Tuesday, September 30, 2008

'Twas The Night After Ike'

'Twas The Night After Ike'

'Twas the night after Ike
When all through the state
Not a gas pump was pumping
Not a store open late

All the plywood was hung
On the windows with care
Knowing that a hurricane
Soon would be there

The children were ready
With flashlights in hand
While bands from the hurricane
Covered over the land

And mamma with her Mag-Lite
And I in my cap
Had just filled the bath tub
For flushing our crap

When out on the lawn
There arose such a clatter
I sprang from the closet
To see what was the matter

The trees on the fence
And the neighbor's roof torn
Gave the fear of us dying
In this terrible storm

With a little wind gust
So lively and quick
I remembered quite clearly
Our walls weren't brick

More rapid than eagles
His courses they came
And he whistled, and wafted
And surged all the same

Off shingles! Off sidings!
Off rooftops! Off power!
Down trees! Down fences!
Down trailers! Down towers!

In the center of Texas
He continued to maul
Screaming Blow Away!
Blow Away! Blow Away All!

As wind ripped and tossed
The debris through the sky
I peeked out the shutters
At cars floating by

So go to the safe-room
My family did do
With a portable radio
And batteries too

And then, in a twinkling
I heard on the set
The end was not coming
For a few hours yet!

As I calmed down the kids
And was turning around
Through the window it came
With a huge crashing sound

A tree branch it was
All covered in soot
The wind blew it smack-dab
On top of my foot

A bundle of twigs
Now lay in a stack
And my living room looks
Like it was under attack

The wind - how it howled!
The storm - very scary!
Myself and the family
Were all too unwary

The dangers of hurricanes
Are serious, you know
They are taken for granted
As Ike did show

With the winds dying down
And the danger beneath
I noticed my tool shed
Was missing its sheath

So I grabbed my last tarp
And nailed it on down
Then I got in my car
And I headed to town

The traffic was awful
And stores had no ice
My five gallon cooler
Would have to suffice

Generators were scarce
Not one left in town
There were trees on the roads
And power lines down

I looked side to side
No CenterPoint here
This only resulted
In compounded fear

And in the midst of
This peculiar scurge
The question of
Another storm emerged

I sprang to the car
And gave my family a whistle
Then away we all went
Like a Tomahawk missile

You could hear us exclaim
As we drove out of sight
'Fare well to this place,
San Antone seems just right!'



I received this in an e-mail.

Democratic Barnyard

Once upon a time, on a farm in Virginia , there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.
She called all of her Democrat neighbors together and said,'If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?'

'Not I,' said the cow.

'Not I,' said the duck.

'Not I,' said the pig.

'Not I,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen, and so she did.

The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

'Who will help me reap my wheat?' asked the little red hen.

'Not I,' said the duck.

'Out of my classification,' said the pig.

'I'd lose my seniority,' said the cow.

'I'd lose my unemployment compensation,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread.

'Who will help me bake the bread?' asked the little red hen.

'That would be overtime for me,' said the cow.

'I'd lose my welfare benefits,' said the duck.

'I'm a dropout and never learned how,' said the pig.

'If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination,' said the goose.

'Then I will do it by myself,' said the little red hen.

She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, 'No, I shall eat all five loaves.'

'Excess profits!' cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)

'Capitalist leech!' screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)

'I demand equal rights!' yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)

The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then the farmer (Obama)came.

He said to the little red hen, 'You must not be so greedy.'

'But I earned the bread,' said the little red hen.

'Exactly,' said Barack the farmer. 'That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.'

And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, 'I am grateful, for now I truly understand.'

But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread free.

And all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established.

Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich' were paying for.


EPILOGUE
Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs. Hillary got $8 million for hers.
That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years, repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything.

IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?


***received this in an e-mail today***

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Thursday, September 25, 2008

gas

Here are 2 pictures that I found that were taken at a gas station not too far from my house, it was the only one in the area open for a while as you can tell from the line of people waiting to fill up



Dr. Phil's Bailout Anger

Dr. Phil Goes Off on Plan to Bail Out Wall St. At least there is someone willing to speak out about how stupid it is, we (taxpayers) shouldn't be forced to rescue others who can't manage money, it's not my problem and yet it's going to end up costing us money.

