Adventures of SoHo and SoLo 9/7 - parts 4 & 5

I typed this Monday, Sept. 1, part in the morning, the rest that night after I got some power! I didn't get a chance to post b/c... well you know why! Keep reading for details - it's crazy!

Part 4 - When I left off last night, I was so tired from my super long day! I rested really well, but I woke up at 4:30am, then every hour after that until the power went out at 8:06. I was basically awake but just lying there; of course I popped up for sure then LOL! The power was only out for about 10 minutes but trust me, it wouldn't be the last time! The weather wasn't bad then, just light showers & mild wind gusts, so I couldn't figure why they cut the power then, but that how it goes around here! At any rate, I got up, ate pancakes & bacon then watched TV until the power went out for the second time. It was out about 30 minutes this time. OH - last nigh I forgot to mention that not only are we under a hurricane warning, which basically means that we should expect winds over 70 mph, but we're also under a tornado watch... GREAT!!!!!!! I also forgot to mention that we had a 10pm curfew last night & the national guard was enforcing it!!!!!!!!

While the power was out & I was bored, I opened the door to see what was going on outside. I could hear the wind blowing pretty hard now & the rain was coming down more, too. When I opened the door, I noticed my neigbor's chimney had blown down... the bad part about that is, the hurricane is about 140 miles away from us right now & it's been downgraded to a category 2 storm. The weather isn't as bad as it will probably be later today or tonight & his chimney is gone. Our street sign also blew away, but my other neighbor chased it down & put it in his garage until this is over!

While looking outside, I noticed that the stupid sandbags I put in down at my front door, weren't preventing all the water from seeping through! So of course, I gotta' go out there in ALL THAT WIND & RAIN, to rearrange bags!!!!!!!! I put on my poncho, securingly it tightly, and parade through my kitchen door, under the carport to the front of the house. I started moving bags around & noticed two bags on the bottom layer had a small opening that allowed water to come through. I fixed the bags & ran back inside. I watched the trees blow & remembered my camera, so I went to put batteries in it so I could post a video or some pictures of the "goings-on" but then I got sidetracked & forgot LOL!

[INTERRUPTION: I can hear tree limbs/branches hitting the top of the house. I'm sitting in my room & the trees are blowing something fierce. Remember, we are only getting weather from the outer bands of the storm!! It's still about 140 miles away! Back to my regularly scheduled program!]

About 20 minutes later, I decided to check the front door again to make sure the sandbags were "working" this time. Of course, they were not!!!!!!!! There's still frickin' water coming under my damn glass door - GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! SO NOW, I GOTTA GO BACK OUTSIDE & REARRANGE ALL THE BAGS - do you detect the frustration in my "voice" LOL!!! So I gear up, go back outside, throw all the bags to the sidewalk & re-situate ALL of them. The rain was coming down much harder & the wind was worst this time around! I got soaked, not to mention the wind almost blew me away (I ain't very big)!!! I noticed my neighbor & his brother-in-law were on his roof trying to board up the area where the chimney blew from. Since I was so wet, I decided I might as well stay out there, so I grabbed the camera again. I narrating my recording so everyone could get a first hand look at what we're living right now & guess what??????????? MY MEMORY CARD WAS FULL & THE RECORDING STOPPED!!!!!!!!!! I'll be a monkey's uncle!!!!!!! I quit!!!! I came in, deleted some stuff from the camera then I got sidetracked & forgot LOL! I plopped down on the sofa & watched the rain blow across the street. I was wet, but I was cool so I didn't change my clothes. But then the power came back!!! Thank GOD, but then I got cold, so I changed my clothes. I probably should have changed them before I did now my throat is itchy & LORD knows I do NOT need to get sick!!!

So here I am, at 12:45pm and the power is out... AGAIN!!!!!!! It's been out for about 45 minutes & counting. My network is down so I'm typing in Word right now so I can save this to post later. I have about 48% battery life left on my laptop, so I'm gonna' turn this thing off so I can at least play games later if there's no power. So, while I'm bored to pieces, I'll go stand under the carport, try not to get too wet this time & video/take pics of this mess [trust me when I say it's a mess, now... It's getting worse as the minutes roll by] & hopefully I can post this & the next part with audio/visual effects LOL!!! Until next time, be breezy!!!!!!!!

