Libby

I've been wanting to write a post on Libby for some time now. We got Libby in September - 4 years ago. So I guess on her 4th "gotcha" year, I'll showcase the fourlegged member of our family.
Libby is a rescue dog. I went to the adoption center to see a dog that was advertised. I got there and wasn't excited about that particular dog. My friend who went with me pointed out Libby. I thought she was pretty cute, but wasn't familiar with Schnauzers. At that time I had not had a dog in nearly 30 years. So this was a big step for me. You notice I keep using "I" and "me". Buster was in Mexico on business when I made this visit to Doggy Adoption Day. When he called home, I ran the idea past him. He was not quite on board with the idea. He just said "wait till I get home and we'll talk about it". So technically I did wait until he got home. When he arrived home from Mexico, I did not have Libby yet. BUT I did have dog food and dish, leash, collar, Libby I.D. tag, crate, dog toys etc. Since I had already invested in a dog I did not yet own, he went with me to the adoption center to take a look at her and signed off on her. Since this was an adoption all the adults in the household had to sign for her. She was spayed the next day and I picked her up a couple of days later.

So enjoy the pictures of Libby and check out your local doggy adoption center. You might find a loyal, four-legged friend there.

This was the day we brought Libby home back in Sept. 2004. I love this picture because she looks like she has a smile on her face. Sorry I could not get this image to download larger.

"My Three Girls"

Libby and her cousins-

Furby, Jazzie and Sugar.

Libby and her friend Logan.

As you can see Libby has a pretty stinkin' good nice life now. She has taken over our formal living room. I now call it "Libby's Condo". It definitely beats the streets where she was found wandering. Love and Licks from Libby and...

Isaiah 1 & 2

Today was the first day of my Fall Bible Study. This summer I felt God leading me to do a Kay Arthur Precepts Study this year. One of the local churches was offering Isaiah by Kay Arthur so I signed up. A couple of girlfriends also signed up so that makes it even better. This summer I did a 40 minute study by Kay Arthur not one of her inductive Bible studies so I'm very new to Precept Bible studies. I watched the video today on Isaiah chapter 1 & 2. I love Kay's style. She pretty much reads the scripture straight from the Bible and constantly references other related scriptures throughout the Bible. She doesn't offer her own "take" on scripture. She let's scripture interpret scripture.

There is so much, but today the lesson I took home was regarding idols. We hear that word a lot these days with sports idols, American Idol, political idols, etc. Isaiah 2:8 reads ...Their land has also been filled with idols. They worship the work of their hands. That which their fingers have made.

We can point at America, Washington DC, Wall Street, Hollywood or anyone, but really it starts individually, looking inward. What are my idols? Where do I spend my time, money and priorities?

Psalm 135:18 reads...Those who make (idols) will be like them.

Isaiah tells us what will happen to idols (2:20) In that day (the last days) men will cast them away to the moles and the bats. So those things we cling to won't be there for us in the end.

I also learned there are 2 direct command in Isaiah:

(2:5) Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

(2:22) Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed.

Occassionally I'll share some of my Isaiah experience this year. Kay told us that Jesus and the Apostles quote more from Isaiah than any other Prophet. So there is a lot to learn from Isaiah. And one thing is...it's definitely more current than you think.

What Gulf Coast Women Learned from Ike

This appeared in the Houston Chronicle today. It was entitled Fumbling in the Dark, We've Learned. I picked a few funny ones that apply to women and renamed it What Gulf Coast Women Learn from Ike.

* Manicures are a sign of civilization
* Coffee is possible without Starbucks
* That neighbor who knows how to use a chainsaw
is your new best friend.
* Hair can dry without a blowdryer, but it may not
look the way you planned.
* What looks acceptable by candlelight in your bathroom
will scare you when you look at yourself in the mirror at the
office.
* Baseball caps go with any post-hurricane ensemble.
* You can't train yourself not to flip on light switches
when entering a room.
* You have neighbors.
* Garage doors aren't magic.
* The storm treasures your kids are finding
really belong to your neighbors.
* It's easier to ignore a dirty floor when you can't see it.

Ike

Well Ike did come get us.

I found this note scrawled on a flagstone in our

cul-de-sac island.

The "calm before the storm" ~ Some neighbors gathered in the cul-de-sac to visit before the Ike came. Ike came in during the night on Friday night. We lost power around 6:00 am Saturday. Orginally it was tracking to the west of our area, but the eye ended up passing about 20 miles to the east of where we are.





Below I'm posting some pictures of the mess from Hurricane Ike. These are pictures of my yard. We faired extremely well compare to some neighbors. Our house has no damage that we know of. At least 5-6 trees fell on houses in our neighborhood alone of about 50 houses.

This is what we found the next morning:

A top from a tree down in the back yard.

That big blob of green between the two flower beds doesn't belong there. It belongs in the top of a tree in our front yard.

This is a picture from our local park:



Times like these provide (force) opportunities to do some deep cleaning.


But the Hero was......

THE GENERATOR!

Yes, this beautiful generator came through for us. Buster went to Home Depot on Friday morning at 5:30a.m. and stood there for 2.5 hours and came home with this beautiful designer color lime-green generator. It truly was worth it. It kept our 2nd refrigerator going for the 4 days we did not have power.

God in his mercy blessed us with natural air conditioning so the temperature was very comfortable. We spent lots of time with neighbors eating together, helping each other out. There was no TV or video games so there were lots of kids out riding bikes and playing outside.

Those are the good things hurricane Ike brought to us.

Also, can you guess if this is Paige's room BEFORE Hurricane Ike or AFTER Hurricane Ike????

Your guess is as good as mine.

;)

The Power is on

Hi Friends and Family:
We finally have power. It came on last night around 11:20 p.m. We are SO happy.
I'll post some pictures from the storm tomorrow. We are safe and no damage to our house, just lots of clean up.

