Marcel and I both woke up this morning freezing and we’ve been cold all day long. I pulled out one of my heavy sweaters, put it on and my favorite pair of jeans when I headed out to the supermarket, but let me tell you- I needed a jacket. I really thought that because there was no wind, that it wouldn’t be cold if I didn’t wear a coat, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I told Marcel that we need to order a electric fireplace insert so we can keep warm. Even though I’m home now and in my flannel PJ’s (yes during the day, because I can), I’m still cold. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long, cold winter. I don’t mind though. I love it, even if it’s through chattering teeth.
October 5, 2009
August 29, 2009
Remembering Katrina- 4 Years Later
I don’t think I’ll ever forget when I heard on the news that Hurricane Katrina was expected to make landfall in New Orleans. Anyone from the Coastal area knew that a Category 3 hurricane had the potential to wipe out New Orleans if the levy’s broke, but here was Katrina, the monster storm headed towards New Orleans, almost assuring that the New Orleans that so many knew and loved would be no more.
Sometime or another before making landfall, Katrina turned, with the Mississippi Gulf Coast as her landfall target. As she made landfall, she literally obliverated the Mississippi Gulf Coast, taking almost everything in her path with her, including many historical homes that had survived during the devastating 1969 storm, Hurricane Camille.
By this time, I no longer lived on the Gulf Coast, but I watched Fox News and cried as I heard stories about the Coast that I know and love being ‘wiped out’, and the levys breaking in New Orleans, flooding part of the French Quarter and the lower 9th ward. Even though I grew up a short 15 minute ride from the beach, my parents moved inland after we graduated high school, and now live close to an hour from the beach I spent so much time at growing up.
I had limted cell phone contact with my parents, but enough to know that they, along with my brother and his family had made it through the storm without any damage, but the same wasn’t true for so many others. So many had lost everything, and I do mean everything, walking away with the clothes on their backs and llittle more.
Anyone who was on the Coast during the time has a Katrina story. I have videos, and I have a book, neither of which I’ve ever been able to watch or look at in their entirety because I just can’t stand to see that much dispair, devastation and pain. I’ve heard stories, many stories from family and friends, of how they made it through the storm, and the stories never cease to amaze me at the power of the human spirit.
It wasn’t until a year later that I actually visited the coast with Marcel, and I remember driving down Highway 90 and realizing that the news reports and the articles had been nothing compared to what I was seeing at that moment, and it was a year later. I couldn’t and still can’t wrap my head around the days after the storm, and what the people of the Gulf Coast and of New Orleans had to endure. I do know for certain that what we saw on the news, doesn’t even come close to showing us the real story.
Katrina did show us the power of the human spirit, as people the world over came to the aid of those in need. Even as I type this and the tears are streaming down my face, I know that in spite of the evil in the world, that good always prevails, and hope is a powerful thing.
Many have been able to rebuild their lives when they were left with little more than hope, a sure sign that with hope anything is possible. Four years later, there are still those who are struggling to find their way, to rebuild their lives, but progress is being made. If you visit the Coast for the first time today, you may not notice much evidence that Katrina ever practically destroyed everything, but for those of us who have made the Coast or New Orleans our home- we know.
We may be moving forward, but we’ll never forget.
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August 6, 2009
It has been a warm day here in the land of Never, and my favorite guy has gone off to work for the evening, leaving me home alone to do what I please. Granted, I don’t have anything exciting planned- a little television and a cool bath. That should help cool me off and hopefully will also help me get some rest this evening as well. I actually love the gorgeous days, but I love being ‘cool’ in the evenings when it’s time to snooze.
Lately, I’ve had many ideas pass through the grey matter that I want to write about. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed (and hear it comes with age, although I am not too quick to accept that concept) that if I don’t write those ideas down, that I tend to forget them, which means some ideas that I really found to be great, have fallen by the wayside so-to-speak. Maybe, if I forgot them, they weren’t that great to begin with.
Since I’ve been keeping notes about everything else, and I am trying to pull together some ideas for this and my other sites, it looks like I’d better start writing down everything in hopes of actually ‘remembering’ what I want to say.
Does anyone else have this little problem?
I wonder if I can blame it on the heat?
My cool bath awaits. I can almost hear it calling out to me, so I’ll say goodbye for tonight, but not before I share a few things that I’m grateful for today-
My Gratitude List for August 6, 2009.
Today I’m Grateful For:
- Spending the day with a great group of friends over shopping, lots of chatter and food.
- The waiter at the restaurant we had lunch at today, who was as sweet as he could be. THANK YOU!
- Leftovers, which meant I didn’t have to cook in this warmer than usual weather.
- Starbucks- although it isn’t Illy- it’s GOOD!
- Little notes from people that brighten my life.
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July 18, 2009
Oops, They Did It Again…
The beavers have done it again! They’ve dammed up the pond near my parents home and are causing all sorts of problems, which includes the threat of washing out the bridge the pond sits near. They do it every year. I’m fairly certain it’s the same ones, since I haven’t heard any tales of them getting ‘rid’ of the beavers, but as destructive as they can be, I can’t help but think about how cute they are.
