I know no one will be looking at this blog anymore, mainly because I haven't written in such a long time. I quit doing blogs, looking and writing because I started working full time and now don't have the time to do it.
We are all fine after Hurricane Ike. Three Hurricanes, two major ones in three years is a lot and we are fortunate and blessed we have had little damage. Can't say the same for many in our area. There are so many who have lost everything, home, belongings and livlihood. The area is recovering and praying no more storms for years to come.
I wanted to "catch" every one up with news of our new grand daughter, Gracelyn Mae. She was born April 29th in Liberty, Missouri. She is beautiful and the only problem is that she lives to far from her Piggy and Pops. I am saving my money and buying plane tickets every time I see they are cheap. I have a trip planned in August and hopefully will purchase more tickets for later in the year. My hope is to see her once a month or at least every other month. It is very important to me that she know her Piggy and Pops.....more than just by name!
One question in a comment back last year, was how is Casey. My friend's daughter, Casey is doing great! She did great after her surgery. She was back doing her teaching so she could get her degree. She married in December and is living in the Ft. Worth area and will be teaching in the fall. Praise God for her continued good health.
If anyone reads this blog, please pray for our aging parents. It seems every time we talk to them, there are more and more doctor's appointments, surgeries being scheduled and just general bad health. They need God's healing hands to touch them.
Thank you for coming for a visit. I don't know if I will continue to post. It will depend on the timing.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, September 22, 2008
HOME AGAIN
We arrived back home from evacuation on Sunday evening. We still have no power but our boss brought over a generator and hooked us up. We slept comfortably. Only half of the house has power but it is enough to run a window a/c unit, the refrig, freezer, and some lights. Also, the hot water heater, which was great to get a hot shower this morning.
I am ready for things to be "normal" again. I have loads and loads of laundry to do and dishes piled high that we rinsed but didn't wash as we were preparing for evacuation. So my house is a wreck but I am glad to be at work where we have power and a/c all day long.
I do have a lot of catch up to do at work because we lost a whole week of working. So, I better get back to it and get some work done.
Thanks for prayers and concerns for Southeast Texas. Bridge City residents really need a lot of help and prayers and many even in Beaumont lost roofs. So far, our church family had very little damage for which we are thankful, but we are trying to reach out to the community and help as we can.
I am praying hurricane season is over for us, even though we still have two more months of season left!!!
I am ready for things to be "normal" again. I have loads and loads of laundry to do and dishes piled high that we rinsed but didn't wash as we were preparing for evacuation. So my house is a wreck but I am glad to be at work where we have power and a/c all day long.
I do have a lot of catch up to do at work because we lost a whole week of working. So, I better get back to it and get some work done.
Thanks for prayers and concerns for Southeast Texas. Bridge City residents really need a lot of help and prayers and many even in Beaumont lost roofs. So far, our church family had very little damage for which we are thankful, but we are trying to reach out to the community and help as we can.
I am praying hurricane season is over for us, even though we still have two more months of season left!!!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
HURRICANE IKE
No, I didn't think I would be blogging much anymore. But......Hurricane Ike came to visit and because of him, I have something to blog about.
Thanks to all those who have commented and left replies. Sorry, I was away so long and didn't moderate the comments. I have been a little stressed lately.
So...on to my news!
First, my friend's daughter is doing well, really well. Thanks for the prayers. She is back at student teaching and will marry in December. All is well at this time with the family. We have had a few scares with her mother's cancer the last few weeks, but things seem to be doing better. Please continue to pray for them as they are very, very tired of medical issues.
We went to Abilene to see these friends over the Labor day weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a great day Friday, visiting and eating and just being together. Then Saturday morning, we woke and found Hurricane Gustav heading our way. We have some handicap friends from church that we always help to evacuate and knew we had to get back to them. We also knew that possibly our son in law who is in the National Guard Reserves might be called up so we had to be there for our daughter and grand daughters. We headed back Saturday afternoon.