Part 5 - Ok Hurricane Gustav, which, as of 10pm, was downgraded to a tropical storm is about 65 miles away from Baton Rouge. I finally got some power via generator! They tell us it could be days or even weeks before some people get power. This storm has been the worst in Baton Rouge history, surpassing what we saw with Katrina & even Andrew! We had wind gusts of up to 85 miles per hour & rainfall of up to 15"!!! Schools in our area are closed until further notice because they are all being used as shelters. We've had a curfew since about 6pm this evening. Police were passing by with loudspeakers threatening to take anyone out walking or driving to jail! I forgot to mention this morning that the levees in New Orleans & surrounding areas could possibly be breached. When I watched the news this morning, the water was surging OVER the newly reconstructed levees. Please keep those people in your prayers because it was looking pretty bad there again (although I did here that with the water going over would take some pressure off the levee & could possibly prevent a breach). Reportedly, there have been 5 deaths in our area - God help us all.

The power has been out since about noon or close to it. It hasn't been too hot because I got wet like 5 times & the wind was crazy! Once the rain stopped, I was able to go out & hang out with the neighbors for about 30 minutes. The wind was still mad crazy, but it was managable! I took pictures of the damage at that time. I haven't been able to log on or type my thoughts all day because I still don't have power. So much has happened since this morning, so I can't give a minute by minute account, but let me tell you that it's been hectic! I cleared the memory card in my camera & was trying to video the storm but it was just too bad to get out there. I was trying to hold the door to keep from getting wet & the wind blew so hard at one point that my finger was slammed in the door! A little while later I thought it was getting a little better & the next thing I know, I'm having to run back to the house because the wind started blowing so hard that I couldn't stand up!

I have pictures of lots of damage. There are three trees down in my yard: one tree split in half (more like 2/3 of the tree is gone)! It broke my neighbor's fence & fell on her carport. The other part of the tree fell on my house! My satellite is laying on the ground & so is parts of my roof (not a major part - THANK GOD - NO leaks or anything)! The pecan tree in my back yard lost half the branches; there are pics of that too. The tree next to my carport lost lots of branches as well. I mentioned in Part 4 that my other neighbor was on the roof fixing a hole left by his chimney... well, he actually had to fix two holes because he lost both chimneys on the house. The lady that lives next door to him lost her entire tin roof!!!!!! Her whole family was in there but they were able to run to their neighbors for shelter! Pieces of tin flew all over the neigborhood! Most of it's in my yard LOL! A piece was wrapped around a tree & there is a piece in the street a little piece down. A neighbor down the street has a tree on her house and a power line leaning out in the street. Across the street from the house without a roof, there is a down pole (not sure if it's phone or power - probably power because we have phone service) & a tree! Around the corner is a house that basically just caved in... two actually. The building across the street lost an awning that tumbled as far two streets over! Part of it flew threw this man's window; thankfully he wasn't in that room when it happened! This is not something anyone could have planned for. We knew there was gonna' be damage but this is just... I'm speechless.

I'm gonna' watch the news for a little while and then I'm going to bed. I know that there are people praying for us because by the time the storm hit us, it was down to a cat 2 hurricane; that was about 9:30 this morning & now it has passed! It's quiet around here - no wind or rain. Solemn, actually to see complete darkness. The only thing you can hear for miles is the sound of generators working. Our neighborhood sustained lots of damage, but it can be replaced. Everyone is alive and well, so I thank you for your prayers & God for keeping us safe! My family is truly blessed tonight! We're not as comfortable as on a normal night, but we are blessed nonetheless!!!! If anything interesting happens, I'll try to followup but for now, good night and thanks for allowing me to share my adventure with you!

