Yikes: Ike!!!

In Florida, there are two seasons; hurricane season and not hurricane season. This year, we got a little taste of tropical weather when Fay breezed by us. Rain, a teeny tiny bit of wind and well, no Directv for me.

Then, there was Gustav... But we just experienced the very distant feeder bands. Nothing out of this world but some rain and well, no Directv for me.

Turns out the problem with Directv had nothing to do with the storms but rather with the fact that the wood that it was attached to on my roof was rotten. Let's not get into how Directv wanted to charge me to have the service call. I was not in the mood to be dealing with that nonsense. I was sleep and TV deprived. I was not nice. So they sent over the technician at no cost to me. Now, I have Directv.

You can smell Hanna in the air. No birds or animals like squirrels around. That's pretty much how you know there is a real storm out there when the animals have gone to find some shelter. But Hanna posses no threat to us.

Ike. Well, he's another story....

I don't like hurricanes. Ever since Andrew blew through town, I've had a firm respect for these guys and gals. And since then, I call them by their first name and forget the formality of referring to them as Hurricane Andrew -- trust me, we all know who Andrew is. When buying a house, you always ask was the house built before or after Andrew. This is important as building code changed dramatically after Andrew.

Then three years ago there was Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Yep, all three gals blew through town. Our houses were boarded up for a good month and a half or a bit longer and no power for a month. This is when you have a deep respect for electricity. When you can't bathe in hot water, cook, watch TV, how about withdraw money from the ATM or pump gas. Not fun!

The one thing, though, about these storms is that they bring the community together. If you didn't know your neighbors before, you know them now. Why? Because we need each other.

With Ike on the horizon, the preparations get under way. I already hit the supermarket in an attempt to beat the rush this weekend. But other than that, I have to say that there is this undercurrent inside of me of just dread.

There's nothing like a storm with winds racing over 140mph to make you feel vulnerable and have the opportunity to change your life in a moment. There's nothing like being at the mercy of this powerful force and hoping that you are safe and the shutters hold up and pray that the roof won't fly off.

In the past, I've only really had to take care of me, and well Samson as well. But everyone else has been an adult and can take care of themselves. Now, it's different. The stakes are higher. It's one thing to face the Andrews, Katrinas, Ritas and Wilmas of life by yourself and it's a whole other thing to face them with a child. (sigh)

On a lighter note, I have recently received my brand new copy of Photoshop Elements. Yay! That means that I can spend hours and hours figuring that out and make some really neat scrap pages.

And finally, notes on Mr. Alberto...

Well, Mr. Alberto, who affectionately refers to me as Ana, is doing very well. This week, I have been doing my best to get him into daycare schedule. And he has been responding exceptionally well. Except at night. For some reason, he's been waking up at 3:30am. He cries and cries and cries. I must admit, I've broken down and given him a bottle. He gulps it down and goes back to sleep until a little after 7am. But, I didn't want to create a bad habit. So last night when he did the same thing, I gave him a sippy cup of water. He drank a little bit. I thought, "cool". He's quiet there in his bed. Then, he started up again. This time, I gave him a bottle with some milk and I laced it with cereal. I was tired and wanted to sleep (please don't report me to the American Academy of Pediatrics or some vigilante parenting group). Guess what? He decided he didn't like it and went right back to sleep until 7am when he began calling me, "eeehhh, aaahhhh, Ana".

New favorite activity: He loves going into one of my bathroom drawers where I have a box of Q-tips. And guess what? He loves to take them out. Yes, all over my house 300 Q-tips. Guess what lesson we are learning? You got it! He's learning how to "recoger" -- pick up Q-tips and put them away.

New physical developmental challenges: Alberto who loves the slide can now climb all the way to the top of the slide, unassisted. Of course, I have to be there in the event of a slip. But he gets up all the way to the top. Only thing is that he hasn't figured out how to position himself to go down the slide. Then, he likes to play up top and that just makes me nervous. So, I position him to go down the slide. And then up again he goes...

New favorite discovery: Alberto has discovered that he loves to play inside the kitchen cabinets. There are still a few where the child proofing hasn't been worn down by a toddler pulling at them -- those are the ones that really frustrate him and his "eeeeeehhh" gets really LOUD. But he does have his favorite cabinet that he climbs in and tries to close the door. Way too cute!! I did make sure to remove any dangerous equipment from that cabinet. I know some of you were nervous there for a moment.

And finally, the subject that I've received the most emails about... my hair. Yes, I know! I have to take a picture of the hair. I just hate taking my picture. Plus, now I have the pressure to make sure it looks good.

One last note. Today, I took Alberto to the doctor. He has a stupid little diaper rash that won't go away. I took him to our office so it's really not like I took him to the doctor's office. Anyhow, I was dumb enough to wear the same blouse I had the wardrobe malfunction with a couple months ago. Guess what? I suppose my blouse didn't learn it's lesson. Because I gave my doctor a eyeful. She just looked at me and shock her head...