I have internets again

But, I am too tired to post.

My niece and nephew are here, and I don't have any more details than that "they are beautiful and healthy."

Ike Sucks--but I have the best husband in the world

I thought it was entertaining when I heard a commercial for the Tina Turner concert as I drove to work the last day before Ike arrived. That was the last humorous thing about this fucking storm, and I think I have a way of finding humor where most would not.

We are safe and sound and so is our house. The fence is in pieces (some far too )close to the window of the room where we all four were sleeping). I am forever grateful for that. If the rest of this sounds bitchy, it is just because I am tired.

I returned to work Monday. Power has yet to return to my house--as it has yet to return to more than a million other homes. We do not have a generator, and we have been trying to watch our spending, so we chose not to buy one. It is weird to go to work like "normal" and return to a house without power. This means it stinks, the windows are open so the sounds of generators fill the house, we are eating out of a cooler. I get ready for work daily in the pitch black dark. We have coined a term "Hurricane Malaise." It means sitting staring at each other in a fucking daze with no energy. This has not done wonders for my depression and anxiety which are being med-tweaked at this time. I also realize that many, many others have it far worse than I do. However, last night I just had enough. I started weeping. Not in response to any single thing, but just that I couldn't fucking do it any more.

This is where the wonderful husband comes in. We made reservations at a hotel in San Antonio that has all the things our house does not. And it lacks the stench part. He made the reservation. He packed our suitcase and picked me up at work. I stretched out in the backseat as he drove us away from the place that isn't right.
I asked him to bring my pillow (I have one that is mandatory for my neck, and another that I bring when car traveling.) He brought all four of my pillows as well as my teddy bear (which he hates). Needless to say, I feel better already.

It may take me years to catch up on all my blog reading. Please be patient.

Guardian angels and updates

There is artwork by children all over the place where I work. One group of pictures has been getting my attention lately. Kids were asked to represent their guardian angels, and the results are fascinating.

There are some that look like Glenda the good witch. Others look like more traditional church style angels. However, the ones that catch my eye are the ones that are a bit more unusual. There is a giraffe with wings. There is a hoochie looking girl with a mini skirt, midriff showing and wearing boots. There is a tough looking football player (except for the wings). There is a dog that also has wings. I always wonder if they represent particular people or animals, or just the wonders of a child's imagination.

Thanks so incredibly much for all the comments about Sidney. I wish I could have answered each one personally, but I still get weepy when I talk/write about her. The comments all mean so much to me.

We are hunkering down for Ike and the trouble he will bring. It is eerily quiet here--the proverbial calm before... We have canned goods, candles, lanterns and batteries galore. Oh yes--and alcohol. We are also fortunate to live in an area not prone to flooding and a new construction home built up to post Katrina standards. We may be uncomfortable, but we plan to be very safe. As Poppa said, "At least you have a tall house."

Will check in again as soon as updates are available.

Happy Birthday to Sweetheart!

Happy birthday to my Sweetheart who is older than I am (hee-hee). He no longer blogs, so you will have to wish him a good day from here!

Sidney, baby girl

She was the one her original owners named "Dora" for the Explorer. When we got her at 6 weeks of age, she already had lost the tip of her tail and had a couple of kinks in what was left. I didn't even mean to bring her home--I had gone to et her brother Boris--but she climbed into my lap and I called and asked if I could bring home two. My wonderful husband said, "You do what you need to do." So we ended up with a cat for each of the girls, and unintentially--a cat for each of the grown ups. She was my little baby girl. Boris took to my hubby immediately. She took a bit longer to come around, but (though I love them both dearly) she was mine. She was a talker, and we would meow back and forth at each other. She was always coming into the bathroom when it was bath time...sometimes playing with the water, sometime sitting on the edge of the tub--nibbling my toes when they were offered, sometimes just waiting for her attention on the rug when I was finished.
She always let her brother have the last bite of food--he was the runty one and I guess she realized he needed it more. And anyway, she could always wheedle another treat or two from my husband, so what did it really matter?
Her new favorite sitting place was the windowsill. Not the one pictured that we had left the windows up just for them, but the one in the kitchen where she could rustle the blinds as she hid behind them. She still gave out kitten kisses to those who deserved them. She was much more tolerant of being picked up and handled by the girls than her brother. She was battling it out with Percy for Queen of the Castle, and I don't think that a winner had yet been crowned.

Tonight her "exploring" got the best of her. We let them outside at dusk, and we check on them often during the less than hour they are usually out. We always keep the door open for them to return--though they seldom do. They chase bugs, prowl in the grasses as their larger cousins do, and stretch on the cement warmed by the day of sun. Tonight she climbed the fence into the next yard. Unfortunately a yard populated by two large dogs. Hubby heard a ruckus, and we ran next door. It was too late just that fast. There wasn't a mark on her, but she was gone--limp, lifeless. I wrapped her in a towel and let the other animals smell her. (I remember reading somewhere that was a good thing to do for them.) Then, we took her to the emergency vet where she will be picked up for cremation on Monday.

We still have to tell the girls. I dread that with every molecule in my being. Sweetheart wondered out loud if it was even worth it to have animals. I know that it is, but this is the hardest part of it without a doubt.

I have had cats my whole life and I have let them go outside always--usually with less supervision than these had. I will not do that again. I have lost many pets, but none of them in such a quick and harsh manner. When my elderly dog Sadie was ill, I had the name of the facility for cremation on the fridge. I know now it needs to be there always--not just when you think you will need it.

I learned that what my mother told me as a child was true. "Having animals means that you will lose them. I often wondered if we shouldn't have them because of that. I decided that the joy they bring is worth having to deal with losing them."

She was so right. I will miss you Sidney. The little bitch. My baby girl. The kitten that belonged to my daughter but completely stole my heart.