GHOULIES moving towards the islands. (Page 58)

Kenra, the Prius V is MUCH better all around than the regular Prius. More comfortable, good mileage, better comfort for the front passenger (The passenger side is terrible in the Prius) and the best plus, you can see out the back window. I find that pretty important!

It is pretty zippy, too. I find myself speeding because once you get up to speed it is really quiet. I look down and I am going 80

Nice!

Thanks, Kendra. I wish my husband was as supportive. He thinks I should just let it go because "boys will be boys". That attitude is why Caleb will talk to me about it and not his dad. He won't tell his dad that this kid knocks his books off desks in class, has smashed all the food Caleb had in his lunchbox, or torn up homework papers, not to mention the name calling and harassment. I do NOT think I'm wrong in believing this is unacceptable behavior, and in trying to help my son from having to endure it.

I agree with Kendra, I am glad he talks to you. You are totally right. Boys will be boys is unacceptable for constant harassment. Tween and Teen years are scary and emotional enough, no need to have them be more so. Too many things can push a kid too close to scary edges. I hope it ends, but I would be prepared for it not to as well.

I feel like I'm rambling...

The internet is not yet fixed here at DAC and I'm beginning to wonder if they are even aware of it.  No response yet from IT.

I know girls can be vicious, I'm dreading my daughter being in middle school.

There was a time that the bully at work was the one who got promoted and eventually became the boss. I think those times are passing, and by the time Caleb, and the bully, join the workforce, the bully will have a rude awakening.

I'm home from work, would you like me to come down and take a look at what's going on with your network?

This is what I'm afraid of.

I am not yet prepared, but I am working on it, if it doesn't stop. I will go to the school administration and the school board. The entire 7th grade spent an entire day going to bullying seminars 2 weeks ago. IT NEEDS TO STOP.

On a different note, the most recent storm tracking has the eye of Sandy going right about over my house on Tuesday. I like to be prepared. I stopped on the way home and picked up 2 new flashlights, batteries, and oil for my oil lamps. I also have 6 gallons of water, and a 24 pack of bottled water. 

We can heat the house, and cook with the wood stove, we will have light, is there anything I'm missing?

Food? Pet food?

Get your laundry done (blankets, etc). Have a battery powered radio, power up the cell phones. Gather some board games for the fam to play, books to read, etc. Other than that make sur everything is bolted down so it doesn't blow away or float away. (but then again, what do I know? We don't get hurricanes here! LOL). 

Ann, I've beenthinking about you and the Frankenstorm while I've been catching up on all the posts. Are you sure you have enough water? If the storm hits like it's supposed to, you may be out of power and potable water for some time. Think about all the things you use water for--dishes, bathing, drinking, washing hands, etc. I know all the mormomns around here have big drums of water for each member of the family with their food storage for emergency use. Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared, right?

Be safe gouhlies!! I'll be thinking of all of you in the storm's reach, and in the reach of the ripples it sends out. (((hugs)))

Ok, I have 9 gallons of water now, seems a lot of other people have had the same thought. We do have the generator we can hook up to the water pump if we need to, to pump more water. We can also move it between the refrigerator and chest freezer, too. So even if we run out of the simple food I have, we can open those to get out something to make, and we also shouldn't lose a lot of food.

I am going to try and get some more batteries today, and I'd like to get a solar charger for my phone.

The weather app on my phone has the eye of Sandy hitting us almost directly, they have already issued flood warnings for the area starting tomorrow afternoon and going to Tuesday night. I'm trying to be prepared without freaking the kids out. 

Keri did come home yesterday telling me that they announced that school could be cancelled next week. I'm very happy I have a job I can work from home... as long as we have power.

Sounds like you are prepped. The main thing is to know that with water, everyone will be fine. Even if life is not normal, you will be fine. Just STAY INSIDE and DON'T DRIVE. When a storm hits, there is absolutely NOTHING you need to leave the house for. Emergency care comes to you, if you need it/ People get hurt by getting in their car or going out to "check things out". Stay inside. I always told the kids to realize that for 1000's of years, this is how people lived. When the sun set, lights were gone. Be the caveman, Be the Indian, be the early settler. Kinda fun, actually to realize how very little we have in common with those folks today.