I made the suggestion that they use pond pumps to see if that would help with the water levels, but my dad says it won’t. Obviously he knows much more about these things than I do, but I DO think they are adorable. I probably wouldn’t feel like that if they were causing problems in my neighborhood, but since they aren’t….
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July 15, 2009
Feeling Safe
Good morning y’all! I’m still trying to gather my energy after Samantha being here. I’m pretty convinced that it isn’t that I’m really tired, it’s that my body is sluggish from all the sugar and carbs that I had while she was here. I definitely over indulged, and I’m paying for it now. Thankfully, the scales didn’t punish me for my actions, so I’m grateful for that.
This morning I was talking to my mother-in-law this morning and she was telling me about a friend of the family who had recently had a home invasion and how the family is now scared of it happening again when they are home. When it happened, they were on vacation, and from the sounds of it didn’t follow home safety tips , to make it less obvious that they were away for an extended period of time. Sadly, they have recently moved into the neighborhood, and haven’t really established any sort of relationship with their neighbors, so no one really saw anything, and no one had been watching out for their home for anything out of the ordinary.
My mom actually works for a security company, so talking about home alarms and home security is a topic of conversation quite often. Sadly, the days of not needing a home security system are gone, and more often than not, people are investing in home alarms and it does help. It gives a sense of security knowing that if something does happen, the police will be on the scene quickly.
Something that we do in addition to having someone pick up our mail and have our lights set on timers so they’ll come on and off at different times of the day and night to give the appearance that someone is home, is that we have a great relationshp with our neighbors and let them know we’ll be out of town so they can keep a close eye on things. We do the same for them when they are away, and we all pretty much know who belongs in the neighborhood and who doesn’t, so keep a close eye out when someone who doesn’t belong appears. Even though we don’t have an organized neighborhood watch, we definitely watch out for each other, and I believe we all feel a little safer knowing that in addition to any home security we may have, that we also have the eyes and ears of our neighbors.
On the whole, that makes our entire neighborhood much more safe- and seems to keep the ‘bad guys’ away, and that, my friends is what it’s all about- feeling safe in your own space.
Do you feel safe in your home, or do you worry about home invasion?
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April 23, 2009
Teaser
I know.. I know.. I promsed to share photos of yesterdays tulip adventures, but it looks as though another day has passed and left me with not a whole lot of time to spend online. I did actually get the photos uploaded from the memory card, and hopefully tomorrow I’ll have a chance to share more of them, but because I didn’t want to lie, I will share one- which happens to be my yearly photo quest when I visit the tulips- to find one color that was mistakenly placed with the others, before the tulip farmers find it, and kill it with ‘Round Up’. This year, it was a field of pink, with a lone yellow, both of which happen to be two of my favorite tulip colors.
Something I always love, is that the odd colored tulip- is almost always taller than the rest, as though they are in the spotlight shining at the world. It makes me smile for some reason.
I hope you enjoy!
My Gratitude List for April 23, 2009.
Today I’m Grateful for:
- Taking the ‘just do it’ attitude with today’s bike ride.
- Being able to sleep late after getting Marcel off to work.
- Tostadas with roasted chicken breast and mashed pinto beans.
- People who stop me on the street and ask about my weight loss.
- Being back on track.
Through the Tulips
April 20, 2009
Essence of Spring
What a difference a few days can make.
If you had asked me a year ago if the way I feel would hinge upon whether or not I was able to get my work out in for the day, I would have laughed. A year ago I was still struggling through each and every work out that I had, and today, I actually look forward to them.
That’s something I bet you never thought you’d hear me say. Don’t worry, I never thought I’d be saying it either, but it’s true- and I’m happy that it’s true.
Some of you know that I had been struggling with several losses and other situations with people that I care about. It wasn’t anything that happened to ‘me’ per-say, but it is hurting and affecting those I love, and in turn that affects me. There have been a million times when I’ve wished that I wasn’t so emotional, so empathetic, but obviously God made me this way, and he doesn’t make junk, so I’ll just be grateful and accept it as a blessing, although there have been times that I’ve wondered. Last week was one of those weeks.
Last week was also the week of my monthly visitor, which, if you are a woman reading this, you know that it tends to compound anything remotely emotional or hormonal- couple that with the fact that I wasn’t able to work out due to cramps, and I was feeling pretty low.
I’ve been able to give several things their place, and yesterday I stepped back on the elliptical, and started my work outs again. Yeahh! What a difference that made. It is a well known fact that workouts are good for stress, etc. – but now I know it to be without a doubt, 100% true.
My favorite guy (that would be Marcel), and I decided to take a little walk through part of the neighborhood today, so I could see about ‘capturing’ a little of the essence of spring. It was a quick trip, since my knee started giving me issues again (something that it oddly doesn’t do when I’m on the elliptical -thank Goodness) , but I spotted some ducks on nests that I want to go back and photograph. Since the weather is suppose to be gorgeous tomorrow, I’m going to attempt to do it then, after Bible Study and grocery shopping.
In the meantime, a little taste of this afternoons walk.
In the Neighborhood
A Walk along the Canal
Pretty In Pink
Cherry Blossoms
My Gratitude List for April 20, 2009.
Today I’m Grateful For:
- The true essence of spring.
- New week- new beginnings.
- New Birth.
- This weeks Bible Study Lesson (John 14).
- Weather great enough to have dinner outside.