Waiting & Watching

Down here in the Gulf Coast of Texas, the hurricane season is almost as important as the football season. Almost. Now that there is a big ol' cane in the Gulf, the front porch prognosticators are talking about where and when it might hit, as well as the storms of days gone by.
Growing up in California, I remember the earthquake drills we would have in school. (spoken with Sister Margaret's Irish lilt) "Students, when you hear the siren, please duck under your desks and cover your heads. As soon as the second siren sounds, please, quietly, proceed to the inner wall and line up in an orderly fashion and I will lead you outside." It always sounded so orderly and calm. Then when the Loma Prieta Quake hit on October 17, 1989, I realized there was no way to be orderly and calm in an earthquake. At least I had no idea it was going to happen that day.
Now living here on the Gulf Coast I get to watch days of forcast predictions. If I went to store right now, I would not find a single bottle of water. Gas prices are up 20 cents in the past 36 hours. Hotels are overbooked. Our house is on the edge of the "cone of uncertainty" and I'm ready to pack the Suburban and head North. My husband, who has lived here all his life and was here for Alicia in 1983, tells me it will be fine, nothing more than a bit of wind and rain will hit us, he says. I can see him on the front porch talking with all the others. (spoken in a soft Texas twang) "Why I remember in '08, when Gustav hit, my wife had our truck all packed and ready to go. She's a Yankee, ya see. From California. And then we barely got 5 inches."
Yeah, well at least this Yankee can handle an earthquake. Even if she's curled in a ball under her desk, like Sister Margaret told her to.

I Love John McCain!

It's no surprise that I'm a Republican. I come from a family of Republicans. Despite living in the San Francisco Bay Area, amongst some of the most liberal Democrats that exist in the country, I stuck to my guns and registered Republican when I was 18. Then I moved to Texas. Not North or Central Texas where the Liberals are starting to get footholds, but Southeast Texas, where they are so Conservative that I seem like a Liberal.
Now to the point of this post. I was already going to vote for John McCain this year. Unlike most of my friends that I grew up with, I just couldn't get on the Obama bandwagon. I've spent the past week watching bits and pieces of the Democrat National Convention thinking that they must have trained medical staff on hand for all the dislocated shoulders, for those who pat themselves on the back because they nominated a black man to be president. We won't even mention the fact that he has no foreign policy experience. At least he sells himself well.
Then came this morning. I've been playing the "Who Will McCain Pick" game like most of the country. When my husband I were watching the news this morning, he asked me who Sarah Palin was. I was astounded and elated that she was picked by John McCain to run with him. She is strong and dedicated. She is freakin' awesome!
I just became much more excited for our country.

Oh the ideas my sister has...

And I know how much she's going to love being the topic of a blog post. Just mere moments after I sent the link out announcing my blog, she said I must be bored and that I need to put my young one in the Mother's Day Out at the local church so I could then see a movie. I told her that I would now be starting the "Steph is Bored" Fund and would she like to contribute. I assured her that we would soon be having a fundraiser with acrobats and white tigers and all the fancy hors d'oeuvres you can eat. As long as no one uses a knife and fork, I think it's tax deductable.

Finishing the first week of Kindergarten

My oldest son started Kindergarten on Monday. I was at work, so it was up to my husband to get him ready for school. My husband wanted to bring him to the school instead of letting him ride the bus. Our son has wanted to ride on a school bus since he was 2 years old and saw his brother (my stepson) take the bus to school. So it was Daddy sentimentalism vs. a very determined 5 year old. Now who do you think won that battle?