Sunday, September 26, 2010

Something that Makes Me Cry

What doesn't make me cry?  I'm so tenderhearted! 

Singing Holy, Holy, Holy at church makes me cry in a good way.

Remembering the day Brandon died and how I hurt for Susan, still makes me cry.

Seeing strays on the side of the road, knowing I can't help them.  I want to rescue every stray dog I see.  One day, I hope to have a shelter for rescued dogs where they can live happily ever after.

Being ignored makes me cry.

I hate not knowing if I really mean anything to someone I care deeply for.  That makes me cry.

Something that makes me feel better

Another list:

1. Walking into the house and the boys have cleaned up
2. Walking into the house with Jamie there to greet me like he hasn't seen me in a year - he nearly wiggles out of his skin
3. Talking to my friends and laughing at nothing
4. Going to the beach
5. Getting hugs from my boys

Something that Upsets Me

I have a couple of things that upset me:

1. Being ignored.  I think that is the worst feeling....
2.Working yourself to the bone and not being recognized for it
3.Dead animals on the side of the road

Another Moment

This moment in my life seemed like it lasted forever.  I know it was many hours but it was wayyy too long! 

Hurricane Andrew - August 1992.

I was newly married and we knew that the Hurricane was coming.  We didn't evacuate, because Brad had to work (Marine Corps), so I went down to Homestead to a friends house to ride out the storm.  I'd lived in Miami my whole life and the closest we came to a Hurricane was Hurricane David - where the streets flooded and we got to canoe down the street after the storm.  I wasn't worried.  I figured we'd lose power and trees.  Brad and the rest of his gang were told to go home around 7pm that evening, so he came over to Kelly and Kelley's house with our cat.  (Kelly and Kelley are our married friends - boy Kelly and girl Kelley).  So, it was me and Brad, the Kelly's and their two kids - like 7 and 10 years old, their dog Gator and girl Kelley's sister, who lived on Miami Beach and her one whole wall was floor to ceiling windows.  She felt safer in a house. 

So, we had a couple of Margaritas and played Scattegories until the lights started flickering.  We went outside and it was just weird how the clouds were swirling and the rain came down in gusts.  We went back inside as the power went out.  We got out the flashlights and turned on the battery radio to get Brian Norcross to tell us what was happening.  The wind picked up and so did the rain.  I honestly don't know what time it was by this point but maybe midnight?  We heard things hitting the house and shingles being ripped off, so we made our way into the hallway.  Girl Kelley, the kids, her sister and I went into the closet in the hallway and Brad and Kelly stayed in the hallway with mattresses over them. 

This is hard to write about even now.  It was so scary.  The storm got really loud and we heard part of the roof tear off and blow away.  We were now sopping wet and sitting in about 2 inches of water.  Brad was holding my hand and I was praying that we wouldn't die.  We heard what sounded like trains but later found out that there were many tornadoes that ripped through Homestead.  We were in the worst hit place - not even a mile from the Homestead AFB. 

When the eye of the storm hit, we ran into the Kelly's big walk in closet  in their bedroom and waited for the back end of the storm.  None of us spoke.  We knew the worst was yet to come.  As the tail end hit, part of their roof in their bedroom was torn off.  Kelly yelled at us to go back in the hallway.  We ran as fast as we could.  Kelly was the last one out and he slammed the door shut and held on.  He didn't want that door to open and the debris from their room or anything that was coming through the roof to fly into the hallway.  He held onto that door for at least two hours.  It had to have been pure adrenilan (sp).  The worst part of that was Gator was stuck on the other side and he was barking and whining the whole time but Kelly didn't dare open the door.  Kelly just kept talking to him and Gator kept barking - as long as he was barking, we knew he was okay. 

At this point - all I could hear were the tornadoes-  ripping through.  I prayed then asking God to make our deaths quick and painless.  I really thought we were going to die. 

And then the sun started coming up.  The rain and the wind started dwindling.  Then we heard a knock at the front door.  We got up and the walls around the front door were gone, but the door was standing.  It was the next door neighbor checking on us.  We laughed that he didnt just walk around the door to get inside, but he said it might be rude... lol.  We walked out into this dawn morning to see a glorious sunrise but also to see that every house would be completely totalled.  The Kelly's roof was all but gone.  What was standing were the walls to the hallway and their front door.  Oh and her china cabinet didn't have a scratch on it.  Gator was okay and survived in the room with no roof for over two hours.  We were so exhausted, we all pulled up chairs in the driveway and fell asleep for a few hours.  We woke up and it was over 90 degrees - go figure and of course 90 percent humidity.  It was horrible.  We drove around in shock at the city I grew up in.  It was destroyed.  But we survived,  thank the Lord.  It was probably the scariest times of my life......

Saturday, September 25, 2010

This Month

This month.... Jake turned 15 years old....my sweet Pip.

This month.... our new fiscal year at work just began and I am swamped.

This month.... I am saying goodbye to a friend who is moving and I am very, very sad about it.

Something I Regret

There is one thing I regret in my life.  I honestly don't regret much in my life - other than I should I should have spent more in NYC at someone else's expense than I did ... haha.

But, what I really regret is what I did to Julie H.  Julie was one of my best friends in high school.  She was dating A.  She then moved back home to Michigan and I started dating A.  I didn't tell her.  He didn't tell her.  I finally ended up telling her and lost her friendship for a very long time.  We are friends now but of course it's not the same.  I am glad I had that I had that relationship because it taught me a lot of lessons.  But, I wish I hadn't done it at my friends expense. 

My Favorite Birthday

This one is easy!  I turned 32 and my boys and our neighbor Hynsookie took charge.  It had to have been a Saturday or Sunday.  I had baked myself a cake that morning and later that afternoon, I decided that taking a nap was what I deserved most (surprise)!  So, I went upstairs and tried to sleep, I could hear the boys planning but couldn't hear what they were saying.  There was a lot of whispering as they tromped up and down the stairs.  Finally, they couldn't take it anymore and knocked on my door.  They told me to close my eyes before I opened the door.  When I did, the whole staircase was decorated with curly cue colored pipe cleaners.  There was even a dollar taped to the wall!  I came downstairs, amazed at the creativity they used with our crafts.  They had even cut the cake and I had a whole plateful of cake with every candle they could find on it! 

That is definitely my best birthday and one of my favorite memories.

I do have to add that my second favorite birthday was when I spent my birthday in Gatlinburg with the kids - I think I was 35.  We had a great time and my girl Kathi came and brought me cute gifts and a cake.  I am so blessed!