12 to 24 hours to go

Lily is finally asleep. She is having a very hard time. She is at that age where change and uncertainty are very difficult. I am not really sure what to tell her. She fell asleep on the way to dinner, so we got some kfc drive thru and came back to the hotel.

Our hotel is very nice. We had the pool to ourselves this afternoon. Lily and I had a blast. The entire pool is around three feet deep and Lily had plenty of room to swim without me as a spotter. She is nearly able to swim across a pool without help. I thought for sure that would tire her out. She only got about six hours of sleep last night and was really dragging today. Even after all that she didn't fall asleep until we were on our way to dinner.

Jeff has boarded up our house and has evacuated to the base. He will ride the storm out there. All indications and predicitions are that our home will be fine. I am having a hard time. If I think about it I cry. So much stress. Soon it will be over, yet Hanna is on a path similar to Katrina. Next week might be the same as this week. Fun.

Thanks for all your kind words. That means so much.

Huntsville, Alabama

We have arrived in Huntsville. Instead of driving all the way to Virginia and back again we have decided to stay here. I couldn't extend my stay at this hotel so I will be moving down the road tomorrow. Jeff is home all alone, poor guy. Our day in the car was loud. Lily is out of sorts. I guess getting uprooted without notice is hard on a five year old. At least I am only one days drive from home. We are 400 miles north of the gulf of Mexico so I think we are good. My prayers for everyone still on the gulf. Don't know if I will have internet access tomorrow. Thanks for all the kind words.

Evacuation

I made the executive decision to evacuate now. We are leaving in about a half an hour. Jeff is staying for work. We found a kennel for the pets. The girls and I are going to stay with Jeff's family in Virginia. We are stopping tonight about half way. Hoping this means light traffic and smooth sailing. I decided I would rather leave and have the storm miss us and waste a bunch of time and money rather than get stuck here and freaking out. So we get to go see the family. I am praying for safety for all.

Gustav, Katrina Musings

I have spent the last couple of days preparing for Gustav and having panic attacks. I really have no idea what I am doing.

I really don't want to be here during a hurricane and I really don't want to sit in my car with my girls and my pets for hours on end in non moving traffic off to parts unknown. I checked the hotels for 600 miles and none are available. The closest hotels I could find were in Tennessee. Some of my friends are leaving tonight to miss the traffic and they already have hotel reservations. I could make a reservation and go hang out in Tennessee until the storm hits. I could stay here and wait to see where the storm is going to hit. They are now saying it will hit in Western Louisiana and we wont get wind over 50 MPH here. In that case it seems prudent to stay home. If I chose to stay home, to wait and see and only evacuate if we get the order to evacuate then I will have to evacuate with the masses. Another friend told me that during an evacuation it takes her 22 hours to get to the 200 miles north point. She and I have the same evacuation route. That would still be several hours from any available hotels. You see what I mean, a part of me thinks I should just grab the girls and the pets and take off tonight. We could go to Dollywoood.

I am not really sure what evacuation route to take either. The route I am supposed to take according to the hurricane plan based on where I live is a crappy route. It is back roads with no gas stations for 200 miles. That is all well and good except that the roads become a parking lot and you run out of gas. Then you are stranded in your car with no gas in a hurricane. With you is everything you own and all your important papers. Probably my house wouldn't even get wet. I could take the main roads instead, break the rules. Maybe if everyone takes the main roads in fear of running out of gas I would have smooth sailing on the back roads??

My gas tank is full. I have cash money. I have enough food and water to last for a good month. Three days is what we are told, but better to be safe. Just in case I stay and they predictions are wrong and I survive the storm and we are stranded with no power for days.

I also had to plan for Jeff. He has to evacuate to the base and weather the storm there. I had to prepare him with a box of supplies and food for his hurricane shelter. If I evacuate it will be me, the kids and the pets without Jeff.

I also have to chose between family photos and family pets. I guess I have chosen the pets. They sure do take up a lot of room in our evacuation vehicle. Room that could be used for photos and mementos. Plus the hotels that take people with pets are not always nice and are sometimes,usually in my experience in crappy neighborhoods. Whose idea was it to get pets any how?

So as you can see my brain is no longer functioning. I have bought everything I can think of in every store. Wal Mart is out of tp, canned fruit and flashlights. Our gas prices have gone fro $3.35 per gallon to $3.75 per gallon in the last two days. People here are not panicked. Everyone but me has a plan and feels good about their plan. The media, TV, weather, newspaper, even the governor are bat shit crazy.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Katrina and I wanted to say one more time what an amazing experience it has been moving here so close to the eye of that storm. Right in the middle of the devastation. While the news really concentrates on New Orleans we lost a lot here too. Everyone has a story to tell. Most are full of see the good in a really horrid situation. Still today people from all over our country come here and build houses. They raise money and the come and swing the hammers.

I have always thought that we need the government to protect us and help the poor and needy. I have always thought that if it weren't for the government the poor and the sick would starve in the street. Here however, the government helps the rich, those smart enough to work the system. Smart enough to fill out all the paperwork. Connected enough to get the billions of dollars of government money funneled into our area. While the churches are helping everyone else. People volunteer to come here and help those that cannot read to fill out paper work. Or they come here and raise the money themselves and just build someone a house.