I'm back from the hurricane LOL

Hola!!!! I'm back! Hurricane Gustav was a monster! A tree fell on my house but no one was hurt! Our neighborhood is a complete wreck but everyone is trying to return to normal! It was great the way our neighbors all pitched in to help each other, even if it was just a kind word or a helping hand with the clean up! I feel very blessed after 5 days with no power, sleeping on the mattress in my living room sharing a tiny fan with 4 other people!!! Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty! There were lines to get gas, to buy grocery & to get MRE's! I have way more than 3 parts to this adventure & I'll post those soon, but I needed a break. It was a very hard week & I'm just happy to have power. I can't watch the TV shows I normally watch b/c my satellite is on the ground, smashed, under the tree that's on my house LOL! No, it's not funny but what else can I do, right! Good news is, I finally saw Prison Break epis 1 & 2 from Monday night & they were really good! I will get to see epi 3 this coming Monday so I'm good! Anyway, thanks to everyone who prayed for us(I know you did - I felt them)! Keep praying because there are many people still without power tonight & with another hurricane coming next week, we maybe in for a double dose of tragedy! Peace out & plenty of love from Louisiana!!!!!

SoLo =) - I'll post pics of what I saw during the storm tomorrow!

ETA: God truly loves me! Wanna' know why? Well, I was flicking through the channels before I go to bed & guess what I see on my local Fox channel? You guessed it!!!!!!!!!!!! Prison Break!!!!!!!!!!!! They are currently showing episode 1, but episode 2 will follow at 11pm!!! I'm so excited BUT because it's on the local channel, I have to have an antenna on my TV to watch it - I don't have one in my bedroom so I'll be sitting up for another hour to watch this on a big screen LOL! I watched it on FOX Demand last night but the PC monitor does not compare to a 42" plasma!!!!!!!!!! Removing that tat sure looks more painful in HD LOL!!! Until tomorrow, ciao!!

Adventures of SoHo & SoLo 8/31 - part 3

And we're back - joining me after supper. SoHo thinks it's hilarious when I say supper - I'm a country girl... what can I say LOL? After supper, it began raining again. Not hard & not lasting very long. Winds were a little stronger but still not too bad. There's no water under my carport; seems the sandbags are working really well so far. I've gotten ready for bed & watched "I Love Money" (the show I mentioned earlier) and I'm sitting here typing. I wish it wasn't so dark outside because I'd take pics for ya'll, but since there's not very much to show right now, it's ok. If I can take pics tomorrow, I will so ya'll will have a firsthand look at what hurricane weather looks like. We're supposed have hurricane sustained winds by 7pm tomorrow night, which, unfortunately means... NO PRISON BREAK FOR ME =( I swear this thing could not have timed it's landfall better!!! It's like it planned this just so I couldn't watch Prison Break. The worst part about this is I can't even record it because with no power & the satellite NOT working, there's no way I can even have it saved to watch whenever I want... Oh, whoa is me... but I digress!

I'm gonna' finish posting just in case I awake to no power, then I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll be able to post pics & surf the net tomorrow. More importantly, I hope I get to watch Prison Break when it airs tomorrow... Don't forget to keep us all down here in your prayers... Part 4 will hopefully be posted in the morning or early afternoon! Until domani, have a good evening!! Hope to post manana!

Adventures of SoHo & SoLo 8/31 - part 2

Well, here we are... part 2 of this hurricane situation for me! We left off with me returning home from my 6 hour excursion for grocery & ice! When I got back home, I unloaded all that stuff I had bought & decided I'd better get some dinner on. I get started then remembered I got all those sandbags outside that I hadn't put where they need to be. So while dinner is going, I go outside to put the sandbags at my front door, back door & along the fence. I start putting those damn bags down & let me tell - THEY AIN'T LIGHT!!!!!!!!!! I had a little help but it wasn't enough. I actually broke a sweat & I do NOT sweat!!!!!!!!! I was so mad & you wanna' know why???? It's because I need more sandbags!!!!!!!!!! I GO BACK to the "barn" to get more bags!