Stay safe!

Thanks Robin. I did go out this morning and buy another bag of dog food. I should have a little over 2 weeks supply now, and I also give them raw meat, which we have plenty of in the freezer in case of a REAL emergency. I have PLENTY of extra batteries. Walmart (which I typically don't go to) brought out a Christmas display full of batteries and had it in the front of the store. I am looking for one of those emergency cell phone chargers. Donnie is going out with the guys tonight and they are stopping to do some shopping, he is going to keep his eyes open for me. 

This morning I had the boys bring in wood, and clean up the cornstalks and pumpkins we had out for decorations. Keri and I took down the rest of the decorations and moved anything that could blow away into the barn. We are going to fill both bathtubs with water when it starts so we can flush the toilets, and wash up, if we have to. 

I'm a little nervous. I'm a little excited. But, I think I'm also prepared I hope.

You will be fine. You sound prepared. Now have fun. It is the weekend!

Good morning Ghoulies!

It is calm and quiet here right now.... unfortunately that isn't going to last long.

I need to vent.

The absolute denial and/or ignorance with which my husband's family, and more importantly my husband, possess concerning the impending storm absolutely infuriates me. Everything that was done to prepare was done by me, the kiddos, and even my son's friend who spent the weekend with us helped. My husband spent 8.5 hours on Saturday working on his parent's farm, then went out with friends in the evening. I spent Saturday preparing. 

Last night as I was watching weather reports he was telling our son that we probably won't get anything from this. Lying in bed this morning I'm reading twitter feeds from the National Weather Service about 40 foot waves, and looking at maps that show most of several states will likely lose power and he's saying that he thinks nothing is going to happen. IT PIZZES ME OFF. We are to start getting hit any time now, and he's going to work today. Is it stupidity? Is it a defense mechanism? I don't understand, but it is maddening. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. He spent almost 2 hours on Saturday working on a broken haybine to fix it before it was put away for winter, then gave me a hard time when I asked him to clean the downspouts yesterday. The haybine could have been put away broken, it could be fixed in the spring when they were ready for it. 

This isn't a one time thing, he, and his family, are like this when anything big happens. 

We will be fine, and I will take care of the kids, I just wish I had some help.

Um...

Forget the calm and quiet. Now that my computers have finished spinning up, and the dogs have settled down, I can hear the wind outside. 

My son had a friend over all weekend, his parents ran the MC10K. They were sleeping on air mattresses in the basement. I'm not sure what happened, but it involved 2 12 year olds, and a great dane, the one air mattress got a hole in it. I bought a new one yesterday in case the kids and I end up sleeping in the basement.

Am I overreacting? They are calling for a major storm. I prepared. After talking to my family, and seeing different things on facebook a lot of people said they did nothing to prepare, they think this thing is just going to blow over. 

I would rather be over-prepared than under-prepared. I'm ready to take care of myself, and my kiddos, I don't want to have to wait for someone to take care of me.

A lot of people don't prepare for storms. I think it is just plain denial. We are on the very outer reaches of the storm and had 25-30 mile per hour winds all night. All of our furniture on the porch is blown to one end (the heavy wooden stuff on the upper porch, too).

Having been through hurricanes in Fla, tornadoes in Ohio, I have found it is best to be prepared, then don't panic. Know that without power, life goes on. Staying safe is the ticket, which usually means staying inside and not getting in your car.

Sounds like D and his family have a huge case of denial. No way around it, there are going to be affects from this storm, it is just a matter of degree on how bad they will be.

Yep. It is pretty amazing. Actually, it is amazing that we have power still (knocking on wood). We have a wind-o-mometer ( ) and I stopped looking when the wind went up to 52 mph.

All the leaves on our trees are now in your yard!

I follow FEMA, FEMA Region 3, DHS, The Weather Channel, The Red Cross, and a few similar sites on Twitter. Seeing some devastating pictures of NJ right now. 

The boss sent out an email this morning and said there is no reason for any of us to be in the building in NJ or where I work. I have 2 more hours to get in then my work day is done, not sure if we'll have power to work tomorrow or not.