Things Ike taught me...

It seems I keep coming across more and more "jokes" concerning Ike and I think laughter is the best medicine so I will just keep on posting all that I come across, hoping that it brings a smile to someone's face!

Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill.

Hot pockets taste pretty good deep fried on the outdoor cooker!

My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it).

He who has the biggest generator wins.

A new method of non-lethal torture- showers without hot water.

There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.

TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.

A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser’s to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.

There are a lot of dang trees around here.

Flood plain drawings on some mortgage documents were seriously wrong..

People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.

Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.

If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators… I’d be rich.

Waterfront property can quickly become someone else’s fishing hole.

Tree service companies are underappreciated.

I can walk a lot farther than I thought.

A skateboard and a sheet make a great “sailboat” before the rain starts.

You can never have too many gas cans!

If you fill the bathtubs with water, the water will not go off.

Neighbors are much more sociable when they are sharing a generator.

Two-year-old canned beets taste better than you’d think.

Just because it is dark and you are in the privacy of your bedroom doesn’t mean we can’t hear what you are doing in there because our windows are open too.

What looks acceptable by candlelight in your bathroom will scare you when you look at yourself in the mirror at the office.

Coffee is possible without Starbucks.

Rather than campfires, you find families huddled about tiny battery-operated televisions to watch The Simpsons.

Peanut butter and jelly is a perfectly acceptable meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day.

That neighbor who knows how to use a chainsaw is your new best friend.

You run out of things to barbecue after Day 2.

Hair can dry without a blow dryer, but it may not look the way you planned.

The storm treasures your kids are finding really belong to your neighbors.

Baseball caps go with any post-hurricane ensemble.

Grapes taste better in the dark.

You can’t train yourself not to flip on light switches when entering a room.

Lukewarm is the new cold.

You have neighbors.

A new opening phrase when seeing someone: “Got lights yet?”

I found this entry here

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Thankful

Well all along, we have been thankful that the only major problem we had from Hurricane Ike was no power and losing all our cold food, after today I am even more thankful. today at school we all shared a little something on how we were doing and damage if any. Several people had damage to their house, a few with trees that came crashing thru their houses. I don't think I can complain at all about not having power, I'm sure any of them would trade places with me. Also, of those that were hit the worst some still don't have power as of earlier today. I realize it could have been a lot worse for us and am so thankful it wasn't and thankful that those who had damage to the houses, that none of them or their families were injured. This was a very scary storm. I looked thru pictures online that people sent in as they went back to Galveston for the first time and it is unbelievable what they are going back to. Yes, 9 days without power was very uncomfortable, boring, and HOT (especially at night) but at least we have some place to sleep at night.

More Hurricane Funnies

I bet as you read thru these, you find that several of them apply to you!



the number one text message after a hurricane is “do u hve pwr”

Vienn​a sausa​ges only appea​r on the food pyram​id durin​g hurri​cane seaso​n.​

Loveb​ugs do not disap​pear in 80mph​ wind gusts​.​

Disas​ters can cance​l one LSU footb​all game but there​ will be even bigge​r casua​lties​ if we cance​l two.

Despi​te prote​sts,​ kids can re-​live their​ paren​tsʼ youth​ when there​ were only 3 tv chann​els!​

Cats are even more irrit​ating​ witho​ut power​.​

Baton​ Rouge​ witho​ut traff​ic light​s resem​bles Mexic​o City , Rome , Los Angel​es and New York City all rolle​d into a singl​e snarl​.​

A 7 lb bag of ice will chill​ 6-12 oz beers​ to a drink​able tempe​ratur​e in 11 minut​es,​ and still​ keep a 14 lb. turke​y froze​n for 8 more hours​.​

There​ are/​were a lot of reall​y big trees​ aroun​d here!​

Peopl​e will get into a line that has alrea​dy forme​d witho​ut havin​g any idea what the line is for.

