Making it through a storm

Say hello to Ike.

I'd like to say that this is my first major storm - ever. At least, one that I will remember. Back in 1983, Houston faced Hurricane Alicia. She hit Galveston and Houston as a Category 3 storm; with winds up to 96 mph. The gusts were recorded at 127 mph. I was just a year old then, so I don't remember anything. I've heard it was pretty crazy.

Then there was Rita in 2005. Also a Category 3 but fairly small, in my opinion. We lost power for 3 days but the storm itself wasn't that bad. I considered it more of a mean tropical storm. There was some damage but nothing to the extremes.

Now we're facing yet another major hurricane. Ike is about to make landfall in 3 hours. Ike is rearing his nasty head and is barreling head on for Galveston and Houston. I guess he heard Houston was just awesome so he decided to check it out. He's just a Category 2 storm, but may make it to Category 3 (but not expected). BUT winds are already close to 110 mph or so. The radius of the whole storm expands more than 250 miles at last report. So this is a pretty huge storm....

I've gone back and forth on the storm all day yesterday and today. I kept a close watch on the storm on the Internet and on TV. I shopped for the basic necessities and I taped up my windows. I packed what was important to me and brought them with me to my parents to "hunker down." But really, I think it's all overrated. People are getting all paranoid over a little storm. But then I tell myself, I don't really know how bad it is out there. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

I've never been one to worry myself to death. I take precautions (usually) and then I just wait. Whatever will happen, will happen. No point in worrying yourself to death. If you're the type of person to worry, maybe it's best for you to just evacuate instead of obsessing over whether the storm will take you down with it. Whining or stressing out to other people is just going to stress them out so - it's not really recommended.

Since Ike is causing such a stir (pun intended), I figured I'd record what I was doing and the conditions of the weather throughout the day. Mostly for my own benefit - so I can remember this day, but I figured it'd be interesting for those of you who wasn't in Houston....

September 11, 2008
First off - It's the 7-year anniversary of 9/11. I thought it was interesting that I was preparing for the storm on this particular day...

I went to work as usual but was released at 11am. I decided to run to Sam's Club (no way I was going to Wal-Mart or another grocery store) and got enough water and canned food to feed a couple of people for a few days, probably a week.

I ran a bunch of errands that I really needed to do but kept putting off. I ended up back home and intended to work my part-time job but got too involved in watching the news. I watched two movies. It was nice to have my mind taken off the storm; however, the second movie kind of spooked me. The movie itself was good and not particularly scary - it's just the ending. It was a typical sci-fi "space mission" movie where a crew went up into space to save mankind. They had to re-energize the sun because it was dying. Anyway, the point is, as I watched these people just standing there, just waiting to die, knowing what was about to happen - I couldn't help but think about Ike. We're all sitting ducks here, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Of course, I could have evacuated but then (and now), I didn't think it would be serious.

September 12, 2008
9AM:
It was a beautiful morning. Bright and sunny. By just looking at the weather, you would have had absolutely no idea that a massive storm was coming our way. I took my dog outside to pee. My son came with me in nothing but a t-shirt and a diaper. My son and the dog was roaming the area behind my apartment, running around on the grass with lots of clouds and sunlight behind them. It was a perfect Kodak moment. Too bad I didn't have my camera. I planned to stay home. I wanted to stay home. But eventually, I ended up going to my parents with my kids and dog.

1pm:
I was out driving around. I took time to notice what was happening around me. As I was driving by Bear Creek park, I saw a lone jogger. Some roads were absolutely bare, while others were busy. Gas stations were full with cars waiting their turn for gas. Other stations had signs saying they were out of gas. The stores were deserted, even Wal-Mart. Shocking. Wal-Mart never closes! The sun disappeared somewhat. It became a little overcast - lots of clouds in the sky. There was an Asian woman trying to board up her business with 2x4s. Talk about waiting until the last minute.

1:30pm:
I was watching the news, looking for an update when I saw a pier partially collapse in Galveston. Others were already starting to fall apart. It wouldn't be long before these piers are completely gone. This is about 14 hours before the storm was due to hit.