On the way back, we heard that the couple had to be out of their apartment by 6pm and we could not get there by that time. So another couple from church was evacuating anyway and took them to meet family half way. We could now concentrate on our own family. Trying to secure the house and getting ready to evacuate, we were tired. We made the decision to listen to each update and leave Sunday evening if it was indeed headed our way. Fortunately, or unfortunately for those in Louisiana, Gustav made way for Louisiana. So.....we were spared again and stayed home. What a relief.
We traveled to Corsicana on Wednesday evening to get the handicap couple and bring them home. We traveled all day Thursday from Lewisville, north of Dallas We were exhausted.
We made it through the weekend and then began to watch Ike! It appeared he would be visiting South Texas so we continued to watch and try to catch up on work, clothes washing and repacking!
I am exhausted because in all this, I have now become employed on a more full time basis. Our company let three people go at the end of August. One of them was the Benefits Manager. This was done to allow the individual dealerships to manage the benefits instead of from the central office. I am the transition person to help this take place. So.....I am working full time, doing my regular job of assisting Mr. Ruddy and learning the benefits position, without the help of the previous employee. It is quite stressful, but doable. Then add the stress of Gustav, Ike, taking care of family....you get the picture.
On Thursday, when the City of Beaumont called for Mandatory Evaucation, we made the decision to stay and watch a little longer. We reported to the handicap couple that our son in law was called up and we had to take care of Jamie and the girls. We would not be able to take them to Dallas, but we would see that they could get to the high school, where they would be evacuated. They found someone else to take them to Dallas. It turned out that Paul was to go to South Texas for reserves but as the storm began moving north, they were in training one day and the released to take care of their own families. None of us were in any condition or state of mind to sit on the road for hours evacuating. We made the decision we would hang in a little longer.
Friday came and we made the decision, along with our children and a friend of hers with her young child to hunker down and stay through the storm. We knew our house had withstood Rita, we knew we were high enough there would be no storm surge for us and we had enough provisions and a generator (thanks to work) to get us through. I keep asking myself, "What were we thinking?" I do know we were exhausted and travel weary. We just couldn't stand the thought of getting in the car one more time.
We hunkered down and all day Friday when nothing much happened, no rain, very little wind, we were in good shape. We put the three little girls to bed about 9 pm and settled in to wait it out. We lost power about 11:30 pm and the guys started the generator. We settled in, all of us in the den with the little girls in the front bedroom (north) so that they were away from the southeast corner of the house which would take the most pounding. I could hear several of the others snoring occasionally and the winds and rain began!
I can't tell you the force of those winds, the constant pounding of the wind and the rain! I can tell you I was scared. I did okay for a while, but began to get more and more troubled as I could hear limbs blowing over the roof and as the wind changed directions ferociously and I feared tornados. I think that was what bothered me most. I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas and remember the terror I felt as a little girl each time we would run to the cellar for a tornado. There was one point about 4:30 when I could feel pressure in my ears, the wind whipped up under the back porch and I just knew the roof was going to peel back. Then all of a sudden the back windows in the eating area just seemed to bend inward. I don't think they actually bent inward, but it felt like it.
Later, when talking to my neighbor and she felt the same thing and then another friend came over Saturday night and reported that the Market Basket grocery store had bricks off the building and she couldn't understand what happened because there were no trees in the area, I knew it was probably a tornado hitting it, probably about 4:30 am, If I had to guess!!! My worst fear!
I was constantly praying, all night. My sentence was a continual flow of, "Lord, please place your protective mercies around my house, keep my babies safe. Tuck us under your wing of protection. Raise those tornados above the house. Please, Lord provide your mercies to us." This was a constant flow of words out of my mind for at least 6 hours to 10 hours. Finally, about 6:30 am, I had all I could stand. I was a nervous wreck and could feel my blood pressure high! I mentioned to the group, I could not stand it any longer, please make the wind stop, when my daugther, Jamie suggested I go to the front room with the girls. I sat in the rocker near them, touching their hair and hands, watching them sleep. I am so thankful they slept through it. I have to admit the wind noise was a lot less in there. I continued to rock and pray and asking God to make the next band less wind and quieter. I finally had to chastise myself and realize I had to trust that he could get us through. Afterall, he had been with us so far! At that time, I forced myself to calm down and relax, which I did somewhat.