The guys at the barn load my truck (well, not really my truck - I borrowed a friend's truck) and I head back home. I get some help unloading the truck & putting most of the sandbags down at my doors & fence. I'm so frustrated with the damn sand in my shoes & on my skin, PLUS I'm starting to hear thunder & see dark clouds, that I RUSH inside to shower!!!!! I take a nice, long shower & get out to rain. It didn't last very long & wasn't hard at all, but it was enough for their to be a pool of water in my yard. I go outside to see if the sandbags are doing their job - NOT!!! I had them positioned wrong so after my wonderful shower, I gotta' go back out in this yucky weather to move the stupid bags around. While moving them, sand is seeping out of the bags - wet sand!!! They are so heavy and because I'm tired of lifting them up, I'm pretty much tossing them which is a horrible idea because dirty water is splashing on my Victoria Secret smelling legs & feet!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Interruption - I'm watching "I Love Money" on VH1 & they show a Prison Break promo spot................ why the hell must it be rubbed in my face... we all know I probably won't get a chance to see it when it airs because I'll either have no power or my DishNetwork will be OUT due to bad weather!!! THIS SUCKS TO HELL, I SWEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to my previously scheduled program LOL!!] I storm (no pun intended) back in the house, wash my legs & feet, dish up a nice plate of food & plop in my comfy office chair!

THAT'S IT FOR THIS SEGMENT!!! BE BACK WITH MORE SHORTLY!!!

The Adventures of SoHo & SoLo 8/31 - part 1

It's 9:23pm & it's rained twice already. The wind isn't too bad, but it's blowing off and on. It's been a long day! I'm tired & I'm ready for this hurricane to come & GO!!!!!! SoHo & I have not had an adventure in about a month & along comes this dang storm & I need "parts" to tell you about this adventure LOL! Well, here goes "Part One"!

I woke up about 7:20am, got ready for church & left around 8:45. We got outta' church around 10ish. I went "hurricane preparation shopping" this past Wednesday, but I had to go to the pharmacy at Wal-Mart, but it doesn't open until noon so I "lollygagged" around until that time. Before I get to the next part, I should preface with this: I watched the weather report before leaving this morning & they said Wal-Mart would be closing at 6pm. Back to what I was saying - I went to Wal-Mart just after noon thinking I was gonna' go to the pharmacy & pick up a few other last minute items that I didn't get earlier in the week... ask me how smoothly that went? How smoothly, you say? It didn't go AT ALL!!!!!!!!!

I pulled up in the parking lot & there was about as many cars as usual. People were coming out of the store; a few employees were gathered outside. There were even tons of police cars, so I was thinking someone must have tried to steal something or there might have been a disturbance. NOPE!!!! The dang store was closing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm like "what the hell"!!!!!!!! I couldn't go to the pharmacy & I couldn't get any snacks. I left there to go to the little grocery store down the street from Wal-Mart. OMG!!!!!! The parking lot was packed from one end of the shopping center to the other!!!!!!!!!! I had to circle around a few times to find somewhere to park then I had to almost bribe people to get a darn shopping cart!! I waited nearly 5 minutes for this lady to leisurely stop chit-chatting with someone she knew, walk to her car then get her cart that some little girl tried to swipe from me! So anyway, I go on with my shopping only to get to the check-out line & be parked behind two people with enough grocery to last a month!!! At any rate, I waited my turn, checked out & went on my quest for ice!

I knew it would be hectic to find ice this weekend (not to mention the ice maker in my freezer would not make enough ice to last several days), so I rearranged everything in my freezer & I bought two big bags of ice this past Friday. I wanted to be sure I had enough, so I decided I'd better take my ice chest so I could fill it up. There's a little ice maker machine thingie outside the grocery store I'd just come from so I checked that one first - EMPTY!!!! There's another one a couple of miles in the other direction so I went there - EMPTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I leave there & decide to check the Sonic; they not only sell bagged ice, but it's soft & GOOD LOL!!! So, I go back several miles back toward my house (in the Wal-Mart parking lot where I'd initially gone for grocery). I pull up at the speaker-thingie to ask them for ice - NONE!!!!!!!! I sit in my car wondering where the hell I'd go next. Someone told me to check the parish maintenance facility & I'm like WHY WOULD THE "barn" (that's what we call it 'round these parts LOL) give out ice??? They are giving sandbags to people (I got those Friday)! Would they be giving ice, too? So at any rate, I head on over there. It's not far from my house but about 3 miles from where I was but I need the ice so... I get there & they don't have ice... DUDE!!! Can you imagine how pissed I am now? I'm wasting gas traveling all over town in this stupid traffic for damn ice!!! GRRRRR!!! Anyway, I remembered McDonald's sells bagged ice so I start out in the other direction... AGAIN!!! Before making it there, I ran into another someone I knew who said he'd gotten ice from the local ice house; it's before McDonald's so I figured I'd detour that way then go to Mickey D's if necessary. Let's hope this someone knows what he's talking about!

