A Likely Story!

Uh Oh....

Watching Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) while drinking Grape Juice.

Yeah...not a wise move

Rick Spence Is BACK!!

One of my favorite shows on HGTV USED to be 'Curb Appeal' with Rick Spence. While it was always interesting to see how each client's front yard was transformed, most of the time my attention was on Rick.

Genuinely nice, funny, witty, incredibly hot in a wholesome kind of way...he made me laugh with each episode.

Then, Rick left. Boo. Hiss. Wah.

I did some research once his place was taken by a geeky, if nice, not-Rick-replacement. Googled Rick and what do you know??? Rick lived in San Jose when I lived in San Jose. I wonder if our paths ever crossed. Maybe....maybe not...I was married when I lived in San Jose and was never one to really check out other guys....ya know...being MARRIED and all.

So here I sit...sick and ouchy and stuffy and feverish and my voice is almost gone... and I'm watching that total cutie-pie Rick Spence and he's just making my night and melting my heart!

Welcome Back, Rick. I missed you!

Sick

Killer sore throat...earache....stuffy sinuses...chills... feeling like I've been hit with a baseball bat...I hate being sick.

nnsd...

Life in Kathyland

Electricity is back on...Nami made it home safely....Jacob came back to the fold....all the spoiled food has been removed from the fridge...and Kevin and Quinn returned safely before curfew ended.

Life is good :-)

Hurricane List

I've been a listmaker since day one. My mom always loves telling the story of a list I wrote while in college. #1 was Wake Up. #2 was Kill Kelly. Kelly is my sister...obviously I never killed her but there were times when I considered it to be a priority. Anyway, I digress.

Here's what I came up with last night while sitting in front of the only window in the house that had any type of breeze blowing thru it.

Hurricane Prep List

* 10 Bags of Ice (minimum)

* Another Cooler (5 Days Cold Keeper)

* Battery Powered TV

* Battery Powered Fans (3)

* Camping Stove -or- BBQ / Hibachi

* More Tea Lights

* 3 Bags of M&M’s (minimum)

* Battery-Powered Laterns (3)

* Battery Charger (for before the hurricane hits)

* Spare Cell Battery

* Info Board (with insurer's name, my name, policy # and my contact info)

* Vodka, Gin, Gentleman's Jack, The Capt and those cute little Corona's that are really girly-looking.

* Solar Shower Kit (had one in my CA earthquake readiness kit)

* Chocolate Black-Out Cake

* Lots of Milk - 2% and Chocolate (gotta have ice cold milk with cake)

My buddy Howard thinks I should break down and get a propane grill. Makes sense I suppose, but I don't want anything too big that I have to leave out all the time...and everytime I hear the word 'propane' I think of Hank Hill on 'King of the Hill'. Enough said.

Am I forgetting anything else??

Back in Business!

Came home after work...power still out.

Bummer.

So I headed over to Panera to eat and chill and blog. Eating part was great...turns out my neighbor is the manager and I got a free dinner...woohoo! The Panera Wi-Fi didn't work so I decided not to stress...something I've learned well from the last 3 hurricanes...and headed home resigned to a sticky, humid night sitting on the patio gazing at the moon above and the lake behind my house.

As I came around the corner into my development, I noticed light after light on...inside the houses! POWER! The closer I got to my house the more I told myself not to get my hopes up. But when I saw the lights on in MY house, well, I lost it!

Talk about gratitude!!

Electricity = A/C+working fridge+working garbage disposal+HOT WATER = someone who is beyond thrilled and incredibly thankful.

Ever since we lost power early Sunday am (1:34 to be exact) I kept telling myself how easy we have it compared to the people in Haiti...or Stuart...or Hutchinson Island...and Alabama from Hurricane Ivan. Not to sound Pollyannish, but we've got it oh-so-easy.

Come 30 November, I propose FL have a party to end all parties in celebrating the end of hurricane season. Do I hear a second???

Thanks Kel!

My sister Kelly called into my work vm while at the Hoobastank concert last night so I could hear their rendition of my favorite Hoobstank song 'The Reason'.

It's the little things in life, ya know??

Hurricane Jeanne - Update #2

Luckily we still have power...according to the Palm Beach Post 12,000 are already without power.

According to the Post "Jeanne was aiming for almost the same part of Florida that Frances slammed Labor Day weekend. What Jeanne did not do early Saturday is turn, at least not as significantly as forecasters had hoped, which meant a Palm Beach-to Fort Pierce landfall, further south than the Stuart-to-Cape Canaveral scenario forecasters had suggested Friday night. Hurricane force winds, which extended some 70 miles, were now likely to reach south of Boca Raton".

Yeah...THAT Boca Raton :-)

Oh well, at this point what else can we do but pray and sleep and once sundown rolls around, eat and drink!

Nami and Quinn have a festive post-Yom Kippur dinner planned, then after that who knows?

Truth or Dare, anyone??

Yom Kippur and Hurricane Jeanne

Yom Kippur started at sundown Friday and goes until sundown tonite. Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement and during this time many Jews (including myself) fast (no food and drink) and refrain from watching TV, internet, radio, etc. It is time spent in meditation and prayer.

Seeing that Jewish law says you put Jewish requirements aside if there is any danger, I just checked the internet to see what was up with Jeanne.

GREAT...she's now a level 3 Hurricane. Frances was a 2. Here we go again.

I think (hope?) God will forgive me when I break Yom Kippur by standing in line at Publix for hurricane supplies.

As with last time, it'll be a full house during this hurricane.

Quinn's girlfriend Nami arrived from New York on Thursday. Not sure if Jacob will go stay in a shelter again with his girlfriend Giselle and her family. After Frances, Jacob said he'd never again stay in a shelter...it was a really gross experience.

Please cross your fingers for us and I'll keep ya posted when/if I can.

Do Trees Feel Pain?

I had that thought as I drove thru my development this evening.

So many trees were lost during Frances...big, beautiful green banyans that provided shade to humans and homes to wildlife...and were just gorgeous as can be to admire and appreciate.

The winds caused by Frances were absolutely terrifying and most of the damage occured from 11p to 2 am, during the darkest part of the night. I can't imagine watching all those stately trees ripped from the earth. It would have been horrific.

If the trees could have screamed, would we have heard them over the wind??