We survived!

We survived tropical storm Hanna. In fact (mercifully) it was almost a non-event. There was some wind, but nothing scary. And there was some rain, but not nearly as much as we all hoped for in face of the drought that we've had all summer in this part of the world. We lost power for a few seconds, just long enough to make all of our clocks blink 12:00 and force me to have to run around the house to fix them. Remind me to pick up some more of those "smart clocks" that automatically know the time. We have one in our bedroom, and one in the family room and they are fabulous. I want them all over the house. I have a compulsive need to have clocks in every room. I don't know why. It might have something to do with the fact that I loathe to be late for anything. It grates on my nerves.

But anyway, I hope all of those folks at the grocery store who were behaving like monsters are appropriately ashamed of themselves in light of the storm not amounting to a whole lot. At least they should all have enough bread and milk to last for the next few weeks....haha. Oh well, I am really just grateful that we didn't end up with a big ol' mess on our hands, so its all good.

Its 10 PM and all is well....

Its 10pm, and so far, other than a few showers (a few of them pretty heavy) nothing is going on around here storm-wise. Electricity is on. Stargate Atlantis is on....its all good. Rumor has it that we may get slammed some time in the wee hours of the morning, right on through lunch tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too terrible. I ran by the grocery store this afternoon after work. We needed a couple of things for the weekend. You would have thought that the end of the world was coming. That place was packed. People were acting stupid. Everybody was stocking up like there wouldn't be any more food available for the next few months or something. What the hell is that all about? The forecast calls for this thing to be well past us by tomorrow evening. How much bread and milk does it take to get one through a 24 hour period of not being able to make it to the grocery store? Its crazy. People were also pouring into the next door Blockbuster's like a herd of stampeding cattle, too. Chances are if things get bad enough to need a six month store of groceries, the electricity is going to be out and those movies you are knocking people out of the way to get to are going to be useless. Geesh. Get a clue people. Clearly all of this got on my nerves. Hopefully I won't have to venture into town again until things settle down and the general population recovers its senses. What is it about the hint of bad weather that makes everybody lose their minds???? Very strange.

Palin

I watched Palin's speech last night. I'm not a fan of McCain (not even remotely). I won't vote for him, no matter who he picked for a running mate. But still, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe its a woman thing. I wouldn't change my mind and vote republican just because he picked an obscure woman to be his Vice-President, but I was curious about her. I wanted to like her. And sadly, I was disappointed. The beginning of her speech was chocked full of patriotic propaganda. She wrapped herself in motherhood and the flag to the point that I started to feel the need to get up and bake an apple pie. And then she turned a little nasty. I kept getting the feeling that she was being mean-spirited. She had an ugly sneer at times. I felt sarcasm, and negativity running rampant. What I didn't hear was anything of substance. How unfortunate.

Also? We are getting ready for the impending tropical storm. Wish us luck. Hopefully it won't be too awful. Its the next storm behind Hanna that has us all a little worried around these parts.
Ike is already a category 4 hurricane. If he decides to follow Hanna's path, we may have a situation on our hands. Anyway, there is a new episode of "Stargate Atlantis" tomorrow night at 10 pm. If our electricity is going to go out, I would be willing to bet it will be somewhere around then. Thats just the way these things work. haha....

Tacos and Tropical Storms....

I made tacos for dinner tonight. I spotted these newly designed shells at the grocery store and I wanted to try them out. Have you seen the commercial for these on TV? Lots of Mexicans partying and having a huge celebration for the new square shaped shells...hahaha. In theory it is an improvement. The flat bottom makes them stand up nicely so its easy to fill them. And the width lets them hold a lot more of the good stuff. If you were going to prepare a whole tray of standing tacos for decorative purposes, these are the shells for you. If you want to actually EAT the tacos, don't bother buying these. Something about the wider shell makes them crack into a billion pieces with the first bite, dropping the yummy filling all over the plate (if you are lucky. if not then it all ends up in your lap....ugh). We attempted to eat them, but gave up and broke the shells into bowls for taco salad. Really, it was the only way. The taco salad was still good though, even if I was a bit disappointed with the new square shells. Oh well. You live and you learn.

Anyway, it looks like we might be dealing with Tropical Storm Hanna this weekend. We've gone from thinking it was going to go inland more around Charleston, to having it come on in at Wilmington and go right over us. At least its not a major hurricane, so that part is good news. Hopefully it will get in here and do its thing while I am able to sit it out at home rather than inconveniencing a work day. It will make for a rainy weekend, but if the electricity would just stay on I can watch the whole Season 4 of House, MD that Erica sent me this week. Curling up on a rainy Saturday afternoon with hours of House to watch doesn't sound all that bad. Of course, that electricity thing is tricky. If I am curled up here with no tv, no computer, no coffee and NO a/c....well then, its going to be an entirely different story. Haha.