There are still quite a bit of people in Galveston, a full day after the officials ordered mandatory evacuation. Stupid people. There was a woman on the news with her two kids saying she didn't want to leave her house, mostly because she had too many animals. Now she wants to leave but she's trapped. The roadways between the island and the mainland are flooded. I wonder where they are now....

In the background, there was somebody in a big bear suit skipping along the beach. He looked a lot like Winnie the Pooh. There were others snapping pictures of the pier and the waves.

On the walls of houses or boarded up windows, there are jokes. "Go away Ike, Tina isn't here" is my favorite.

3pm:
I decided to head back home. It was still a fairly calm day. I wasn't about to waste it just sitting around doing nothing at my parents house. There were plenty of other people on the road, some were even walking. I saw a few people still trying to board up their windows.

8pm:
After doing what I wanted at my apartment, I started to head back to my parents. Only because my parents were obsessing over how the storm was getting stronger. At that time, I thought it was still pretty mild. Mostly calm with a few gusts of wind. I saw people STILL trying to board up their windows (different people, different buildings). Wow.

10pm:
I sat outside in the backyard with my dog. Eating what may be my last hot meal for the next few days. It is still quite calm outside. A couple bursts of wind every now and then but still pretty quiet considering what I'm seeing on the news. Galveston is flooded, winds are bad and lots of rain. And Ike is still 4 hours away at this point.

11:30pm
I'm sitting here writing this blog. No problems with electricity so far. Keeping my phone fully charged until the power goes out. Then I'll have access to the Internet, email, text and im. I can't imagine ever living without a cellphone now. It would make the next few days bearable.

The storm isn't expected to fully pass us until after 2pm tomorrow afternoon. After the storm passes, I plan go home and check it out...

Signing off now - will post more updates as the night goes on. Best of luck to us all.

EEEwwww!!!!

My son has the right idea. Lately, he likes to scrunch up his face, wrinkle his nose and say "eeww!!!" Usually, it's with a Q-tip in his ear or a finger up his nose. And that happens... a lot. There are plenty of things to say "ew" about. Work, school, stress, life in general. But not today - at least for me.

I'm feeling positive today. I wish I could say I took a happy pill or something special happened to me but nope. I just happened to wake up in a good mood. I had a good weekend - I was kept busy, which was good because I didn't work last week and was starting to get restless.

I went back to work today. Yeah - I'm crazy but I was looking forward to it. I can't imagine staying home all week, all day anymore. I need to be kept busy and soon, I'll certainly be busy all the time. Knowing myself, I'll probably be complaining about how busy I am within a week of starting.

Today was a little bit slow at work but we got a lot done. That's an ideal workplace for me: getting many things accomplished and not feel so rushed about it. During one of my downtimes at work, I made a long list of things to do. I was determined to get half of it done today. When I got home, I got to work and crossed most of them off. I deserve a pat on the back.

Right now, it seems like I have a lot going on - but I have a problem. I finish things too quickly. I work fast at everything I do and I work to get it DONE. Then I'm left with nothing to do or really, nothing I WANT to do. The fact that I work so quickly doesn't help me understand how some of my friends stay at work ALL day long - all WEEK long doing something that I could be done with in a few days and not even have to do it ALL day.

I'm excited. In about 3 weeks, I'm going to be teaching night classes at the Lillian Beard Deaf Connection Center. I'm going to be teaching GED courses to help Deaf people prepare for their GED exam. Of course, it's volunteer for now - but once we get funding (I'm also on the committee), we'll be hiring for full-time positions in different areas of the center.

Sometimes I feel cynical. I don't think it'll take off. Who wants to take a bunch of life management courses when it's not required? Who wants to take general education courses when it's not required? Although I know there are tons of people out there who don't have a high school diploma or a GED, who will come? I figure my courses could also help them prepare for college if they ever want to go back to school - since it'll be like a college preparation thing too with all the courses we'll be teaching along with a course on how to study.

But, I have to stay positive. The first of the life management courses are starting tomorrow. I'm anxious to hear the results.

Here's another thing I'm excited about. The new Fall TV lineup. I'm excited that my shows are coming back and there's new episodes to see. I was getting sick of seeing the reruns and all the reality shows.