Calor​ies consu​med durin​g a hurri​cane or power​ outag​e do not count​.​

Telem​arket​ers funct​ion no matte​r what the weath​er is doing​.​ New Delhi​ does not check​ the weath​er repor​t in Baton​ Rouge​ .

Most popul​ar text messa​ge after​ Septe​mber 1: do u hve pwr

Twent​y-​seven​ of your neigh​bors are fed from a diffe​rent trans​forme​r than you, and they are quick​ to point​ that out!

Crick​ets and cicad​as can incre​ase their​ volum​e to overc​ome the sound​ of 14 gener​ators​.​

Dirty​ cloth​es in an unsup​ervis​ed hampe​r multi​ply at an expon​entia​l rate.​

Coffe​e,​ spagh​etti and froze​n pizza​s can be made on a grill​.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

School's starting back...

We were told today that employees report back to work tomorrow and that the kids will be there Thursday. It has been 2 weeks since we have had school and I am afraid we will be starting back at the beginning with the kids. I don't think we will get much accomplished with them on Thursday and Friday, I'm sure they will all want to be talking about their Ike experiences. We are so behind now in our curriculum, don't really know how we will ever get it all caught up. Not sure about making up all these days, I know HISD has given some ideas on what they can do, but I haven't heard anything officially from Spring yet. I really don't want to have to go 2 more weeks into June, so lets keep our fingers crossed that won't be the solution!

Monday, September 22, 2008

So sad...

Starbucks sign in The Woodlands :(

Top Ten Reasons That Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas

Top Ten Reasons That Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas:

Number Ten: Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number Nine:Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number Eight:Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number Seven:Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number Six:Family coming to stay with you.

Number Five:Family and friends from out-of-state calling you.

Number Four:Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number Three:Days off from work.

Number Two:Candles.

And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

You know you're from the Gulf Coast when....

You know you're from the Gulf Coast when....

You have FEMA's number on your speed dialer.

You have more than 300 'C' and 'D' batteries in your kitchen drawer.

Your pantry contains more than 20 cans of Spaghetti Os.

You are thinking of repainting your house to match the plywood covering your windows.

When describing your house to a prospective buyer, you say it has three bedrooms, two baths and one safe hallway.

Your SSN isn't a secret, it's written in Sharpie on your arms.

You are on a first-name basis with the cashier at Home Depot.

You are delighted to pay $3 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

The road leading to your house has been declared a No-Wake Zone.

You decide that your patio furniture looks better on the bottom of the pool.

You own more than three large coolers.

You can wish that other people get hit by a hurricane and not feel the least bit guilty about it.

You rationalize helping a friend board up by thinking "It'll only take a gallon of gas to get there and back"

You have 2-liter coke bottles and milk jugs filled with water in your freezer

Three months ago you couldn't hang a shower curtain; today you can assemble a portable generator by candlelight.

You catch a 13-pound redfish - in your driveway.

You can recite from memory whole portions of your homeowner's insurance policy.

You consider a "vacation" to stunning Tupelo, Mississippi.

At cocktail parties, women are attracted to the guy with the biggest chainsaw.

You have had tuna fish more than 5 days in a row.

There is a roll of tar paper in your garage.

You can rattle off the names of three or more meteorologists who work at the Weather Channel.

Someone comes to your door to tell you they found your roof.

Ice is a valid topic of conversation.

Your "drive-thru" meal consists of MRE's and bottled water.

Relocating to South Dakota does not seem like such a crazy idea.

You spend more time on your roof then in your living room.

You've been laughed at over the phone by a roofer, fence builder or a tree worker.

A battery powered TV is considered a home entertainment center.

You don't worry about relatives wanting to visit during the summer.

Your child's first words are "hunker down" and you didn't go to Ole Miss!

Having a tree in your living room does not necessarily mean it's Christmas.

Toilet Paper is elevated to coin of the realm at the shelters.

You know the difference between the"good side" of a storm and the "bad side."

