TO ALL OF YOU IN IKE'S PATH....

my heart is aching and I'm praying for you. As the pictures of devastation come on the national news networks, we all see how bad it is. I pray that no one is left stranded, that all those that put out a 911 call are rescued. I pray that FEMA and RED CROSS are swift in their efforts. I pray for all the first responders: the Coast Guard, the National Guard, the local police and firemen, the linemen that so swiftly appear from many other states, and the local citizens themselves. I so know how you are putting your life, your family, and your comforts on the line right now. God Bless you and thank you!

To all of you homeless, stranded, evacuated, and suffering everywhere due to IKE ..... soon you will all experience the love and outreach of our great country, from the Federal goverment to our faith-based groups, our school children, and our wonderful fellow citizens. We will not let you down. Stay strong, we will all help you, whenever and however we can!

Ok, time to move on...

yet I'm struggling to get back to normal. Why?...I've no clue. Maybe it's the waiting, watching, anxiety, cleanup, just putting away all the darn crap I packed to evacuate, taking care of others, and here we are again....living in fear thanks to Ike. I am not alone, there are thousands of us going through these same emotions.

So here are some happy thoughts and plans:

* Hubby and I going to Cape Cod late October (when hurricane season is over, Thank you God!)

* Trying to make plans for Thanksgiving Wednesday thru that Sunday. Want to go to OLE MISS/STATE game, son on board with that & thrilled. Ready to eat at City Grocery and Downtown Grill Restaurant. Still waiting to hear from daughter & SIL if they can make it. I'm so ready to not cook the turkey dinner this year.

* Trying to plan Christmas...again, I'd love to pick a central location where we can all meet. Daughter & SIL may not have that much time off, son will be taking intersession classes. So this will be a challenge!

I'm still trying to visit with everyone. We had power and cable problems all week. Numerous times the local power company had to shut down different grids to bring others back on. We SO understand but it can be very frustrating when you are in the middle of doing something that requires electricity.

So please excuse my lack of posts and inabilty to read all of my favorite blogs. Once we get through this week and IKE, I should be myself again!

LUCIKEST PERSON ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH!

Yes, that's me, the luckiest person in this entire world. We had no major damage, just a messy yard. My communities to the south and west are wiped out and devastated, though. Took us a while/but yet no time at all to get power and back online. (After Katrina, those was no power for at least 3 weeks...depending on where your home/grid power line was.) We took care of MIL, MIL's power out over 27 hours, which is nothing compared to what a lot of people will have to deal with.

Earlier had to empty out her 2 refrigerators/freezers, and same for friends that are out of town. Also taking care of their 16 year old dog named Lady. Someone else was supposed to babysit this poor 16 year old dog, but bailed out and they evacuated at least minute. So we are taking care of Lady! Ya'll know we are soft when it comes to pooches! It's been a hectic few days.

Can't stay online and connect with any one's blog. We are taking in....2 families....the men work with my husband....these families lost their homes. So we are sheltering them, feeding them, and loving them as best we can. It is the least we can do!

I'm praying for everyone that has been in the path of this storm....Susie, Diane (and her son), Cena, my children, (both are under tornado warnings, heavy winds, and rain), and those unknown to me. God keep you under his strong reach of protection!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers...they worked!!!

I'll visit with everyone when time permits.

xoxo, Lamp Tramp

We'll be safe!

We are very fortunate that we have a special place to evacuate to. It is 20 minutes from our home, which gives us the opportunity to make the decision to leave at the very last minute. It is a bomb proof building, we've evacuated there many, many times. We lived there for 3 weeks after Katrina, sleeping on the floor, but got to come back to our house to work every day. So rest assured, that's where we will be, along with MIL. She is a nervous wreck, this will be her first time to evacuate. Thought I'd show you a map where we are. You can see how close we are to New Orleans. We are north of I-10, but see the Bay of St Louis? We sit at the top of the Bay. That's why we are vulnerable, all that water. We will likely be in the Northeast quadrant of Gustav, which is the worst possible to be in. So watch for the final land strike, you'll have a clue of how we fared. We won't know for a day or two, when it's safe to return home.
Thanks for all your prayers!

On the eve of our 3rd anniversary....

I'm sharing these images, thoughts , and memories with you. We were blessed, we still had a structure despite 4 feet of water. Thanks for being my ROCK to lean on! We had to hike a 1/2 mile to get to home, so many trees down

Water came in fast and left fast, tipping over furniture.

Took a long time to clear trees away just to open garage. Inside garage was OLD BLUE and a new Corvette. They flooded, we were not worried about the vet, but OLD BLUE was a family member. She was a 1985 528e bmw, our son came home from hospital when he was born (1987) in OLD BLUE. Fast forward, daughter got her license to drive, OLD BLUE, being the safe, reliable tank that she was, was daughter's car to drive till she left for college. Then son, driving at 15 1/2, inherited OLD BLUE. He drove her from his sophomore in high school thru graduation, went off to college with a new car. We retired OLD BLUE to the garage, she served us all so well. Our plan was to have her completely restored. She was a classic and in 2005, she reached antique car status . She was the saddest thing that we lost, the most difficult thing to say goodbye to, and the only thing that we regret to this day. Sorry OLD BLUE, we miss you!