Sorry this blog isn't an insightful one. I'm SO not in the mood for that. Maybe another day sometime soon....

My current challenge as a mother

Kids are smart. Smarter than I'd like them to be. I'm not talking about being academically smart - all parents want their kids to be geniuses. I'm talking about the street smarts that kids pick up from observing adults. Eventually (usually sooner than later), they figure everything out.

As a mother, I'm always constantly amazed at what comes out of my daughter's mouth. Her word choice and the way she expresses herself makes her almost seem like an adult at times. A part of me applauds her language development and another part of me is freaking out over the fact that she's growing up and soon - she won't be a little girl anymore. Notice I didn't say sweet - she stopped being sweet a long time ago when it came to following rules. If anything, she was born to break them.

Thankfully, I haven't seen her cuss yet - a huge blessing in comparison to other
parents who report that their children has started cussing at the age as early as 1. I guess I should credit my daughter's deafness to her non-cussing. There's a bunch of nasty things to be heard on television and thankfully, my daughter doesn't hear them. Now, if only I can shield my son from it....

A couple times a week (more times than I care to have), I get into a routine bedtime argument with my 6 year old daughter. It's always about the same thing. How her going to bed earlier than mommy and her brother isn't fair. Or even when her brother goes to bed at the same time as her, it isn't fair that Mommy gets to stay up.

"Fair?" I asked her. "How is it not fair?" She reported back that Logan has to wake up at the same time as her and Mommy has to wake up even earlier AND Mommy works. So it isn't fair that Mommy and Logan gets to stay up a little bit longer. I was certainly not in the mood to continue this argument so I settled it by saying "Just go to bed, because I said so!"

Oh, the horror. I turned into my mom. I hated hearing "because I said so" when I was growing up and swore up and down that I wouldn't use it with my kids. Now, I realize it's just a shortcut for parents to end arguments when they're at a loss for words.

As soon as I said those words, I knew it was a big mistake. My daughter screamed (yes, she screamed) at me and said "YOU'RE not the boss of me!" Funny - just the other day, when my son wasn't behaving, my daughter sat him down (yes, she did) and explained "You have to listen to Mommy, she's the boss."

Bedtime arguments aside, I marvel at the cuteness and cleverness of my daughter (when she's not challenging my authority). When she lost her third tooth, she told a friend that she was going to give the Tooth Fairy's money to Mommy to make her rich.

Sure enough, the next day, when she woke up with $2 under her pillow, she gave me $1 and said the other $1 was for Daddy and that the money was going to help us become rich. Wasn't that cute? Oh, how I wish $1 would solve all my problems.

My daughter has also learned the art of negotiating. She'll negotiate anything from eating vegetables, going to bed at a later time and basically, getting out of anything she doesn't want to do. Sometimes, I take the bait and proceed to negotiate with her. If she comes up with a fair trade (or a cute one), I'll let her have it. I imagine she'll grow up to be a businesswoman - only time will tell.

Speaking of language development - my son has got to be the cutest 2 year old on the planet. He's learning new words left and right and it's a thrill seeing him try to figure out how to sign it. It's pretty cool to see a little child light up and get really excited at seeing something familiar and knowing what it's called. When he lights up, I light up as well. I had never thought I'd get excited at the concept of signing "elephant". His newest word: ice cream. You can thank Grandma for that. Now, he asks for ice cream more often than I care to count.

Hoorah for Palin

I was a skeptic. First-term Alaskan governor... what could Palin know about running the country? Probably not much. To top it all off, she has a family to worry about, not to mention an infant son with Down's Syndrome. My first thought was, she shouldn't be worrying about the nation, she should be focusing on her family.

After watching her speech (bits and pieces of it anyway), I was impressed. My opinion of her changed. Regardless of what's going on with her family, I feel confident putting the future of America in her hands. Now if only McCain would just somehow disappear after becoming president....

At times like these, I give praise for free speech. None of the execution-style type of shooting for me for saying bad things about the superior being that's running (or might run) the country. He has to be what, 100 years old?

Enough about McCain. A week ago, the majority of us had never even heard of Palin. I didn't know who she was, what she stood for and what she planned to fight for until now. It was more of an introductory speech - introducing herself and her family to the nation. And it was a nice one.