Your kids start school in August and finish in July.

You go to work early and stay late just to enjoy the air conditioning

You are prepared to wait in line at Starbucks for 2 hours to get a cup of coffee.

Slideshow of Hurricane Ike Pictures

http://www.click2houston.com/slideshow/news/17453226/detail.html

Sunday, September 21, 2008

POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of hours ago we were sitting outside, a neighbor had been over visiting, she went back to her house and we heard her yelling, she then ran out and told us to go inside, the power was on!!!! We went in and didn't know what to do first, we were so happy to have power back!!!!!! Tomorrow I will spend the day getting the house back in order and washing clothes.....9 days without power sure leaves a big mess!

Worst of Hurricane Ike

Pictures

Reporter Blown Away By Hurricane Ike

Still no power, so what better to do than look up videos of Hurrican Ike on YouTube!

This is pretty funny

Still no power :(

We need power!!!!! More and more people are getting their power turned on, but we still don't have it. Last night was very hot. I slept on the floor next to the bedroom windows and Chad slept on the floor next to the living room windows. Around 3:00 this morning I had to find a sheet to cover up with, but I didn't sleep good at all. I just watched the weather and it is getting hotter and hotter this week. Last I checked, we are scheduled to have it on by Thursday, that's still a long time away. Power and tree crews have been all over the neighborhood this weekend, but still no lights for us. :(

Friday, September 19, 2008

More Ike Pictures

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=303500

Walker Country Hurricane Ike Pictures

Here are pictures from Walker County (Huntsville area)
http://www.bobbybates.org/ikephotos.html

Kemah

While running on generator, I am finally able to see some pictures of the damage from Ike. here's a slideshow of the Kemah Boardwalk
http://www.click2houston.com/slideshow/news/17474487/detail.html

Still no power

As of right now, we still don't have power. We borrowed a generator from my brother to use to power the tv, satellite, and charge the laptop. I'm glad to at least have these items some, but sure wish the power would come back on. I looked at the zip code list of when we would get power and ours is on 2 different lists....the back on by Monday list and also the after Monday list, so no clue when it will be. There is power on the main streets outside our neighborhood and some places are starting to open. Last night, was a little warmer than it had been and I am afraid it is going to soon be too hot to sleep at night :( Last I heard we are supposed to be at school on Monday, I will be checking for updates this weekend on that. I haven't washed clothes in over a week and am really starting to run out of things. Not too sure what I will be able to wear if I have to go to work before getting power. I did wash a few things by hand earlier this week. I dread having to attempt to put on make-up with just a lantern in the mornings to get ready to go to work, keep your fingers crossed that we get power soon!!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Ike

Well we survived Ike. No power yet. Lost everything in the freezer/fridge. Lots of limbs down, no damage to our house or anything. things look pretty bad in our neighborhood and lots of roofs have tarps on them and lots of trees down. I will be happy once we get power and can eat normal stuff again. We only have phone service every other day at home, cell service comes and goes. I'll update more once we get power back at our house.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

After Ike....

Last night was HOT, didn't sleep very well. we had good lunch, ribs, sausage, and veggies...no power and no phone. Cell phone service was hit and miss. found out school would be closed until at least Wed. (later in the week, it was changed until Frida) Chad and I decided to go home after lunch because we knew we would have to clean out our refrigerator and our extra freezer before it started stinking :( We got home and no power and cleaned out our old stinky food. We had leftover spaghetti that night that we brought from my parents, it sure was good! Luckily we have a gas stove so we were able to cook on that.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ike is here....

