It’s ALL ABOUT ME!

I called Penny Fitzgerald (Jack and Virginia Vaughn’s daughter) this morning. Jack and Virginia are at Penny’s nephew’s house in Jackson, MS. Other than having no electricity, they are ok. All of Jackson is not without power, so they can leave the house and go get something to eat and cool off if they want to. Physically, both are very healthy, but Virginia’s alzheimer’s is much worse. Penny asks for prayers that the electricity comes back on soon. Phone service is still sketchy, so Penny has not been able to talk to them much.

Penny has a brother that lives in the same area, and he is staying with her.

From what they can tell, other than wind damage, Jack and Virginia’s house suffered no water damage. They live north of the lake and are not in the flooded area.

Penny was glad I called.

UPDATE: 2:01 p.m. Just received an email from Penny that says: “Just found out my nephew in Jackson (the one with no electricity) is having a driver take Mom and Dad in their car to my brother’s in Auburn - where there IS electricity! That will be an excellent place for them to be.”

My ultimate relief is that the oak tree in my front yard made it through the storm. Everytime we have stormy weather, I worry about that tree. I even made Christopher sleep in the living room last night!!! I prayed all night that the tree would stay strong. The wind blew VERY hard all night — I had white-caps in my swimming pool! We didn’t lose power for any length of time as I had expected. It flashed on and off about 20 times which was very annoying! Everytime it flashed off, the carbon monoxide detectors emmitted a shrill beep that scared Scardy-Dog (aka Wilson, aka Fatty-Fatty-Two-by-Four, aka The Rat) to death. I tried to console him, but he didn’t want that. He slept under the bed all night and emerged this morning non the worse for wear. I am going to ask my vet about a chill pill for him and for Sunny (the ultimate scardy-dog) for future storms.

There are trees, tree limbs, traffic lights, signs, and debris scattered everywhere. There are many folks in this area without power. Like I said in my previous post, I know we didn’t experience anything like the Gulf Coast — I sure feel sorry for them.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall early this morning and continues to head North. The ‘window of opportunity’ for us for bad weather is from 7:00 p.m. tonight to 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning with the VERY worst expected after midnight. The wind is whipping around — really blowing quite hard. It is in very strong gusts — not sustained wind, but the gusts are frequent. Already the lights are flickering (and have been for a while now) and I fear we will be without power at some point tonight.

I laid out candles, a lighter, my battery operated radio (that my Daddy insisted I always keep near when he gave it to me), a flashlight, and some extra batteries. I know we will experience nothing like what the poor folks down South did, but it still might get interesting. I’m just hoping for no tornadoes!

In a reminicent moment, I bought (via Ebay) a 1971 edition of Childcraft’s “How To Library.” I would post a picture of the set, but since I don’t know how, I guess I won’t!!!! (That was a not-so-subtle hint to my brother.)

We went to little Kelly’s birthday party today, and Jennifer pulled out the Poems and Rhymes book and started looking through it. I said “I used to LOVE that book when I was little” to which she replied “Me too!!!” So, tonight I searched on Ebay and found a similar set and ordered it for Jennifer and me!!! I don’t know how long to receive them, but I’m excited!

The following was written back in June when I returned from Sue’s house:

When I was at Sue’s house, the first night, everyone went to bed, including me. I got up to get online and do some surfing. As I sat there in the kitchen on the computer, I heard someone get up and go into the bathroom. Said person stayed in there a little long, and I got concerned that Jennifer’s stomach was hurting again. After a while, I heard the toilet flush. I waited and waited for her to come out so I could ask her if she was ok. She never came out, and after a few minutes, I went to investigate.

No one was in the bathroom. In fact, EVERYONE was where they were when I got up to get online. Same positions in the same beds and everything. Hmmmmm…….

Yep, I now lead a boring existence. Jimmy always has things to write about and always has something going on! Me? I never have anything going on. I think I am suffering from an early empty nest! My kids are never here, it’s just me and my sweet fat little Wilson.

I don’t really have anything to write about these days. I see a draft I wrote about ‘Strange Happenings at Sue’s House’, so I guess I will post that draft. Guess I’d better see if I finished writing it!

I need some ideas for writing, and ideas for a HOBBY! I love ghost-hunting, but I cannot find a group I really like. I know people who would like to do it w/me, so maybe I need to just start going out on my own.

Suggestions?!?!?!????

Did Walmart do the right thing? Not in the beginning, but maybe in the end…..

My brother sent me a very interesting article. It seems there are more people like me than I imagined (scary thought, huh???). Anyway, the following links were listed in the article. I haven’t had time to thoroughly review them, but plan to tonight!

Walmart Watch
Wake-up Walmart