She has a likable personality and she's got a bit of comedienne in her. I like her philosophy - she sold the previous governor's private jet because she felt it was too luxurious. What's so cool is she listed it on Ebay. She's an Ebayer! She fired the personal chef and she drives herself to work. That's my kind of woman. People who can't cook and drive for themselves are lame.

I do have some disagreements over what she stands for, of course. Like staying in the war, for instance. Enough is enough. But what am I gonna do about it? The way I figure it, any Republican would be better than a Democratic.

If McCain-Palin isn't elected president, I do have one encouraging remark for Palin. She's a much better public speaker than Bush and McCain combined.

To read her speech, visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_text

Bits and Pieces

Plenty has been going on lately, both in my personal life and out there in the world, especially in politics. Normally, I don't care much for politics but this year, I took a special interest in the running mates and actively voted in the party nominations. Now that McCain is up for President, I lost interest....

No, this isn't going to be a long political blog. That's boring. My mind is racing with a lot of little comments about a wide variety of subjects. While presidency is important (like, really?), it's at the bottom of my list right now.

Today, I'm off from work. Work has been slow this week (Thank God for that, after a horrible week last week), so my boss gave us the option to work in another department or stay home. Naturally, I decided to stay home because I have things I need to do.

I realized this morning that I was growing up. My first thought was "I can sleep in!" I have to laugh...nowadays, sleeping in means sleeping until 9am after a week of waking up at 5am. I miss those days where I wake up at noon, but at the same time, I feel it's time to grow up and wake up earlier. I get a lot more things done during the day now. Being productive is a good feeling. Also, I tried sleeping close to 12 hours the other day and I woke up with nothing but a headache and feeling horrible. Not doing that again!

Here's a little bit of news. I received my paralegal certification in the mail yesterday. Yipee! I am now "Maryellen Sarles, CLA". That has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Since receiving my certification, this only means one thing - another round of job hunting. I sent out 7 resumes yesterday so let's see if I hear anything. I don't want to hear an excuse from the employers, "You have no experience." Yeah, maybe I have no experience but I have certification so I know my shit. Excuse my language.

I'm going apartment hunting today among many other errands I need to do. So good luck to me finding an apartment I'll be satisfied with (safety, neighborhood and price). I absolutely love where I'm at. I don't want to move for numerous reasons, number one being that I can keep my 3 pets. Now, if I can just find a better paying job, I'd be able to stay (and paralegal jobs pay goooood moolah). If not, I'd have to move. I have two weeks to figure everything out. Like that's going to happen.

Change of subject: I have to commend McCain. He's trying hard to stay in the spotlight after Obama's been getting all the attention. Poor guy, Obama's getting all the rave because he might be the first black president. Then the RNC experienced a set-back for a couple of days because all the attention was on Hurricane Gustav (wanna bet he's black?). Recently, McCain grabbed all that attention back. He's named a woman for his running mate. And her 17-year old daughter is pregnant (AND people are joking John Edwards is the father). I don't blame her daughter. What else is there to do in Alaska but to stay warm by having sex? Jokes aside, this is turning out to be an interesting election. No matter where the votes go, this election will have a first-something. First black president or first female vice president. AND, I'm willing to bet that McCain is going to croak in the next 4 years, thus making Palin the first female president (Ha! Take that Clinton!). I'd LOVE to see that happen. Kill three birds with one stone: 1. Republicans take over the US again, 2. McCain isn't the president, and 3. Clinton gets to sit back and watch another woman bask in her glory.

Well, I better get going. I have to be an adult now and go do my duties. Now, if I can just get this fat cat off my lap....

Things we have no control over...

We're finally seeing a small decrease in the price of gas, but I'm afraid it's only temporary and before long, the price is going to be driven up again. By this time next year, I suppose we might be facing prices close to $5 a gallon (and I'm talking about Texas, here).

Personally, I am feeling the impact of the rising prices... not with just gas but with everything else. Amazingly, just because the price of crude oil/gas has gone up, everything else has gone up as well. Here's what I determined... It all begins with gas resources.