What I like about Ike...hmm...let me think....

Can't think of anything I like about Ike. My kids like the fact that school has been cancelled tomorrow. So here he comes. That little trail of yellow and red dots are just south and west of our house.

We're as ready as we can be. We are in a No-Evacuation Zone. So storm surge is not a problem for us. But I've got a full tank of gas. I paid $3.27 per gallon. Not too bad considering... Enough pop-tarts and diet pepsis to last us a couple of weeks.
The "officials" are already telling us we could loose power for up to two weeks. Let's hope that doesn't happen. We do have plans if we need to leave. Thanks Uncle Jack and Aunt Doris.

I received this funny e-mail yesterday from a friend about hurricane cocktails.
Keeps times like this on the light side. So here is some hurricane humor for you.

The e-mail read....


MANDATORY EVACUATION
1 1/2 oz. Absolute Ruby Red vodka
1/2 oz. vermouth
ClamatoPrune juice
Combine vodka and vermouth in cocktail glass. Fill remainder of glass with equal parts Clamato and prune juice. Stir. Drink. Ask next-door neighbor whose tree blew over and crashed onto your roof - even though you'd warned him for months to uproot it - if you can use his bathroom. Repeat.

CATEGORY 5
1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. rum
1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. gin
Sweet-and-sour mix
Splash of fruit juice
Combine vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and gin in a tall glass. Fill remainder of glass with sweet-and-sour mix and splash of juice. Stir, then garnish with an inverted drink umbrella. Drink during peak storm hours,and vow not to believe anyone who tries to tell you the hurricane that flooded your garage and destroyed your shed was just a Category 1.

CONE OF PROBABILITY
1 oz. cinnamon schnapps
1 sugar coneP
our the schnapps into the sugar cone. Every time you hear a TV weatherman say, 'cone of probability,' bite off the end of the cone and down the shot.
If you hear Jim Cantore say it, drink two shots consecutively. (they should change this to the 'Cantore Zone'.... Have you ever noticed that, despite all the cone of probability talk, if Cantore is parked in front of your house your rearend is toast?)

FEEDER BAND
2 oz. Midori
2 oz. rum
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
After your home loses power, combine Midori and rum in a cocktail glass. Add a scoop of the vanilla ice cream that is melting in your freezer. Stir, and drink through a straw.

BEACH EROSION
1 1/2 oz. Goldschläger
1 1/2 oz. apple brandy
1 pack Sugar in the Raw
Combine Goldschläger, apple brandy and sugar in cocktail glass. As you drink, seriously contemplate moving your Yankee a** back to New Jersey where it belongs.

DOWNED POWER LINE
1 1/2 oz. rum
5 oz. Jolt Cola
Combine ingredients in a cocktail glass. Drink while trying to figure out how the heck you're supposed to go two freakin' weeks without television and AC.

FLOOD ZONE
2 oz. Kahlúa
2 oz. Baileys Irish cream
4 oz. rum
Serve in a 6-ounce glass and laugh-cry deliriously as the mess spills all over the countertop.

COLD SHOWER
2 oz. Blue Aftershock
4 oz. Sprite
Combine in a cocktail glass with crushed ice you received after waiting in line for three hours at a mall parking lot. Take a deep breath, sip and scream like a little girl when the cold beverage hits your tongue. Repeat.

LOOTERS WILL BE SHOT
1 oz. Jack Daniel's
Splash of sarsaparilla
Rock salt
Load both barrels of a shotgun with rock salt. Climb to the roof of your house with gun, bottle of Jack Daniel's and can of sarsaparilla. Fill shotglass with Jack and splash of sarsaparilla. Watch for looters. When you spot one, blast him with rock salt. Drink shot. Repeat.

THE CHAIN SAW
1 oz. Goldschläger
1 oz. Rumplemintz
3 oz. Jim Beam
Splash of vermouth
Combine Goldschläger, Rumplemintz and Jim Beam in an empty soup can. Add splash of vermouth. Drink. Remove chain saw from garage and attempt to cut up fallen tree limbs in yard. Ask neighbor to drive you to hospital when it all goes horribly wrong.

BLUE TARP
1 1/2 oz. Curacao
2 oz. pineapple juice
Splash of lime
Combine ingredients in a leaky paper cup and serve. Wait six to eight months for someone to repair the cup. If you're impatient, hire an unlicensed, out-of-state contractor to do the job for an exorbitant sum and pray he doesn't hurt himself in the process.

Hopefully none of these cocktails will be necessary.
We'll keep you posted.

A Blurb from the Burbs - II

I came across this great way to save on lunch meat and just had to share. While watching Good Morning America (Paige's favorite) one morning, they had a segment on saving money at the grocery store. Those segments always intrigue me so I made sure I paid attention. They had this family on...you know the family of six who only spends $300 per month on groceries blah blah blah.... The husband of the family suggested that you purchase a cooked ham and have them slice it at the deli counter. Yes, shopping is a family affair at their house....not ours....trust me. When Buster goes to the grocery store we have to get Mapquest involved.

Sooo, I decided to try this. I went to my Kroger and back in the meat section like where the bacon and pre-packaged lunch meats are I found a cooked Jennie-O Turkey Ham. It weighed two whole pounds. It was $4.99. I thought that was really good $2.50 a pound. I went back to the deli with my 2 pound turkey ham and asked the nice young man behind the counter to slice it thin for me and he kindly obliged. So if your kiddos like ham sandwiches in their lunch...try this for some $$$$ savings. Remember go to the deli to get it sliced not the meat counter.

P.S. If I can get this family of four down to a $300.00 grocery bill, you can bet I'll be blogging on that ;)