About Hurricanes

I've been fighting a migraine since last night so this may not make sense or there may be spelling errors. Just know that I probably know the right way to spell whatever I spelled wrong but my head hurts too much to remember it. I have been up since 2am. One of my blog readers says I'm funnier when I'm tired... probably because my natural sarcasm peeks through in that case. At any rate...

I'm obsessing over Hurricane Matthew. I was worried about Ryan and Sara in Myrtle Beach but now it looks like the storm will make an Eastern turn before it gets to them so they won't get as strong of a hit. They also have obtained a generator and that helps. So they're staying put.

Cody and Marquee and Oliver are headed to Disney though so I'm worried about a different kid. "To have a baby is to forever have your heart go walking around outside of your body". That's even more true with your grandchildren! I've been sending Cody texts all day saying things like, "take lots of food and water". I'm sure it's annoying but it's like I always tell Austin, if I say it I've given a disclaimer and then I won't have to feel guilty if things go badly because... I told you.

The first hurricane I ever obsessed on was Hurricane Andrew which hit on Ryan's first day of kindergarten. I was off work that day which gave me lots of time to obsessively watch the weather channel... or whatever we had back then. I can remember talking to clients in that area in the days and weeks afterwards and feeling so bad for how rough things were.

The next hurricane I obsessed over was Hurricane Katrina. Ryan was in New Orleans two days before Katrina hit. I remember being so frustrated at the people who stayed. It's like... a tornado, you only have a moment's warning... an earthquake you have no warning... but a hurricane is the natural disaster you have time to prepare for. I understand that it's a hard decision to leave... and for some people it's not possible. I just remember watching all those people in the Superdome thinking... NO! Get out of there!

Anyways. My brief time of living in Florida made me understand storm preparation on a different level. We had to attend a seminar at the local State F arm district office at the beginning of the Summer to learn how to respond in the event of a hurricane. It was very detailed preparation and I was surprised how much went into it.

While I was still living there we had a tropical storm hit and it was the most terrifying weather event of my life. We weren't prepared, didn't have weather radios, etc and of course, didn't have smart phones back then. You knew there was a storm raging but you didn't know how bad it was and once the power went out it was so scary! I went back to work the next day and there were something like 30 homeowners claims in just our one little office just in that first day. Usually you might have one or two homeowners claims a month for that size office. I think about that same area - Jacksonville - being hit by at Category 4 hurricane and I can't even imagine staying through that... roofs being ripped off, water rising, etc.

I guess you could say I have a healthy/maybe not so healthy fascination with that kind of weather event. This is partially why I have been awake since 2am. The headache that keeps coming back is the other reason but it's not unusual for me to get a migraine with weather changes. I know that hurricane is a long, long way from me but it makes a difference.

I didn't blog yesterday because it was Cosy day. I had a rough night Tuesday night too. I had fallen back to sleep when Austin came downstairs and said, "let's go get Cosy". So we did. I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook. She was as adorable as ever. Uncle Cody came up to bring Sammy the dog for us to watch him while they're out of town so she got to see him. She still won't let him hold her (she flirts but she won't let any men other than her daddy or her grandpa hold her) but she did smile at him. I got a few pictures of them together. I'll post them later.

I have a nephew named Matthew. He is the sweetest, mildest young gentleman... it's a nice name. I wonder if this will be the kind of storm that is bad enough that they take the name out of hurricane rotation.

I guess that's all for now. Hope you're having a good Thursday. Stay safe and dry! Love and hugs, y'all!