While Insurance companies top the Forbes list of richest companies. So many folks here are still fighting to get the money they are owed from their insurance company. The government is no help, they seem to be more in league with the insurance companies. The people of this country have come together to try and help.

When a dozen old and mentally handicapped women were being evicted from their FEMA trailers last month. Evicted because the trailers are emitting toxic fumes. These ladies had no where to go. None of them could read or write. It was church and not government that helped these women.

I have never belonged to a church but my perception of government and church have been forever altered. I don't even go to church but it seems to me that when the chips are down and people need help it comes from people especially organized within a church and not from government.

Peace, be safe, hug someone you love today.

Gustav

All the predictions I am hearing and reading are saying Gustav is going to hit pretty much right at my front door. Monday at noon is what they are saying. Anyone willing to take in me, my two kids, our dog and our cat?

A Call to All Women - Please Vote

I am having such a hard time deciding who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Is anyone else having trouble deciding? Seems like most other people have made up their minds. Must be nice. Trying to keep up with it all is giving me a headache.

We are having a local vote here next month. I am voting to increase my property tax by about $20 per month. It is for the schools. I believe it is important to put money in schools and I am being given the opportunity to do so. I am grateful to live in a community where others feel the same way. I hope it passes.

I like that the local politics is something I can understand. I know exactly what I am voting for. A simple question: am I willing to pay out $20 per month more than I currently pay in order to build a new high school and revamp the other schools in our district.

In national politics I have no idea how voting for McCain or Obama is going to impact me, my city, my state, or my country. I am spending as much time as I can afford researching the two candidates. Yet, I am at an impass. Another part of me feels like just not voting. I don't feel strongly about either candidate so what does it matter.

Today happens to be the 88th anniversary of women getting the right to vote in this country. I am so very grateful to all those who worked so hard and sacrificed so much for me. Did you know that by enlarge the women in America do not vote? Many people theorize that politicians do not feel that issues which affect women and the causes women hold most dear - are properly addressed by government because we do not vote. By not voting we are not holding our politicians accountable to us and our causes. Perhaps the candidates we are being offered this election are nothing to get excited about. At least that is how I feel. However, if we vote, either way, we will send a message that our voices need to be heard. If the majority of women vote our issues and our voices will become important in the minds of those wanting to be elected. I hope you will make the decision to register and to vote this year. Even if you don't feel passionately about the issues, follow your gut if that is what you need to do. Just vote.

Funniest Blog Post I have ever read

While I have nothing useful to contribute to the world of blogging today, I would like to direct you to the funniest post I have ever read. You are welcome.

I am off to have lunch with a new friend. Hope your day is going to be fun too.

Do I tell the teacher that my child is brillant?

I am just home between volunteering at Lily's school and driving Mandy to the orthodontist. My schedule seems to have gone from having nothing to do to having more to do than ever. I am having a great time.

I am trying to not over volunteer at the school. I am trying to not volunteer to do anything that would put me in direct contact with Lily. I do have lunch with her sometimes. OK, more than sometimes. I find that I go there to the school for one reason or another nearly everyday.

Yesterday I had to buy myself a new dress, a dress to wear to a wedding. I had such a great time. I was in no hurry. Later I had to go to the school for Kindergarten Curriculum night. The teacher explained in detail all that will happen in Kindergarten. Of course this is the same information we got the day before school started when we went to meet the teacher. It is also the same information which is sent home with Lily. It is a little frustration to get all this information so many times.

At the Kindergarten curriculum night I discovered that they are learning to identify their letters and numbers. That they are learning to count to 10. I am wondering if I should mention to the teacher that Lily knows how to count to 100. She can literally count to 100 forwards and backwards. She can also identify all of those numbers out of sequence and in sequence. She also knows how to spell and read several words that start with each letter of the alphabet.

There are a ton of things that the teacher is teaching that Lily does not know. But, I wonder if it would be useful for her teacher to know that Lily is so far advanced in these things. If I should send her an email. The teacher has not asked, should I offer her this information or is that bragging?

Lily is having trouble following directions. She is having trouble writing her name and coloring in the lines. I work with Lily on the things she needs to learn at home. It is slow going, but now she is at least interested in these things. Before she was not receptive to leaning to write. What do you think, should I write the teacher an email about how advanced Lily is? Or should I let her figure it out for herself? Currently I think she is under the impression that Lily is a little on the slow side. Due to the fact that Lily is not very good at interacting with the teacher or listening to the teacher. What do y'all think?

Sick on the Bus

This morning Lily threw up all over the bus on the way to school. I picked her up immediately. I was at the school before the tardy bell rang. Lily was in the nurses office. She was white as a sheet. Too sick to walk. I swear that 15 minutes earlier when I put her on the bus she was fine. She was dancing and playing at the bus stop.

I got her home. Gave her a bath. Now she is totally fine again. I don' t think the nurse believed me that Lily was fine when she got on the bus this morning. I can't imagine what happened. But, Lily and I get to spend the day together watching cartoons.

