Hatches - Battened Down

Our house is boarded up in anticipation for Gustav. There was a little neighborhood "lets board up the houses" today. It was nice that everybody helped everybody with the job. We went to Lowes this morning and they had the whole system down where you go and pay for the plywood and hurricane clips then drive around and they load it up for you. Pretty cool except for the 30 minute wait in line for the plywood.

It is getting pretty real that this thing is coming, even though the weather is not in the least bad. It was sunny and extremely hot today with the heat index at 99. But as we were eating out tonight, we saw the Army National Guard come to town in their convoy of military humvees and trucks with water, food, and fuel. They are taking this whole thing very seriously. I just hope that it doesn't do the devastation that Katrina did after all the rebuilding process that has gone on around here. The people around here need a break this time.

Jack and I and the dogs are heading up to my mother-in-law's house tomorrow afternoon. We plan to go to church and then head north. Jim has to work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night and possibly more if needed. They are talking about having the guys do 16-18 hour shifts during the crisis. I just hope they keep them safe is all.

I will try to update after tomorrow, but not sure if it will be possible for a few days. Just pray it isn't another Katrina.

It Is Getting Real

This whole hurricane thing coming is getting real now. Because this is the first possible hurricane threat that we have had since we lived here, it seemed a bit surreal at first. But just today, the signs are out there that a real live hurricane just might come.

We went to Petsmart today for the puppy training class for Molly and Petsmart already had their windows all boarded up. And when we came home tonight, we noticed that a few of our neighbors have their windows boarded up already as well. I just wonder if they boarded up and left town early or if they are living in there in like total darkness. How creepy. Jim is going down to Home Depot tomorrow to get plywood for our windows. We decided to just board up our southside of the house, but unfortunately that is the side of the house that is nothing but windows. I think it has two french doors and 6 windows.

So as it stands right now, we will probably leave early early Monday morning to head up to Grammy's house. I hope to not be stuck in traffic for hours and hours. I have heard horror stories about the traffic prior to Katrina hitting.

In the meantime, I will be doing every bit of laundry that I can, packing up all the important papers, and getting me and Jack and dogs packed up. Oh and I also have to clean my house, because if the house is blown away, at least it is clean!

And Again

It looks like we will be going northward to Grammy's house in a few days. It seems that Gustav is coming to town and everybody around here is gearing up for him. Seriously, I just came home from Walmart where it was a zoo. Not only were there about a million people there (give or take a few), but the shelves were bare, especially in the canned food section. And of course everyone was talking about their Katrina stories and what they went through 3 years ago. Hopefully Gustav is not another Katrina. But we will be prepared as Jack and I and the dogs head north. Jim will have to stay behind and do the policing.

Speaking of dogs, good grief! We have spent a small fortune at the vet in the past two weeks. First off, Molly, our new puppy, had to have all her shots and then had a rare form of worms (of course) and the expensive medicine to get rid of it. And today we found out that she has mites and is on antibiotics for the next week. Oh yeah and the heartworm medicine and flea medicine thrown in there for good measure. And then Tosha, my 12-year-old dachshund, decided to get sick also. She has some respiratory infection going on with lots of snot and sneezing going on and yes she is on antibiotics for the next two weeks. Oh and she needed her teeth cleaned because they were super bad and the vet thought that the bacteria from the teeth were what was causing the infection. And the heartworm and flea medicine for her. It is not fair because I don't feel like we have the money for me to go and get my teeth fixed up like they should, but for the dog - sure no problem. Not fair.

So now both dogs are on antibiotics and we are probably going to have to evacuate north. That is basically what is going on around here.

She Did Not Want To See Us

Well I guess Fay just didn't want to come visit us today, instead she swung North and headed up toward my MIL's house. Instead of the massive amounts of rain, we just got the drizzling all day yuckies. From what they are saying, it is supposed to be raining for the next two or three days like this. And I was looking forward to having an excuse to stay home from church and just kinda vegging in front of the tv all day long, something I never get to do. But the boy wants to go to church, so I guess we'll go and get out in the drizzly yuckies.