Gas companies raise prices which results in an increase in shipping cost. Therefore, all stores and namely, grocery stores have to increase THEIR prices to meet the shipping cost and still make a profit. So, as consumers, we're experiencing the brunt of it. We're at the bottom of the food chain. You'd think with all the rising prices, we'd all get a little bit of extra income to balance it all out. Inflation... you've heard of it, right?

Gas companies raise their prices because they want a profit - simple as that. I don't want to hear the gas companies blaming other countries for raising their prices. Exxon Mobil alone posted a PROFIT of $11.7 BILLION in the fourth quarter ALONE of 2007. I repeat... $11.7 BILLION profit! That's the largest profit ever recorded by ANY company in history. Sadly, after doing some research, I discovered that Exxon Mobil is based in my very own lovely state, Texas - up in the Dallas area (Irving, to be exact). None of that foreign company or foreign oil/gas resources excuse - they don't apply! If Exxon is doing so well, it would be safe to assume the other companies are flourishing as well. Pathetic.

People are all in a frenzy worrying about gas prices. They're trading in their trucks and SUVS for sensible vehicles that have good mileage. As a result, dealerships are facing horrible losses, especially those that don't really manufacture vehicles with good gas mileage, namely Ford. US-based airlines are on the brink of bankruptcy too, if they haven't filed yet. Only Southwestern Airline is booming - but that's because they took a risk years ago of buying bulk fuel ahead and locking in their prices. They're paying what fuel cost years ago, not what it cost now. Smart.

I've gotten tons of emails urging people to buy gas from specific companies or on specific days. With enough people coming together and acting all union-like, gas prices are sure to drop!!! *Gasp!* Let's go! Yeah right, like that's going to work. People, it isn't going to work and the gas companies know it. We need gas. In Economics 101, it's simple. We have a need and they supply it. So therefore, they're in control and we have no choice but to buy at their prices. Where else are we going to get fuel for our cars? We might be able to find other ways to energize our homes but as long as we got a country full of cars running on gas, we don't have a choice.

I suppose we're faced with the age-old question... should fuel be regulated by the US government, or even the state governments? There are lots of pros and cons to this. When it comes to this, I remain undecided. It might be good to have the government regulate the cost, keeping the gas companies (especially Exxon) on a leash so they don't go out of control on raising their prices. However, if gas prices dipped way down below, we might not benefit from it because the government might want to make a profit off of THAT.

Profit, schmofit. The world's a crazy place. Must we add the headache of rising fuel cost and of course, the rising cost of EVERYTHING else in the US? Give us a break.

Pure-Breds vs. Mutts

I had a discussion with my dad the other day. We have different opinions on what type of pets are better... pure-breds or mutts. It all started when my family's pet died last week. She was getting pretty old (about 10 years old); she had arthritis in all 4 of her legs and had a huge tumor around her liver and spleen. My mom decided to put her down.

Two days after Happy died, I stopped by my parents' place after work. I hung out with my sister until my parents got home from the store. When my dad got home, he went into the kitchen to make some lunch. I decided to sit in the kitchen to keep him company and chat with him. While we were talking, he expressed sadness over losing Happy but was content with the idea of not having to take care of a pet. After 25+ years of having pets non-stop in the home, my dad was ready for a break.

We were sitting in the kitchen discussing animals (mostly Happy) when the news came on. Every Friday at 6pm and every Saturday at noon, the local news showcases a pet from the local shelter in need of a home. I took full advantage of that and pointed out how cute the little puppy was. The biggest selling point was that it would only cost $20 to adopt her.

My dad scoffed at me and said "she's a mutt." I could have kept my mouth shut but decided that I wanted to voice my opinion. If you know both me and my dad, you know we have the same personalities and we're both stubborn. I sat down next to my dad and casually asked him "Are you telling me that Happy was better than Frosty?" Happy was a pure-bred Scottish Terrier and my dog, Frosty, is a 2 year old Lab/Chow mix. My dad said no, but pure-bred dogs are better. I asked him to tell me why. He danced around the answer but eventually came to the conclusion that pure-bred dogs are better simply because they're pure (and expensive).