I waited until 7:00 am to call my daughter in Missouri where we both worked not to cry. I then called my friend in Abilene and my folks. I promised each of these people I would never put them through this again. I would always leave, especially if a storm is coming in on the west side.
Yes, we made it through. I cannot imagine the terror for some of those who were on the beach, in Gilchrist or Galveston. I don't know how they mentally made it. I barely did.
Thank you for all the prayers for the safety and comfort of those living in Southeast Texas.
The men made sure we had power from the generator and we all slept in the den on air mattresses, even the little girls, where we had a window a/c unit and fans. We slept hard and it was much needed. We packed up Sunday afternoon, cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator and headed north to Corsicana and my folks. We even brought along another friend and her mother.
Tollie and I have been in Tyler this week, working our jobs and will be heading back to Corsicana this weekend and then back to Beaumont on Monday.
Again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND PRAYERS. I will not say "God is Good" as I believe God is always good. But I will say "God is Merciful" and I am thankful for his mercies shown to me and my family.
You will notice the picture above was taken on the beach. Our beloved beach is a mess, no homes and hardly any beach.
I will try to post pictures when we finally return home.
Thanks to all those who have commented and left replies. Sorry, I was away so long and didn't moderate the comments. I have been a little stressed lately.
So...on to my news!
First, my friend's daughter is doing well, really well. Thanks for the prayers. She is back at student teaching and will marry in December. All is well at this time with the family. We have had a few scares with her mother's cancer the last few weeks, but things seem to be doing better. Please continue to pray for them as they are very, very tired of medical issues.
We went to Abilene to see these friends over the Labor day weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a great day Friday, visiting and eating and just being together. Then Saturday morning, we woke and found Hurricane Gustav heading our way. We have some handicap friends from church that we always help to evacuate and knew we had to get back to them. We also knew that possibly our son in law who is in the National Guard Reserves might be called up so we had to be there for our daughter and grand daughters. We headed back Saturday afternoon.
On the way back, we heard that the couple had to be out of their apartment by 6pm and we could not get there by that time. So another couple from church was evacuating anyway and took them to meet family half way. We could now concentrate on our own family. Trying to secure the house and getting ready to evacuate, we were tired. We made the decision to listen to each update and leave Sunday evening if it was indeed headed our way. Fortunately, or unfortunately for those in Louisiana, Gustav made way for Louisiana. So.....we were spared again and stayed home. What a relief.
We traveled to Corsicana on Wednesday evening to get the handicap couple and bring them home. We traveled all day Thursday from Lewisville, north of Dallas We were exhausted.
We made it through the weekend and then began to watch Ike! It appeared he would be visiting South Texas so we continued to watch and try to catch up on work, clothes washing and repacking!
I am exhausted because in all this, I have now become employed on a more full time basis. Our company let three people go at the end of August. One of them was the Benefits Manager. This was done to allow the individual dealerships to manage the benefits instead of from the central office. I am the transition person to help this take place. So.....I am working full time, doing my regular job of assisting Mr. Ruddy and learning the benefits position, without the help of the previous employee. It is quite stressful, but doable. Then add the stress of Gustav, Ike, taking care of family....you get the picture.
On Thursday, when the City of Beaumont called for Mandatory Evaucation, we made the decision to stay and watch a little longer. We reported to the handicap couple that our son in law was called up and we had to take care of Jamie and the girls. We would not be able to take them to Dallas, but we would see that they could get to the high school, where they would be evacuated. They found someone else to take them to Dallas. It turned out that Paul was to go to South Texas for reserves but as the storm began moving north, they were in training one day and the released to take care of their own families. None of us were in any condition or state of mind to sit on the road for hours evacuating. We made the decision we would hang in a little longer.
Friday came and we made the decision, along with our children and a friend of hers with her young child to hunker down and stay through the storm. We knew our house had withstood Rita, we knew we were high enough there would be no storm surge for us and we had enough provisions and a generator (thanks to work) to get us through. I keep asking myself, "What were we thinking?" I do know we were exhausted and travel weary. We just couldn't stand the thought of getting in the car one more time.
