Hurricane Belly!

While we are enduring Hurricane Isaac and we still have power, I figured I'd take a few minutes to update everyone (as the wind howls outside the window!).

I finally got home from the beach last Wednesday and was excited to start getting the house ready for the new floors.  We still needed to paint the new wall where the fireplace once was and start packing up our nic nacs so furniture could be moved around.  Tom and I got started on this while we were waiting for Dad and Tina to arrive Saturday.  I also took a couple of hours to hang with Jessica and Angela at Fountainbleu State Park Beach while we were waiting on my P's.  It was great to finally go out there - just another new thing to do with the kids!

Dad and Tina finally got here and I treated Tina to a massage from Jan's Massage Haven for her birthday.  I figured she needed it after that grueling 6 hour drive on a motorcycle.  After that she cleaned up and we went to try out Middendorf's.  Surprisingly this was a first for both Tom and myself!  And it was soooo good!  But Tina's real reason for coming down was to get chargrilled oysters at Dragos.  So we went on Sunday for lunch.  The place was packed!  Apparently they are never opened on Sundays so this day was an exception.  They were having a fund raiser and everyone was there, but it only took about 20 minutes to get a table and I got to have a Virgin Mary with spicey pickled green beans - yum!  Once again, I wish I had taken a picture of us, but I'm very bad with the camera!

Once we got home from dinner we got busy trying to get 2 things accomplished.  1) Prepping for our new floors and 2) This stupid hurricane!  We had no idea what to expect - would the flooring people need to reschedule?  Would we have to wait weeks while our house was torn up?  Best to be prepared so we acted like it was business as usual.  Dad and Tina helped us move appliances and get ready - they were also helping Tom try to convince me to evacuate to Birmingham the next day.  I was strongly against this idea.  I mean, I don't want to be stupid, but didn't I just get back from a beach trip I regretted?  I just want to be home - must be a nesting thing.  They did everything to try and reason with me and I just tried to ignore them.  On Monday morning, Dad and Tina got the heck out of dodge early, while I pouted around the house packing bags and supplies for Dillon and I to make our escape.  The flooring installer did in fact reschedule - fine, gave us more time to prepare -but I was thoroughly upset that I was being pressured to leave.  I told Tom that if it was going to be bad enough that I needed to leave, then he should come with us.  Again, maybe a nesting thing and some innate need to keep my family intact?  At any rate, he finally talked to a few of the public safety officials he works with and felt comfortable this was not going to turn into Katrina so...we stayed...yea!!!! 

So here we are, a little bored with this storm.  It's Wednesday, August 29th at noon and this is the 7 year anniversary of Katrina.  The winds and rain have really picked up in the last hour.  So far, only one large-ish branch has fallen in the back yard (glad we removed 13 pine trees back in March!!) and we still have power and cable/internet.  So here is the newest comparison photo - I put the newest photo under the last one I took just for comparison sake.

PHEW really???  Only halfway there??  Oh lordy what's in store?  I swear there is only 1 in there.

Here is a fun one.  Side by side of 5 weeks to now:

OK so that's all of the excitement I have to share for now.  More waiting this Hurricane out I guess!!  Wish me luck.