To evacuate or not to evacuate.......

To do regardless:
Pray
Move plants in
Take down all hanging things (windchimes, outside chandelier)
Move in all lawn chairs/ benches
Take down swing
Get gas in cars
Make sure drains in alley are clear
Find the valium
Charge phones/ ipods/ laptops

To pack if we leave:
Dogs, dog beds, dog crates, dog food, dog medicine, dog leashes
Wedding album / Scrapbooks
Important papers
Food/ water
Clothes / shoes/ toiletries
Medication
Laptops / Planner
Chargers for phones/ ipods/ laptops
Xbox, Rockband, Rockband guitars

To do if we stay:
Pray for limited wind
Pray for electricity
Pray for no flooding
Take cars to high ground
Find the flashlights



Did I forget anything?

Indiana Jones

Has found secret escape hatch out of backyard which continues to elude us.....

Absense makes the heart grow fonder

I have a million things to post, but it may be next week........

Short updates:

• LSU plays their first game this weekend WooHoo!
• Greta has an ear "irritation" and we have to put drops in every day for the next 10 days.
• Schaffer went on an adventure yesterday - I have no IDEA how he got out of the back yard.
• Greta had to go in the car to the vet yesterday so I walked her first and she POOPED in the yard (yea!) then she POOPED when we got to the vet in the vet's yard (yea!) then we went to CC's for coffee and as we were pulling into the driveway of the house, SHE POOPED IN MY CAR.
• We went up to McComb for Mom's b-day last weekend. My Dad is doing GREAT post hip-replacement! Walking up and down the stairs on the deck without even holding on to the railing!
• I checked on flights to St. Croix @ New Year's because I was thinking maybe we could squeeze in one more vacay this year - cheapest flights are $1400!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• I've been working on balancing some fun bank statements - the out of balance is down to $29 (from over $20,000) and I should be able to finish tomorrow.

In the meantime please:

1> Pray for my friend Randy who will be starting Chemo next week.
2> Pray for the people on the coast in the potential path of Gustav.

Pweeze to put me up dere

I'z ready to go to bed.

UM....

Hi.

Front garden in August

French hygrangea, sweet broom, Giant ligularia, crested ligularia, Banana shrub, and other stuff.

Chocolate plant

I'm liking this combo - the variegated abutilon over the chocolate plant. The chocolate plant is already sending up neat purple flower spikes. I'll post some pics later.

NO DOGS on the SOFA!!

Do you think she's comfortable?

Finished (hard copy) - Cobweb

Neal Stephenson. LOVE him. So far so good - he's doing his usual wonderful job weaving characters who are well developed and seemingly can't possible end up in the same story...

Wow this was an interesting premise. What if the Iraqis were using our universities to train their scientists and to develop and produce biological weapons HERE, right under our noses...

This was written pre-9-11, pre-capture of Saddam.

I divide the Neal Stephenson books into two genres.
1> "just for fun" - Cobweb fits in this category with Zodiac, Interface, Snow Crash, etc.
2> "Difficult and involved and oh-so-worth-it" - The Cryptonomicon/ Baroque series books. Fantastic, and they ARE fun but they are not easy reads. They are by far my favorites. Ever.

My new obsession

It's very hard to find yogurt without gelatin. Whole Foods has Rachel's which is SO GOOD.

Flavors are:

Vitality - Pomegranate Açai, Revive - Peach Green Tea, Glow - Berry Jasmine, Relax - Vanilla Chai, Calm - Plum Honey Lavender, Refresh - Pink Grapefruit Lychee Orange Strawberry Mango, Pomegranate Blueberry, Mango Pineapple Passion Fruit, Kiwi Passion Fruit Lime, Cherry Black Currant, Marionberry Guava

FACEBOOK RULES!!!

I have reconnected with so many old friends, my cousins and I chat all the time, I love it. Tonight I found an old friend that I have been looking for for about 10 years - seriously. We are catching up and having a long conversation and it's wonderful! Yea interwebs!!

STINKY BATHROOM UPDATE!!

So last week I was in New Orleans and I had to potty in the bathroom with the 1900 air fresheners. Well, let me just say that NOW I UNDERSTAND. There is NOT ENOUGH air freshener IN THE WORLD to help that situation. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. We'll leave it at that.

New birthday next week!

My friend Andree is due to welcome little Lucy to the world next Tuesday Woohoo! They already have two fabulous, brilliant, beautiful kids, so I'm sure Lucy will be a fun addition. Andree is excited she will no longer have to check her postprandial glucose levels three times a day. (I did it!! heehee (see the blog of lists)) Andree reports that baby Lucy will share her birthday with Sir Mix-a-Lot, which is quite a thing.

Please put Andree, Ben, the kids, and baby Lucy on your prayer list for next week. We hope everything works out perfectly and that Baby Lucy makes it into the world safe and sound!

The Girl Who Owned a City - O.T. Nelson

Reading this post http://selfeducationofpat.blogspot.com/2008/07/john-christophers-tripods.html by my friend Pat made me think of a book I read when I was about 11 or 12. I'm one of those people who RARELY reads a book twice. I figure there's too much out there to revisit something I already read. This was an exception. I probably read it 10 times. I even read through it one day last year. I have the same copy that I originally got. I can't remember how I came upon it. School book club or book sale? Birthday book buying spree? Who knows. It had a huge impact on me though.

The book is about a 12 year old girl, Lisa, who reluctantly becomes the leader of a community of kids after a plague kills everyone on the planet over the age of puberty. There's anarchy, lack of food, lack of medical supplies, and roving bands of hooligans trying to steal what people have succeeded in secreting away.

This book is probably the reason that despite my general conservative political and social views I had a different kind of empathy for the people stranded and isolated in New Orleans after Katrina - without food, without clean water, without electricity, without medical care, and most importantly, without hope.

I would venture to guess that if you picked this up at the library and read it, it'd make you think.

LOLOLOLOL!!!!

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