Why I love my daughter's school

I joined several of the PTO committees at Lily’s school. So far I have been working two days per week at the school. Jeff keeps asking if I am getting paid. No. On Wednesday I work with some other moms doing special projects for the teachers. We wrote letters at the top of each page of composition books, we sorted all the packs of construction paper by color. We collated and stapled papers. We picked up projects and dropped them off to the classrooms. This is supposed to save the teacher’s time; make their life easier so they don’t have to take so much work home with them.

What I noticed was that all the teachers seem to be very happy. We worked in their lunch room, so we got a chance to visit with them too. And walking around the school dropping off completed projects I got to see the inner workings of the school. Having another daughter who is a senior means that I have spent a lot of time in elementary schools over the years. I have never seen a school like this before. Where everyone seems to be happy to be there. While the purpose of a school is academics, I think the environment is also a key component to the success of children. But, how do you measure the quality of a schools environment?

I saw Lily once walking down the hall. She was walking in a line, smiling. I can’t tell you how nice it is to know that Lily is there in such a lovely place.

After working for five hours doing slave labor I had lunch with Lily. The school allows parents to come and have lunch with their kids. We had a great time eating lunch together. I met her friends. I got to talk to her assistant teacher and she is such a sweet, kind lady. She was in charge of two classes of kids who were eating lunch. She was everywhere at once. Opening milks, passing out napkins, being kind. All the kids are well behaved at this school too. When I taught pre-school I never managed to keep all the kids happy and in line over lunch. I think that a big part of the equation is when kids come to school knowing manners already it is different than when wild children come to school and you have to try and teach 20 kids manners all at the same time.

The next day, I wasn’t helping at the school and I didn’t have lunch with Lily. I didn’t know it at the time, but Lily was expecting me to be there. When she arrived at lunch she started to cry when I wasn’t there. I did join her for lunch on Friday, and that is when everyone told me how upset she was on Thursday. Even when she came home Thursday there was no indication that she had been so upset. Except her behavior was horrid that afternoon and evening. Poor Lily. I guess she cried and cried that she wanted her mom. She didn’t want anyone else, she wanted her mom. I felt so bad. At home my normally independent too busy for hugs and cuddles girl is a little bit more loving. She even wants to hold my hand to walk from room to room at home. Which is nice because I really need all the extra hugs too.

What Ya Doin?

Kim and everyone else I know has asked me what I am doing. Now that Lily is in school, what am I doing with my free time. I have a ton of plans. Things I should be doing.

However, currently I am hybernating. And...

Playing Texas Hold "Em at The Zone.com
Watching Men's Beach Volleyball
Eating sugar free chocolate creme pie
Reading my Twitter friends Tweets
Reading blogs
Thinking of things to do.

Tomorrow I am signed up to help at the school, not in Lily's room. Just the school in general. Friday too.

Planning on going to the gym, the store, cleaning the house. Boring. So far I am on a break.

Behavior Modification VS Medicating Hyper Children

Today is Lily' s fifth day of Kindergarten. She is doing great at school. The first few days she wasn't really able to settle down enough to communicate with me. Now she is back to her old self. I wonder if kids with ADD or ADHD are always like that? I mean for days Lily couldn't settle down enough to listen or talk, I knew she was in there but I couldn't get a connection.

Some of the things I did which seem to have helped Lily settle down: I put us on a schedule. I used only a soft patient voice, even though she was driving me crazy and I wanted with every fiber of my being to scream, "knock it off". I gave her a physical outlet for her extra energy, like going for a walk or wrestling with me. I also get her up for school about an hour before we need to leave for the bus, that gives her enough time in the morning for a lea surly breakfast and time to goof off and not be in a rush. Finally she started to come out of that hyper place and was our Lily again. I hope the same is true about her behavior at school.

I can see why people would want to medicate a child who cannot calm down enough to engage. I would say that Lily is on the hyper side of a typically developing child. I am so thankful that I am able to calm Lily down and get her focus back after a week of intense behavior modification work at home. I can't help but wonder what it would be like if all that work did not net any results. If no matter what I did Lily couldn't settle down enough to connect with me, to listen and hear me and to gather herself enough to communicate her thoughts to me.

I share this experience with you because I hear so much about kids being over medicated. I wonder if I was in a different place and not able to spend so much time with behavior modification, would Lily need to be medicated? I know we all wonder if some of the kids who are being medicated could really be better managed with some behavior modification. There are so many children being medicated today. But, are they really being over medicated? I just can't wrap my brain around that statement. Why in the world would a doctor give medication to a child unless that child really and truly needed that medication? I do know of moms who give their child Benadryl or Tylenol as a behavior modification tool. But, a doctor? Do you feel that thousands of doctors are really and truly just writing prescriptions for kids without the kids best interest at heart? I really wonder about that when I hear people talk about the over medication of our children. Are our doctors really that greedy or lazy? Are our doctors so corrupt that they just write prescriptions without a second thought? Is that what we as a society think of our doctors, who are supposedly the best doctors in the entire world? What are you thoughts?