Honestly, I have to complain about that. Whoever thinks that pure-bred dogs are better compared to mutts has to be incredibly moronic. Sure, they'll net you a whole lot of money if you decide to breed them off and if you're a dog-show loving type of person, you might want to enter your precious little Sparky in the show in hopes of winning the award. But other than earning you money and winning an award, how are they better than mutts?

I think it's terrible that people are out there breeding dogs (and cats? I haven't actually heard about breeding farms for cats but it's possible) while there are thousands of dogs and cats being put down everyday because they couldn't find a home.

My own dog, Frosty, was found off the streets. He was wandering alone in an area with lots of shops and warehouses when someone I know found him. He was 12 weeks old at the time. The guy brought Frosty to a picnic we were having that day and asked around if anybody wanted a puppy. I hadn't planned on taking Frosty home, but I was keeping an eye out and hoping someone would take him. Ultimately, I knew that if no one would take Frosty, he'd end up at a shelter and some months later, if no one adopted him, he'd be put to sleep.

If you've ever looked into Frosty's eyes, you'd know how I felt that day. I couldn't leave Frosty's fate in the hands of another person so I took him home. And I do not regret it. He's the sweetest dog in the world and he's definitely equal to (if not better) all the pure-breds out there.

Bob Barker wouldn't have to remind everybody to spay and neuter our pets every day after the "Price is Right" if people would just go out and adopt more animals.

So do me and the thousands of cats and dogs a favor.... next time you want a pet, PLEASE check out a local shelter and adopt one instead of spending $600 on an animal that might end up giving you a headache.

I'll like you better for it.

Bits & Pieces

Well, I guess it's about time I wrote another blog. It's been almost a month. It seems that as the months go by, the less and less I write. I hope this isn't a permanent fixture in my blog future. I hope to keep writing for as long as possible, and certainly more than just a couple times a month.

I guess I could attribute the lack of blogs to my being busy. The funny thing is, I wasn't really up to much but it feels like I was busy. I spent the last couple weeks just hanging out, watching movies and sleeping in. Of course, I did a couple of errands here and there and went out of town once or twice. My kids were home recently for a couple of weeks so they kept me busy.

My son turned 2 two weeks ago. We celebrated by taking him to Chuck E Cheese for a couple of hours. Then there was a small party a couple days later.

I've had a tough couple of days recently. It seemed like my world was about to crash down around me; mostly due to my stupid mistakes and others due to circumstances I couldn't control. Starting around mid-June, my streak of bad luck started. I lost my purse. Then 4 weeks later, after buying a new purse, new wallet and getting new cards, I lose my purse again. This time, with my Sidekick in it. So, I had to get another one. Let's just say that from that point on, I just kept suffering from mishaps. The biggest stress of all was school. My entire life, I had never received an F on any of my assignments until now. I received my very first F on a research paper. From there, I kept getting F's after F's on each section of the research paper. I was furious, upset, angry and stressed. After a couple of weeks, lots of emails to the dumb professor (who I sincerely believe is biased), and lots of editing, I'm happy to say my final draft received a B. I ended up passing the course. Hooray!

Last week, I got a job interview... finally! It's all thanks to P. She found the job, got the job and her boss needed more people. Thank God P thought of me. What a nice friend. Because of her, I was able to get a full-time job. And you know what? I hate to admit it but at 26, this is my first full-time job. All other jobs I've had were all part-time.

Having a full-time job is satisfying. I actually feel a little better about myself now. Maybe now I'm worth something. Let me tell you, I hate my job, but I'm proud of the fact that I HAVE a job. I've only been working a couple of days so I'm still trying to get into a routine. Getting up at 6am after a full summer of waking up at Noon or past, it really sucks.

Maybe my getting a job (finally) means something. Hopefully, more good things will come in the near future. I'm hoping it's my state paralegal certification. This means a better job, more money and doing something I like. I took the test approximately 4 weeks ago so I should be getting my results any day now...fingers crossed!

I guess I oughta focus on improving my blog a little bit. Lately, it's just been like a sporadic diary, giving details of my life. I have thoughts and opinions so I guess I should make good use of them and put them into blogs. So keep a look out, more's coming soon.... I just don't know when.