southbound

Hurricane Irene came and went, and, as she left, she took the majority of Richmond's power with her.  Hateful woman....

The week preceding the start of school was a harried one.  On Sunday the 28th, I readied myself -- packed my tote bag, measured food into individual containers for quick lunch packing, checked my to-do and to-take-with-me lists 67 times....only to receive a phone call from my mother at 6:30 that I should turn on the news -- all school systems are closed Monday.  In my new county, more than 75% of schools were still without power and would likely still be dark by the end of the week.  My old county made the executive decision very quickly to close schools for the entire teacher work week and begin school a week late on the 12th of September - no time would have to be made up.  Maybe I left at the wrong time??? 

Chesterfield teachers (my new county, or "home" as I like to call it!!) got 2 more days of summer vacation.  Most of my team members were still without power until the first day of school, but all schools had power restored by Wednesday of teacher work week.  Now, when I say "power", unfortunately, I don't mean air conditioning.  We had two and a half glorious days of 90+ degree weather and no circulation.  It was rather miserable, considering the majority of teacher work week is manual labor setting up your classroom.

On Friday, the administration kicked us out at 5:00, and Eric, Anna and I headed South.  We had a long-overdue trip planned.
It's been THREE years since we went down to Calabash -- embarrassing, in my opinion.  We owed Gam and Pop a visit in a BAD way....sadly, we were only able to stay a couple of days, but we got in some much needed snuggle time, beach fun, and lounging poolside. 

Night one:  Beach!

It took Anna a while to let Eric put her down, but, once she let him, she was OFF like a rocket and we couldn't get her OFF the beach. 

We had a great time getting sand in our toes and our toes in the sand....

....but, sadly, all good things must come to an end.  We hauled a screaming toddler to the car where it took three of us to change her diaper and clothes in the back of the car.  We had a yummy little pizza dinner at a local dive and then headed home for Bourbon Slush and puzzles. 

Joe and I had a great thing going with Eric and Betty as we crushed up an orange popsicle and had them both convinced for about 12 seconds that we'd given Anna some Bourbon slush ("Hey, she's had a busy afternoon.  She'll need some help going to sleep."). 

The next day, we headed out to one of the sister properties in the area to get a glimpse of Gam and Pop's new house that's being built.  It's GORGEOUS!!!!

Yeah, okay, this isn't going to be their house.  It's new construction in a relatively affluent subdivision for some mucky-muck CEO/big-wig so he can entertain big-name clients.  It boasts a 9-car garage and, supposedly, a roof-top outlook that overlooks the ocean.  While the neighborhood itself is quite nice, this monstrosity ends up being a rather overbearing eyesore.  It is TOTALLY out of place.

We ended our time in Calabash (see, I told you, ridiculously short visit) at the pool. 



After packing and cleaning up, it was time to head home.  We're so sorry we didn't get to stay longer, but it motivates us to schedule our next visit MUCH sooner than next summer!

(if you're happy and you know it, shout hooray!)

Thanks for everything!  We love you guys!

earthquakes and hurricanes and....well, isn't that enough??

No, there will be no witty Wizard of Oz "Oh, my!" pun entered here, because we're DONE with natural disasters for a while.  I realize things come in threes, but we can just put that little trifecta off for the time-being, okay?

This week has been one of the most insane I've ever lived through.  I consider myself to be well-traveled in the world of natural catastrophe.  I spent 5 years in Florida, 27 miles from the Gulf Coast.  I've been through a few hurricanes.  I bailed waist-deep water out of a basement using empty Zephyrhills gallon jugs.  It was the ultimate exercise in futility, but it was a ton of fun (insert completely serious tone....for once, I'm not being sarcastic). 

I lived in Oklahoma for 2 years, and, during that time, I endured weekly tornado drills, witnessed a couple, outran one (yes, stupid.  I KNOW.), and rode one out in the basement of a Super Target (who needs to hightail it on over to the east coast because it's the most wonderful store since EVER). 

Earthquakes were my one big phenomenon un-conquered.  So, imagine my frustration, dismay, disappointment, when I arrived home on Tuesday from school to a ringing cell phone and a frantic mother asking if I was all right.  Of course I'm all right -- why shouldn't I be??  It's sunny.  There's no wind outside.  Last I checked, all inmates were fully present and accounted for at the nearest penitentiary.  An earthquake?  HERE?  In RICHMOND????  We do realize this is the East Coast, right?  I'd missed it.  I was in my car when it hit, riding up the hill to our house and wondering why all of our neighbors were standing outside.  I just figured it was a common "off" day for these folks, and I suppose I now know why they were all looking at me like I had 3 heads as I rode by honking my horn, smiling and waving like a Wal-Mart greeter hyped up on too many lattes. 

This wasn't the first quake to hit the area.  Back in 2003 while I was living in OKC, I arrived home from school one day and did what I always did -- called my Mom to check in and re-hash my day.  While I was on the phone with her, I heard a few choice words out of her, my Dad, and Diane as they experienced a little bit of "shake, rattle and roll".  It would seem that Midlothian has a pretty sizable fault line running through it.  Of course, we're certainly not talking about any sort of San Andreas, but it's pretty impressive none-the-less.

So, I missed it.  I spent the next two days hoping for a tangible after-shock (yes, I am a sick woman), but it never came.  Totally. Bummed. 

Let's fast forward a mere couple of days to "Irene Watch".  This little minx didn't have her coffee, her man left her for a younger, blonder woman, she's probably PMSing and her kids are driving her up a wall.  She was just a wee bit ticked, and she's headed for the East Coast.  So, we battened down the hatches, bought a case of water and some candles and settled in for what we expected to be a less-than-spectacular storm.  To be honest, I've seen worse.....MUCH worse.  However, we were some of the lucky ones.  There were pictures and videos from around the area of folks who weren't so fortunate.  Here are a few of the images shared by friends on Facebook.  Bear in mind, these were taken mere minutes from our neighborhood.

We were without power for a few hours.  We also lost some siding and half a tree in the backyard, and there was PLENTY of leaf-picking to be done around the property, but all-in-all, we're no worse for the wear.

We took a little loop around the neighborhood and found plenty of folks who had a smidge more work ahead of them.

 the leaning trees of the grove....

 according to neighbors, yes, there was actually a car under that for a time.

 screens out

 this tree was blocking the main road heading out the back way.  to my knowledge, it's still there.

 tree blocking the path to the swings.  someone was very upset.....

As we ventured around the block, we made a mental note NEVER to plant a purple plum tree in our yard.  See evidence why:  (and no, this is NOT the same tree over and over)

But, despite a little debris, we had an excellent helper who was eager to grab a broom and pitch in.

Hope everyone else is OK!