Hurricane Preparedness?

I've done earthquakes, floods, tropical storms, lightening storms and gone to bed seeing huge brush fires on the horizon, but never have I done HURRICANES!

Tomorrow kicks-off the six month "hurricane season" here in Florida. I admit it all overwhelms me when I hear about the hurricane preparedness weekends at town centers, see ads in the paper about what you need to have in your home to be prepared, hear about the long lines at the gas station whenever a hurricane is threatening and the bare shelves at the grocery store lacking batteries, drinking water, battery operated fans, etc.

I feel helplessly unprepared as a matter of fact. Barely succeeding at getting our family settled into our home, finding a place for everything in a very small older home with lack of storage, the thought of the need for a generator, gas containers, stored water and non-perishable foods, extra cell phone batteries, battery operated fans, cold packs for the freezer, first-aid kit, etc. overwhelms me! I feel the pressure is on with tomorrow also kicking-off a "10-day tax free" period for buying hurricane preparedness supplies!!! Oh, the pressure! I just need to find a place to hang our towels in the bathroom. How can I get prepared for a hurricane when I can't even find a place for towels???

Of course, I am jesting to some degree, with an ounce of truth though. It's like you're just barely able to tread water in your new surroundings when perhaps sometime soon you will be forced into the deep water to swim. I feel so inadequate. Where's my friend Martha Stewart? She'd have this house all put together and have found a decorative way to store a generator by now, and have food ideas ready for cooking on the grill if there was a prolonged power outage. I know she would.

I just hope the season is kind to me. At least this year. I'm new here.

Wednesday Night Babble...

I'm leaning back on about four loads of unfolded laundry, making a comfortable pillow for my head as I type away here; but then causes some slight discomfort when I realize that it needs to get folded and put away before I go to bed. Well, there's always tomorrow.

The kids now have bunk beds in their bedroom (which I'm a little of a nervous-wreck about...but I'll get over it.) We finally finished painting them a lime green to go with their room decor. They have a surfing theme (which allows Isabella to do flowers and Liam to do surfboards and such; the boy/girl room thing isn't easy. But Liam's still young enough to not mind.) I got two cute surfboard shaped frames that holds 3 photographs each. I put them side-by-side with the kids' pictures in them and hung a shadowbox framed picture of a cute car with a surfboard on it above the frames on the wall that matches the colors of the surfboard frames. So...some progress was made today in getting the house to become more "home." I will have to post pictures sometime soon...

ON TO OTHER NEWS: Today, I got to see the bus that was donated to the ministry, which is being sent to a ministry in Panama (I originally thought it was going to Jamaica, but that was incorrect.) It is a very nice one, low mileage, air-conditioned. It's a shuttle type bus like you'd see at a hotel. The recipients are thrilled that they'll have such a nice bus to use. I also plan to post pictures from the thrift store/missionary resource network building soon.

Edilberto has endless opportunities to reach-out to people at work. The store is often a place where people are assigned to do community service, or it receives people who are coming-out of drug/alcohol rehabilitation. Sometimes too, high schools send students to do volunteer community work at the store. Right now, there's a 14 year old boy who was involved in an armed mugging volunteering at the store on a court ordered community service. Edilberto worked with him all day today!

Some pictures...

taken at the airshow...

hunky husband ^

Liam enjoying the day ^

Isabella relaxing in style ^

Run-down on things since we last talked!

Some the things we've been up to since we were so rudely cut-off without a computer:

*The Thrift Store has received a lot of donations and sales have been good. One donation that they are receiving tomorrow is of a large bus in good condition (low mileage) that was a church bus. It is going to be sent to a ministry in Jamaica.

*We had our first official visitor to our home. Our dear friend Matt, who was on his way to and from teaching in the Caribbean. Thanks for stopping-in old friend!

*We ventured-out and attended an annual Ft. Lauderdale community event, the Air & Sea Show (which is venturing-out when you don't usually "do" crowds - with over a million people over a stretch of beach area). We thought it'd be something fun for the kids; and I couldn't resist knowing that the Air Force "Thunderbirds" would be flying. I hadn't seen them since I was a kid. It was a spectacular show. Hearing the sudden explosive thunderous roar of F-17's fly over brought me straight back to when I was a little girl growing-up in the Mojave desert where planes were tested overhead (planes like the Stealth Bomber, and the Black Bird were at the air show and were planes I first saw when tested). At the age of four having broken my wrist after being bucked-off my pony from a sonic boom from a plane breaking the sound barrier that spooked him. I loved hearing those planes flying over me because it was like going back in time. I explained this to the kids (that I'd grown-up with these loud sounds) and they weren't frightened by the loud noise at all.

We would have done a few things differently (like not gotten to the beach so early for the show but rather, would have waited until later. Also, probably would have stayed-off the beach altogether. It was crazy! Better up on the lawn by a hotel to watch). I also think I prefer an airshow where you can walk around the planes.

It was an emotional moment for me when the show began and so many planes were up in the air at once. It made me think of my father (once an Air Force test pilot, and professor of aviation) and how he would have enjoyed being there and how much a part of his life all of this was. Made me miss him terribly. My eyes welled-up with tears (which was irritating because it made the sunscreen on my face run into and burn my eyes as I wiped away the tears!!!)

*I've been trying to catch-up with paperwork, correspondence (failing miserably so far,I'm afraid), while getting into a routine here with the kids and continuing to finish unpacking and organizing our new home. We've still got a ways to go there as well.

We are missing our friends far away. So if you see this, please call or write us!

Forgot what my own blog looked like!

Apologies all around for the long delay in updating. I have had to shut-out of my mind the fact that e-mails, blogs, and the internet exist; having been (and still being) computer-less! We have a loaner (hopefully until we purchase a new one) that works so-so. At least I can get on and update (but probably no picture updates until later, unfortunately). I will do my best in the next few days to share about our lives since I last posted.

Still feeling somewhat dislocated as we get settled in. Moreso, I think, not having the connection with friends on-line. Edilberto's busy with long hours at work while the kids and I spend the day together at home and out and about. We are learning our way around and slowly meeting the neighbors as well. Most people around here are gone during the day.

Just wanted to let everyone know, we're back on-line!