchased Bebo earlier this year. You can read about that here. They have Groups on Bebo, but from just poking around quickly I didn't see where I would be interested in any that's for sure.

But I just wanted to post this and give a head's up. We have to decide by the 15th if we want them to move our profile to Bebo, or just delete it. Those are the only choices. I'm not sure if I like this Bebo just yet. Honestly, my first impression was that it's more of a place to hook up. Know what I mean?

UPDATE: Uh-Oh! Just checked Magic Smoke while making my rounds. Seems some folks have lost their profiles. They just disappeared!

Tags: AIM Profiles, AOL, Bebo, social networking

Just random stuff, maybe a vent

I wish there were more moods to choose from. My choice would have been "Mixed" I think. I'm in a good mood, elated mood, blah mood, pissy mood, and exhausted mood. Arrghh. I was trying to sleep but I can't so I thought I'd write. Or type as the case may be. I don't know where this will lead. If I ramble I apologize in advance.

My good mood is because it was another beautiful day here. Not too hot, not humid. And because I woke up and so did everyone in my family. That's always good. The kids have been extremely well behaved today, both the human ones and the furry ones. That's always reason to be in a good mood.

My elated mood is because I had another appointment with the podiatrist today. Hmm... elated and podiatrist? Not two words that would normally be used in the same sentence are they lol. But Yay for me! No injections! And Yippee! I'm up to about 60-70% better. I think it's a combination of the last injection and the anti-inflammatory meds, but I think the Crocs have a lot to do with it. He's cut me down to every other week now instead of every week. Finally I can walk a distance and just be on my feet in general with no pain. And boy was I on my feet a lot today. I still don't have my orthotics, but I finally got an appointment to go get my feet molded tomorrow so they can make the orthotics and should have them in 2 weeks or so. I thought I'd have them by now. Oh well, I waited this long so what's a couple more weeks. When I got home I went for a walk to the corner AND back with no problem. Then I went with my mom to take my parents' cat back to the doc. They were a bit packed so I was on my feet a bit and wasn't all that uncomfortable. Once a seat opened up though I snagged it. Better not put too much stress on the feet just yet.

As for the cat well he's the reason for my good mood and blah mood. He is doing better. He's gained another ounce since Saturday. He hasn't vomited. He's vocal again. And the doc agrees that it probably isn't cancer. But he also said it could be, and it could be a number of other things. The only way to tell for sure is by x-rays, more blood work, and/or go inside to poke around, maybe take samples. We're not wanting to do that and he's suggesting we don't do it either. At his age the plan of action is to make sure he keeps eating, make sure he's not in pain, and make sure he's comfortable and his quality of life is good. Maybe he'll be around a bit longer, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see. That's hard for my folks. We've put down both family dogs in the last few years. To lose the cat too is going to be hard on them and they will be very lonely. They said they want no more pets once he's gone because it's just been too hard on them to let them go.

Another reason for the blah mood is my sister called today. My older niece is having problems with this sprained neck due to the accident Sunday. She is in a lot of pain and is crying. My sister spent the better part of her day, from work, on the phone to her doc and the hospital that treated the girls Sunday. The doc had the reports from the hospital faxed over and has removed her from her Cross Country and Marching Band. She may not participate in either until further notice. She must also start physical therapy (again) and must start immediately, at least once a week. She was just released from physical therapy less than a year ago and it wasn't on her list of things she likes to do instead of going to school. I feel so sorry for her and wish I could take this pain away for her and suffer myself.

This kid has been through a LOT in her 15 years of life (born with only one functioning kidney) and her life hung in the balance just about two years ago. She's the one I mentioned before that has battled anorexia for almost two years. As a result of her immunity being down and her hectic sports schedule she got mono and ended up in the hospital. She was so weak and near death they were going to put feeding tubes in. Luckily we showed enough faith that we could get her to eat if they'd just let us try. So the whole family took turns going at meals and having her eat enough the weekend she was admitted that they said they wouldn't insert them if the progress kept up. She could not walk, could not lift anything... all her muscles had atrophied. So she was taken to physical therapy every day in the hospital. She hated it! I hated it too. In fact I only went once. I couldn't stand to see her so deathly thin and weak, and I knew I couldn't let her see me so upset with how she looked. When she was finally released it was on conditions. She had to continue with a strict physical therapy schedule, see a psychiatrist, weekly blood work, and a strict diet of protein shakes and other stuff to put weight on. She missed a whole year of school and sports, both of which she loves. But she made it through. She still struggles to keep weight on but theblood work isn't weekly anymore and the therapists released her about a year ago now. She just got permission from the doc to do cross country. Now she can't do it.

And now I'm rambling... sorry. Anyway, that's where my pissy mood comes in. This kid has endured so much bullshit and I can't understand why? Why her? What the hell did she ever do? It makes me so angry. I wish there was something I could do. But there isn't. And that makes me angry.

Then to top it off someone, an internet troll I suppose, decided to email me about my entry Sunday pertaining to the injuries my nieces and their stepsister sustained from the seatbelts. That REALLY has me in a pissy mood. Apparently this troll is anti seatbelt from what I gather. They don't have a journal here (I checked) so I don't know how they found mine. I guess maybe saw me commenting someone else's or something. But whatever. I didn't bother to reply and deleted the email. Now it's eating at me!!!

So in case my troll is reading I'd like to just say... THANK GOD my family cares enough about our children to put them in seatbelts! Not using a seatbelt with kids is like having an auto eject button! So if my nieces do "wear the scars for the rest of their life" then so be it. THANK GOD for the scars then because I don't think my family is willing to trade the scars for their lives. The fact that the seatbelts cut into their flesh is proof of how violently they were thrown around inside the van in that accident. If not for the seatbelts they may have been thrown out a window. Instead of trolling around the internet, you could better use your time by trying to develop some common sense.

Ok then. Well, I do feel a bit better. Maybe now I can sleep? For anyone still reading this... sorry about the boring, random, not-so-happy, kinda-mean entry! But I just needed to vent and that's one reason I created this journal.

Happy Labor Day

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day. Be safe and have a fantastic day. If you will be out driving please, please, wear your seat belt! They save lives!



Remember our troops today, and all they are doing to keep us safe. Many will not be home to celebrate this holiday with family and friends.

Tags: Labor Day, seat belts, troops, safety

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