All this reminds me of how bad my sister-in-law, Jeanne, mocked me during another storm. She was here for 1 full blown hurricane (can't recall which one, we've weathered many). She got to see my storm preparation. Do I gather batteries, drinking water, food...etc? Nope. Hubby generally takes care of that. What I do is the REALLY important stuff. I time it just before the storm hits and I make sure that I take a shower, wash my hair, dry my hair and use any other electrical hair appliances just in the nick of time in case I have to face a day or so without being able to do that. Oh, and I also make sure all of the laundry is done. I may be dealing with a hurricane, but I am going to do it with good hair and clean clothes. A girl has to have her priorities! Stay safe everybody. Hopefully it won't amount to much more than some much needed rain.

Am I too picky?

I am desperately trying to find t-shirts. Thats the great American wardrobe staple, right? Second only to a fabulous pair of jeans. So why is it so hard for me to find a t-shirt that makes me happy? It needs to be a v-neck (I just hate the crew neck kinds. Not on other people, but they are uncomfortable to me). But I want a v-neck that is moderately cut. I have no need to have the girls on display ala Old Navy's perfect fit (meaning indecent) DEEP V. I don't want to have to wear a tank underneath it. Its too hot for that. It needs to come in solid colors. No embroidered old-lady flowers, or graphic skull prints, or advertising logos. No quirky sayings, quotes or cute little animal pictures. Just plain.

And I want it in a decent weight fabric. I hate those tissue weight T's that again, HAVE to have a tank or cami underneath it because the damned thing is practically sheer. I want sleeves that hit neither too long nor too short. And I would prefer to have enough length in the body to not show off my belly. Also? Not so long as to cover up my knees. Apparently that is asking WAY too much. I just want a plain t-shirt that doesn't look too sloppy to throw on over a casual skirt, or underneath a jacket. I don't need sequins or buttons or ribbons. No ribbing, ruching, puffy sleeves or pleats. Just a plain old cotton t-shirt with a simple v-neck. Geesh........

I see that Eddie Bauer has what appears to be an acceptable shirt. I just wish I could try it on since I seem to have so much trouble with the fit. I don't know if I have a choice though. I have exhausted every single possibility here in town, so.....? Maybe I will just order 1 to try it out before I go all out with all the colors that I want. Anybody here have any suggestions????

Anyway, in between my frustrating attempts to find a comfortable t-shirt, I whipped up a peach cobbler today. And it turned out to be extremely delicious....even if I do say so myself. haha.

I broke a dish....

Sadly, I broke a dish this evening. It was a shallow glass condiment dish. Kind of oblong in shape. My kids would recognize it as the one that always held our cranberry sauce for the holiday meals. (Jellied Ocean Spray, straight from the can. My son refuses to eat turkey without it, and will have none of that fanciful whole-berry, or made from scratch cranberry sauces. Those are an abomination). Its funny how a silly little dish can make me sad, but it does. It was nothing special....pressed glass, probably not worth more than a couple of dollars. But it belonged to my husband's grandmother. In the summertime it has held juicy red tomato slices, salted and peppered and sprinkled with a touch of apple-cider vinegar. In the fall and winter it held the cranberry sauce. Always. I have no idea just how old it is, or how hard it will be to find a replacement. I loved the shape of it though. It was perfect for the jobs it did. And I didn't even drop it by accident. I just picked it up and a big piece of the side just kind of cracked off in my hand. We ate sliced tomatos served from a mundane little plastic bowl tonight. How sad.....

Sweet September...

September is one of my favorite months. Maybe its because my birthday is in September? But it probably has much more to do with the promise of the coming of fall than the threat of becoming another year older. The end of summer is something to be celebrated. I know I'm in the minority here. But the word "summer" immediately brings to mind such things as: unbearable heat, miserable humidity, sweat, sunburn, and BUGS. I don't even get the couple of months break from work like the kiddies do from school. So...yeah. In my opinion summer sucks. There are a few redeeming qualities, like ice-cold watermelon...but even that can't make the sweat and bugs worth it.


Fall, on the other hand, is my favorite season. Today I celebrate having survived yet another Eastern North Carolina summer. Soon I will be enjoying cool dry air, pumpkins, fall food, and Halloween. I will be in my element. And that happens to make me a very happy woman. It makes me want to spend the day dragging out my sweaters and boots. But the weather forecast is still showing temps in the upper 80's and low 90's so maybe I better hold off on that for a few more weeks.
Soon though.....

Happy Labor Day everybody. I hope you all have a good one.