Friday night/Saturday morning, I spent most of the night laying awake in bed, watching the trees swaying in the wind and listening to how loud the wind was. We lost power around 3:30 Saturday morning, much later than we expected. Kit-Kat was a little bothered that night by the noise, she stayed on me or right next to me most of the night and seemed to like watching out the window with me. she did spend a lot of time eating, I think she must eat when she's nervous! Around daylight on Saturday, I heard a loud noise and watched a good sized limb fall to the ground outside our window. I decided to get up not long after that. We spent most of the morning just watching the wind and rain. There was a generator for the freezer/fridge, but it was too windy and rainy at the time for that to be on. With the grill we were able to eat and had pretty good food! We soon started venturing out onto the porch, depending which way the wind was blowing, we were just tired of being inside. When the wind switched the other direction, we just went to the other porch to still stay as dry as possible. We had lots of wind and rain until we went to bed. We were able to walk up the road in between the rain that evening and suprisingly no trees were across the road.

Friday, September 12, 2008

More Ike Preparations

We were at my parents, a little north of Huntsville, and had most of Friday to get their yard prepared for the hurricane. We spent a lot of time moving plants, and all kids on yard decorations, things off the porch, etc. into the garage. We wanted to make sure that anything that could be blown around would be put away safely. We had some wind during the day Friday, but not much. We watched on tv as Ike approached Galveston and the water was already rising. We knew that the power would go out, they lose power for just a small amount of wind, so we decided to take bets on what time it would go out. I lost :( By the time we went to bed Friday, there were some pretty powerful gusts of wind, but the hurricane wasn't even there yet. Oh, the sunset on Friday was beautiful, will upload pictures once I have power.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Pre-Ike

We found out early in the morning that school would be cancelled on Friday. Chad was home from work and spent the day getting our house ready for us to get out of town, moving plants and other things that could be blown around into the garage and filling vehicles with gas. As soon as I got home and packed a bag we left for my parents. It took us a little over 3 hours to get there, we went back roads the whole way and had no complaints compared to what they were saying about 45, we made great time!

September 11th

I thought this was fitting for today, video of Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue and American Soldier.






Sunday, September 7, 2008

TOBY, TOBY, TOBY, TOBY, TOBY, TOBY.....


Last night was Toby Keith's concert!!!!!! It was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have lots of pictures and also a few short video clips.

Montgomery Gentry opened for him and they were really good. There were also 3 acts that sang a couple of songs that are on Toby's record label. One of those groups is Trailer Choir and they are hilarious!!!! One song they sang was called Rockin' the Beer Gut, very funny!

The weather was great, it was a little hot when we got there, but as soon as the sun went down below the hill, the temperature was great. There was a nice, cool breeze all night. We had lawn seats, I enjoy that more than having to sit squished next to someone in the reserved seating. I am pretty tired today, not used to staying out so late, guess that means I am getting old :( Also, the people watching was great, as you can imagine. I was about to get a picture of 2 girls with a shirt that said on the back FUDC, right as I went to snap it they turned off the lights and started the trailer for Toby's new movie, Beer For My Horses. I'm sure the girls had made the shirt and if you are a Toby Keith fan, you understand what FUDC means!! I bought a Toby Keith shirt, can't resist it! As usual, Toby was very patriotic and let everyone know how he feels, he ended with Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue and then American Soldier, it was great. I LOVE YOU TOBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Toby's newest movie Beer For My Horses
Montgomery Gentry was one of the opening acts








Toby and Rodney Carrington (had to be there, it was a funny clip!)




Video from As Good As I Once Was





Once I figure out how to post video clips I will add a few!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Cute Video of Palin's Daughter

This is so cute.

T.G.I.F.

FRIDAY IS FINALLY HERE, need I say more?! This was a 4 day work week, and I am exhausted. The strep throat is better, just lots and lots and lots of drainage and coughing now. I am so ready for tomorrow, we're going to see Toby Keith!!!! I LOVE Toby Keith. I haven't checked the weather to see if it's supposed to rain, hopefully it won't, but it almost always rains/storms anytime I see him in concert.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Strep

One week with the kids and I am already sick :( Yesterday I didn't feel real good, last night I couldn't sleep and was very achy with fever. I went to RediClinic this morning and I have strep throat. I'm on medicine and hopefully will be feeling better soon, still running fever. I wish I knew some magic way to keep from getting all the germs from the kids, I wash my hands as much as I can and always use hand sanitizer. What a horrible way to start off what is already a rough year.