I pull up at the ice house & there's a crap load of people there already. I walk up & ask if I could get ice & they said no because no one was there to give out the ice. So, I'm thinking to myself: "If they aren't here, why the hell are ya'll standing here having a damn tea party (or perhaps it was more like an ambush LOL) if you can't get ice!!! It's hot as hell & ya'll are just standing around like it's a meeting!" Anyway, they say "someone" told them they'd be back by 2pm, but it's now 2:37 (yes, I'd been out ALL THAT TIME - from about 10am to 2:30pm)! So I left & decided to check one other place before I would settle for what I had at home. BTW - while sitting there deciding whether or not I should wait it out, I called Mickey D's & the girl tells me they have NO ICE!!!!!!!!!

I go about a mile further to a local truck stop/casino/restaurant/gas station/convenience store (yep, seriously) and there is a man standing out there with a lock, key & a girl giving out ice!!! I screamed so loud; I was so happy!!!!!!!!!! I walk up & here the man telling another man that he would need to go in & pay for they ice, come out, show his receipt then he could get ice. I immediately went inside, paid for 3 bags & got my ice. As I load the ice chest, I think about how our power goes out at the first sign of wind 50 miles away & with this hurricane bringing winds of up to 140 mph, I decided to go back & pay for 2 more bags of ice! I load up my ice chest, hop in my ride & head back home - 4 miles in the other direction!!! Phew - finally!

I get home & realize I forgot a couple of things - YAY me, right!!! I know... but when you're rushing & exhausting before you even begin, you tend to forget things! Instead of going to the other store that was packed earlier, I decide to go to a little grocery store closer to my house. MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!! Someone damn near hit me as I turned into the parking lot! You see, the parking lot is as big as my yard LOL and it was jam packed!!!!!!!!!!! I managed to get a spot fairly quickly but I'm sure I pissed the lady off who wanted it as badly as I did LOL! I get in the store & immediately notice there is no bread - thank GOD I already bought some the other day. But even worse than NO bread was the fact that people were bumper to bumper with shopping carts... it took me an hour to get a few things because it was mass confusion trying to maneuver the cart without hitting someone. It was like the only language spoken inside this colony of hurricane-threat tortured aliens was "Excuse me!" I waited in this line for about 3o minutes, because again, the people in front of me looked like they were planning for a wedding party of 300 with the amount of grocery they had. The next thing I know the cashier says to the bag-boy, "They threatened to shut us down earlier if we didn't clear all these people out." I looked around to see who she was talking about & there's police at the door - inside & outside - and inside the store walking around. By the time I checked out, the policeman inside had cleared the aisle between the front wall & the registers & was directing "traffic"! As I approached the automatic door to leave, it was disabled & the policeman outside had to shove it open to let me out! What was even more surprising was that outside the door, were even MORE police officers AND a line of customers waiting to get in the store!!!!!!!!! It was crazy! Evidently, the store was overcrowded & the fire marshall had been there to report the problem so when the crowd didn't die down, they called the called the cops to clear everyone out! I'm so happy I went when I did because I would NOT have stayed out there in all that damn heat, then go inside the store/circus & fight with the masses just to grab a few things!

FINALLY - I GET HOME ABOUT 4pm!!!!!!!!!!! STAY TUNED FOR PART 2... (my apologies for any typos... I don't feel like checking & I don't feel like reading what I typed to check myself LOL!