Here She Comes

First of all, I want to say thank you for all the wonderful comments everybody made in regards to the sad day we had. It was very touching and meant a lot to me. We are getting back to normal, however, Rob's family is never far from my thoughts. President Bush was in town the other day and I thought it was very nice that he spent some time with Leslie and the kids in private. No matter what you think about the man's politics, I do think Bush is a very nice man.

Anyway, now we are looking at Fay coming our way in the next 24 hours or so and from what we have heard it looks like we can expect 10-12" of rain and lots of wind. Jim cleared out the backyard today by putting all the chairs, bbq, bird feeder and what not into the garage. He also made sure we have enough gas for the generator and got all the lanterns and weather radios out. So we are ready for her. This is going to be our first big storm while living in Mississippi, thank goodness it is only a tropical storm and not a full-fledged hurricane. And hopefully this will be it for this hurricane season, although we do still have a couple more months left.

I'll be sure to say hi to Fay for ya when we see her :).

Sad Day

This was a very sad day. Jim and I attended the funeral of a fallen police officer. There were about 1000 people with hundreds of police officers from all over. I have put myself in Rob's wife's place a thousand times over the past few days. By the grace of God, it was not me sitting in the front row looking at her dead husband's casket. She has two children the same ages as Jack and Laura. Her son, Trevor, just didn't get it, I could tell. But that is probably a good thing. How do you tell a five-year-old that his Daddy is never coming home. I also kept thinking that his daughter will never have a father walk her down that aisle on her wedding day. It is just beyond sad. I have no words to describe the emotions of today.

After the funeral, we drove in the funeral procession to the gravesite. Jim and I were in his patrol car with the lights going, just one of hundreds of patrol cars, fire trucks, and ambulances that made its way through the streets of Gulfport. It seemed incredibly surreal as the people lined the road with American flags, signs and were saluting us as we drove through. The fire department had a huge American flag drapped over the ladder that we all drove under. Very surreal.

At the gravesite, they played Taps, had the gun salute, and bagpipes playing Amazing Grace. It was incredible to see all the police officers in their dress uniforms saluting the casket as it went by. And the saddest part of all was at the end when dispatch called out the last call to Rob on the radio. "Gulfport 107 ... Gulfport 107... silence and then "Gulfport all units Officer 107 is now 10-7" which means officer is out of service. The sobs rang out throughout the graveyard. There was one officer who was standing beside us who literally dropped to his knees sobbing. And my husband next to me was sobbing as was I. I have to say that I am so proud of my husband for the job he does. It scares the crap out of me everytime he walks out of this house in uniform, but I am so incredibly proud of him. He chooses to put himself in danger every night to help all of us. And I know that every single wife there today felt the same way about her husband and also thanking God that we have our husbands tonight, while Leslie does not.

This is one day that will live with me forever and I hope and pray that I never have to relive another policeman funeral, especially my own policeman

A Little Bit of Humor

I thought that I would share with you a little Jack funny he made this morning, which is something that we needed (especially Jim).

We have decided that we are going to buy Jack one of those battery-powered cars or four-wheeler that he can ride around in our cul-de-sac. Jim was showing him the different ones available online this morning and was trying to steer the boy toward the four-wheeler instead of the car because he won't outgrow it quite as fast. But Jack in all his four-year-old wisdom said that he wanted the Mustang because "it has horse power and can go really fast"! Hehe get it - mustang ... horse power. He is a hoot that one.

If you are the praying kind...

just say a prayer for Lt. Rob Curry's family. He is the police officer who died yesterday in the line of duty. Here is a link to the story. He was on his motorcycle and was hit by a woman trying to turn left by crossing three lanes of traffic. She said she didn't see him and was quite hysterical at the accident scene, so say a prayer for her also as I am sure this is devastating to her as well. Rob's wife, Leslie, is also a police Lt. and has given us many clothes for Jack that her son has outgrown. I feel so bad for her and can't even imagine the pain that she is going through right now and their two children. The entire Gulfport police force and community are very shaken up by this death and is the second police officer to die in two weeks. Again, I just pray everyday that I never receive that phone call. Just something you live with when you love a cop.

