French Fry Thief!

Our dog, Rocco, got into major trouble today when Leigh was getting the truck ready for our stay at a hotel. This canine decided to sneak up to the couch and gobble all of Leigh's fries that had remained uneaten. I caught the thief redhanded because his snout got stuck in the carton, causing the plastic bag to rustle. I truly believed that it was Shak because he's been known to get into the garbage bag once in awhile. However, I was shocked to see Rocco doing such a naughty deed. Needless to say, Leigh and I were both dismayed with his sneakiness!

Hurricane Dolly Leaves Its Mark

The rains and winds were strong and powerful last night, and the plants and trees took a beating! Throughout our town many trees were uprooted, and the local gym's roof is nonexistent now! Fortunately, everyone is safe and sound. Unfortunately, a few people's houses were damaged with the high winds. But we shouldn't complain---our town didn't suffer as much as the people down in South Padre Island, Harlingen, McAllen,etc. They experienced many power outages, flooding, and lots of damage.

At 9 a.m., I awoke, got dressed, and quickly went outdoors to do some yardwork (since we still had no electricity!) The weeds were not that much easier to uproot because the soil was TOO saturated! But, I did for a short time until I got a tad soaked with the constant pitter patter of rain against me.Then I went indoors and took a short nap---what else was there to do when you're in a house with no incoming light? At that time, Leigh arrived from the EOC. He brought us lunch, and we quickly ate. My sis, Sylvia, rang to tell me that the AEP worker told her that we might not get any power until tomorrow. YIKES! Fortunately, Leigh's boss reserved a room for us at the hotel (just in case we needed one), and so we planned on going on overthere after we packed a few things. After getting our overnight bag full of clothing and toiletries, we got Shak into his pet taxi and Rocco into his harness. We were just about to leave when the lights went on. Voila! And then there was light. THANK GOODNESS! It's a luxury we sometimes take for granted!

We cancelled the pets' boarding reservations (as well as our hotel room reservation) and we went out of town instead. Leigh had to go back to work so he went to the office while I visited Mom at the home. She had a few bruises on her shoulder (this is the second time she's had them during this month!) so I questioned it immediately. The nurse named Rey said that she must have gotten them because they told him that Mom was punching herself with her own fist. AS IF! Even if I did that, I wouldn't cause bruises in those angles. Yet, Rey rushed over to call the director of nursing, who came over to see Mom's bruises and she tried to smooth things over by saying that Mom bruises easily with Plavix. I told her that Mom has taken Plavix for years, and she never had many bruises. The director went on to say that the occurrence of bruises increases with the years. Hmmm....I don't believe her!

This gets me so angry and upset. But, I'm still documenting these incidents with photographs and a daily journal because there's no excuse for neglecting the residents at this facility!

Mom did eat well and seems so happy. Also, she enjoyed herself with the company of Leigh, Linda (my sis) and myself. After our visit, Leigh and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and we came home to rest. Leigh was exhausted with the day's events that had begun at 7 a.m.!

Last night

Last night I was wide awake because the wind was forceful, so I was giving Leigh an update of what I heard everytime I got frightened while he slumbered.

"The swingset is flying and making weird noises Leigh"---reply "Hmmm? Oh okay."

"Er, I hear things flying out in the yard."---reply (none)

"What was that????"-reply (Huh???Will be fine.Go to sleep.)

Etc...it went on and on until I exhausted myself to finally sleep. Then 30 mins later we lost the power. And I slept soundly through blackout despite the heat and noise.

Update #2

For the past thirty minutes, the weather has gotten a tad worse with mostly strong winds blowing and rain splashing against the window panes. I felt as if I were in one of those automatic car washes, where water is spewed out in a strong force against the car windows, except in this case, our house is getting washed. Other than this, we are all doing fine. In Taft (roughly around Portland), a tornado did touch down and managed to move a few objects (a children's playground swing set and caravan) 30-40 feet. But, fortunately, no one was hurt in that town.

As for South Padre Island (near Brownsville), there is no electricity there at the moment, and that place has suffered from flooding and lots of damage. La Bahia Mar, one hotel located there, suffered extensive damage!

I AM JULY...Which month are you???

Myspace Layouts

On http://funonthemultiply777.multiply.com/journal/item/293/_I_Am_June?replies_read=97, I found out that since I was born in July, I am.....

Fun to be with. Secretive. Sometimes, difficult to understand. Quiet unless excited or tense. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation for hard work. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly, but not always approachable. Emotionally temperamental. Moody and easily hurt. Witty. Not mean or revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and illogical things. Sensitive and forms friendships carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Broods about the past and misses old friends. Quiet, homey person. Has difficulty making new friends. Prone to having dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Update on Hurricane Dolly

So far it's been raining continuously since about 9a.m.--it's been a steady, dull rain. No heavy winds at all. The Hurricane has gone from a category 1 to a category 2. But, all is well here. I am getting updates online at http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200804_sat.html#a_topad

And everything is okay on the homefront.

Former Princes, Reigning Queen...I love it!

Everyone was as busy as a bee today getting prepared for Hurricane Dolly. I, on the other hand, was more concerned with visiting Mom and making sure that she was doing better today. I was joyful to see that she was doing great. She enjoyed a snack that I took her, and then we both colored in a coloring book until it was time to play dominoe bingo. She won twice and got two bags of potato chips. She devoured one of them and wanted to finish off the second one, but I had to watch that she didn't do that because their dinnertime is early. Before leaving the facility, I managed to speak to the Director of Nursing to tell her about Mom's haircut and how the hairdresser wasn't worth the scissors she uses to cut hair with. The director asked if I wanted the beautician to come back and get Mom's hair styled (since I had paid for that luxury and the hairdresser failed to do that yesterday). I told her that I didn't want that woman anywhere near Mom's hair and that from now on I was going to hire someone to come in and get Mom's hair done.The director looked shocked, but I am not going to pay someone a ridiculous amount of money just so that they can try to cheat the elderly out of proper service. Plus, I went to the business office and told the secretaries there that I wanted a receipt from the hairdresser. They tried to tell me that they couldn't get one. I told them that they had to get me one because I keep Mom's receipts for accounting purposes. As for Mom's injuries, we're going to speak to the main director, who will find out that we are going to install a camera in Mom's room (to monitor her safety from our house.)

When I got home, Leigh asked me to get some water, bread, and other non-perishable foods because it looks as if we're going to be getting strong winds and lots of rain because we might be in the armbands of the hurricane's path. So we have a good stock of food in our pantry.

At the moment, I am washing lots of loads of laundry...just in case the electricity goes out tomorrow. As for anything to keep me busy if there is a blackout, I have my boom box and belly dancing music. This will give me time to practice:), especially since I have no library books left to read. (I read them all and went to check out new books today but the library was boarded up and closed! ARGH!!! What happened to broadening one's mind with books???)

I am home with the pets while Leigh is getting some things done for the EOC in town. He's going to be up most of the night monitoring the weather with our fellow amateur radio club members. I am hoping to stay up with him for awhile. We'll see.