We hunkered down and all day Friday when nothing much happened, no rain, very little wind, we were in good shape. We put the three little girls to bed about 9 pm and settled in to wait it out. We lost power about 11:30 pm and the guys started the generator. We settled in, all of us in the den with the little girls in the front bedroom (north) so that they were away from the southeast corner of the house which would take the most pounding. I could hear several of the others snoring occasionally and the winds and rain began!
I can't tell you the force of those winds, the constant pounding of the wind and the rain! I can tell you I was scared. I did okay for a while, but began to get more and more troubled as I could hear limbs blowing over the roof and as the wind changed directions ferociously and I feared tornados. I think that was what bothered me most. I grew up in the Panhandle of Texas and remember the terror I felt as a little girl each time we would run to the cellar for a tornado. There was one point about 4:30 when I could feel pressure in my ears, the wind whipped up under the back porch and I just knew the roof was going to peel back. Then all of a sudden the back windows in the eating area just seemed to bend inward. I don't think they actually bent inward, but it felt like it.
Later, when talking to my neighbor and she felt the same thing and then another friend came over Saturday night and reported that the Market Basket grocery store had bricks off the building and she couldn't understand what happened because there were no trees in the area, I knew it was probably a tornado hitting it, probably about 4:30 am, If I had to guess!!! My worst fear!
I was constantly praying, all night. My sentence was a continual flow of, "Lord, please place your protective mercies around my house, keep my babies safe. Tuck us under your wing of protection. Raise those tornados above the house. Please, Lord provide your mercies to us." This was a constant flow of words out of my mind for at least 6 hours to 10 hours. Finally, about 6:30 am, I had all I could stand. I was a nervous wreck and could feel my blood pressure high! I mentioned to the group, I could not stand it any longer, please make the wind stop, when my daugther, Jamie suggested I go to the front room with the girls. I sat in the rocker near them, touching their hair and hands, watching them sleep. I am so thankful they slept through it. I have to admit the wind noise was a lot less in there. I continued to rock and pray and asking God to make the next band less wind and quieter. I finally had to chastise myself and realize I had to trust that he could get us through. Afterall, he had been with us so far! At that time, I forced myself to calm down and relax, which I did somewhat.
I waited until 7:00 am to call my daughter in Missouri where we both worked not to cry. I then called my friend in Abilene and my folks. I promised each of these people I would never put them through this again. I would always leave, especially if a storm is coming in on the west side.
Yes, we made it through. I cannot imagine the terror for some of those who were on the beach, in Gilchrist or Galveston. I don't know how they mentally made it. I barely did.
Thank you for all the prayers for the safety and comfort of those living in Southeast Texas.
The men made sure we had power from the generator and we all slept in the den on air mattresses, even the little girls, where we had a window a/c unit and fans. We slept hard and it was much needed. We packed up Sunday afternoon, cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator and headed north to Corsicana and my folks. We even brought along another friend and her mother.
Tollie and I have been in Tyler this week, working our jobs and will be heading back to Corsicana this weekend and then back to Beaumont on Monday.
Again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND PRAYERS. I will not say "God is Good" as I believe God is always good. But I will say "God is Merciful" and I am thankful for his mercies shown to me and my family.
You will notice the picture above was taken on the beach. Our beloved beach is a mess, no homes and hardly any beach.
I will try to post pictures when we finally return home.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
PRAYERS NEEDED
I have a friend whose daughter is having surgery on Monday. Please pray for Casey. She will be in the hospital for about 5 to 7 days and we need to know that she has no cancer and will not need any more surgery for her Crohn's Disease!
Thank you to the few that check out this blog and lurk around. I know I have been away a lot this summer and have not posted much. Actually I have not had much to post, but this request is much needed. Hopefully, enough of you will lurk here and find the time to pray for my friend!
I think when you are away and no one seems to notice, it is time to shut her down. This will probably be my last post of all time! Thanks and it has been fun!
Thank you to the few that check out this blog and lurk around. I know I have been away a lot this summer and have not posted much. Actually I have not had much to post, but this request is much needed. Hopefully, enough of you will lurk here and find the time to pray for my friend!
I think when you are away and no one seems to notice, it is time to shut her down. This will probably be my last post of all time! Thanks and it has been fun!
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