Just an exhausted hubby and I, dragging all wet items out, ripping up carpet.

Trash heaps.

We had 25 trees that fell over and eventually had to be cleared away.

Every morning when we came back to the house to work, our trash piles had been picked through. We had 7 wing chairs stolen/salvaged/borrowed. Hubby says I can't say stolen cuz they were out in the yard. We could have saved these chairs and eventually had them reupholstered. But when you are going through the motions of a disaster, you don't always make the best decisions.

My beloved Chinese pink & green rug, trying to dry it out. Eventually we tossed it trash heap, later pulled it back out when we saw hope of getting it cleaned. It is not the same. But it is still a cherished friend, scarred but still giving us pleasure.

Heroes from Missouri....they were the first outsiders we encountered. They arrived about 10 days after Katrina hit. They were cutting up fallen trees to make roads passable. Below was a huge 200+ year old tree that the root ball came right up out of ground. How lucky that it fell towards the street and not on our house.

I think I kissed them all, sweaty nasty mess that I was.

All our files with important papers, drying in the sun.

Yea, I've been pink & green for many years...even my house was pink & green to the embarrassment of my kids when they were growing up.

There are a few sensations that will always be ingrained in my mind. The stench of death that was everywhere, it permeated into our nostrils, heads, and psychic. The only noise we heard, day after day, as we worked so long and laboriously, was the overhead helicopters and gunshots.

I recall, in one of my shameless moments of desperation, waving and yelling at those helicopters to do something to help us. Instead they tortured us with the hint of civilization but no help, no relief. The gun shots came from locals, like us, shooting half-dead animals, to put them out of their misery, killing alligators, and taking up our own defense from the looters that quickly descended upon us. Not pleasant memories.

Hubby on the roof, trying to BLUE ROOF IT, to keep potential rain out. Why? We still had pictures, LAMPS, dishes, furniture, etc that we were trying to keep.

Wished I had taken more pictures. There were days that felt so heavy with exhaustion, despair, and disbelief that I couldn't bring myself to pick up the camera. Next we had to smash away at the wet sheet rock, haul it out, and bag it. What a horrible task that was, have you ever hauled wet sheet rock? Trust me, you don't want to. Still hubby and I, all by ourselves. All other neighbors and friends were doing the same. Except for the poor people that were slabbed and had nothing.

It has been quite an experience, these past 3 years. We still count our blessings and have such an immense respect for Mother Nature. We did not have flood insurance so our losses were a heavy financial blow. We have flood insurance now, as should everyone, no matter where you live. Our home is 20 miles from the Gulf waters.

And LIFE goes on....

So back to my Gustav preparing. It's going to hit someone and I'm praying for all of my neighbors on the entire Gulf Coast.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers...

Stay safe, ya'll know we will!

My Evacuation Undies....

This is my UNDIE EVACUATION BOX....

So I have been sanding & painting furiously since I posted last. Finished daughter's bath & bedroom except for the trim paint. Was so happy we escaped Fay....just a rain event and not flooding like my poor neighboring southern states had. So sorry for all of you. TELL ME YOUR STORIES, I'M SO SYMPATHETIC!

Planning to drive to daughter & son-in-law's on Friday for a lovely Labor day weekend. As I'm preparing to do trim paint I'm listening to news. News is not good....

Gustav.

The GFDL (GEOPHYSICAL FLUID DYNAMICS LABORATORY) has been the most accurate model. It predicted Fay most correctly.

And the GFDL has Gustav coming right at us/ New Orleans/Mouth of Mississippi River just like Katrina.

GUSTAV could be pretty BAD ASS!

So, I'm putting away all painting stuff, picking up the mess, calmly trying to remember what I need to do next. We have not been threatened like this since Katrina.

Mother-in-law was summering in Rhode Island with her hubby when Katrina hit. Hubby died shortly after, so MIL stays here year round now. We've got to think about her.

Ya'll remember when I first staring blogging....I was struggling to come out of PTSD due to Katrina. I was told to journal, write, or chronicle my thoughts. I chose BLOGGING. Well, it worked, along with planning daughter's wedding. When I read my oldest posts, I find a different person, not the me I am now.

So laugh with me or at me....

Below is one of my first posts...I was devastated cuz I had no underwear and had to dig through boxes of donated underwear...new or used...I had no clue. No means to wash clothes for many weeks. I had flooded clothes that we hung out to dry that were wearable. In my closet the clothes were hanging high enough that they did not succumb to the fate of my undies. My undies, being in low chests of drawers that flooded with sewer water, yea, did you know that if your home floods above the toilets...you have all your sewer waste flooding your home too! Lovely!!!!! So undies got tossed in trash heaps.

Self Confessed Lamp Tramp: Undies Matter

So, early November after Katrina, when I was trying to repair 3 homes simultaneously, husband finally realized I needed to get out of Katrinaville. I accompanied him to Canoga Park, CA. I shopped at the Nordstrom's Rack there.

I bought more underwear than I could possible wear in 4 life times. I put at least a 2 week's worth in a special box. These untouched undies have been sitting-in-waiting to be worn.

This box is the most important item to be packed, along with the important papers box, medical supplies, food supplies, etc

Yes, my Undie Evacuation Box is out, ready to pack in car!