Ramblings

Wow three posts in one day. A record for this year I do believe.

These past two weeks have been very drama-filled. Laura went back to California last Wednesday. It was very sad to see her go. After all the drama surrounding her request to stay here and her mother's response, it was a let down to say the least. We are being forced to pursuit legal recourse and maybe having to go to California to appear in court soon.

It also has been a very sad time for Jim. One of his fellow police officers was on vacation in North Carolina and was shot and murdered in a motel parking lot. It turns out that two teenagers came up to rob him and he identified himself as a police officer and they shot him on the spot, probably because he was a cop. As Jim said, they are probably being heralded as heroes because they killed a cop. It makes me very sad, nervous, and angry that there is a portion of the population out there who want my husband dead just because he is a cop. His funeral was last weekend and it was a huge thing here because he was also in the Air Force reserves and he received a full military funeral and the entire police force was there as well. Very very sad.

And then we just learned another one of Jim's fellow police officers was killed today in an accident. I don't know the details, whether it was while on duty or not, but it is so sad. His wife is also a police officer and they had two children aged 5 and 11. In fact, she is the one who gave us so many clothes for Jack. I can't even imagine going on with life after that. As soon as I heard about it, I started to cry for her and her children.

With all of this, it makes you appreciate the ones you have around you. I also have to pray that I never get that phone call. It is a prayer that I say everyday he walks out the door in uniform.

New Addition

Well we went and did it almost two weeks ago. We went to the Humane Society and picked out a new puppy to bring home to the already chaotic household that we have. She is a golden retriever/lab/shephard mix - basically a mutt. She has already doubled in size from the picture above. Her name is Molly and it is fun to see Jack playing with her. However because she is not yet four-months old, she is your usual puppy. I think we are up to four pairs of shoes lost because of her chewing and she still does not know that she needs to go outside to do her poopy business. But all in all, she is a good dog and it will be fun for Jack to have a dog he can grow up with and play with.

First Day of School

It is that time of year again - School!! Today was Jack's first day back at school in K4. It was funny to see all the parents today with their cameras taking their kids into school. I have been hyping today up for the past few days, but in reality Jack acted like it was just another day at school - no big deal. He has a new teacher this year named Miss Wiest and a new classroom. The school is actually having a new building being built and was supposed to be done before today, but they are now saying by Christmas time. It sure is looking nice and I am looking forward to the new classroom.

When I picked him up today, I asked him what they did and what they talked about and his response was the same as always "we did nothing and talked about nothing". Same old same old.

K4 First Day of School - August 14, 2008

And for a comparison, below is the first day of school last year. It is fun to see the changes as he grows older.

Saga Continues

First off - Happy August! How is it August already? School is starting in less than 2 weeks for Jack (shall we all say hallelujah).

Well the saga continues with Laura. Laura's mother came down with her verdict on high and decided that "it is the best interest of Laura not to be in Mississippi". Laura is very upset and has been crying for the past two days. At this time, we are going to have to seek a lawyer in California to protect ourselves because we have heard from somebody that Dina is going to sue us to stop all visitation. I am sure she has no legal leg to stand on, but the thought has put total anger and fear into both Jim and I. Dina has also cut off all communication with us and Laura at this time. She will not answer her phone nor emails. She has told Laura that we have "brainwashed" her and therefore can not talk to her until she gets home, I guess to "reprogram" her.

Anyway, it has been extremely stressful and upsetting all around. I am so weary of it all that I don't have anything left to say on the subjet. This whole thing is going to get so ugly and we are probably in for a huge fight. So tiring, frustrating, and unfair.