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September 03, 2004
"Sunshine State, my ass!!"
...quoth my cute little Mom on the phone this morning.
My Mom and Stepdad Jim live in Orlando, Florida. As I mentioned before, they live in a mobile home park. During Hurricane Charley, Mom and Stepdad Jim's trailer sustained minor damage only, but they did lose a tree. They considered themselves pretty darned lucky.
Luckily, they weathered Hurricane Charley at a friend's house. They will be retuning there tomorrow morning to ride out Hurricane Frances. I am pretty worried about them, as well as for the whole state of Florida. My Mom, the most Organized Woman on Earth, does have a big Rubbermaid plastic tub filled with "irreplacables" that she will take with her. These include important legal documents, jewelry, and items of sentimental value such as baby pictures of yours truly. Mom also made a checklist of medications, etc. that she and Stepdad Jim will need for the duration. When I spoke to her at 6:45 this morning (!) she said, "Lisa, I have been up since 4:00 am! I've done four loads of laundry!" My goodness. My Mom, when panicked or stressed, cleans.
Um, I didn't inherit those genes.
Mom seems to think that the biggest problem down there will be the amount of debris that is still around from the last storm. She says there are logs and brush and such everywhere, awaiting pickup. All of these items are potential projectiles. Stepdad Jim tried to get plywood at the local Lowe's/ Home Depot, and they were rationing it out. People were waiting in line! For plywood! I am guessing that Jim had a few choice profane words to say about that.
So this weekend, I will be thinking mostly of my little Mom and Jim down in Orlando. I am certain that they themselves will be OK, but I am pretty concerned about their home. It is going to be difficult for me to pry myself away from The Weather Channel tomorrow and Sunday.
Posted by Lisa at September 3, 2004 09:23 AM
Comments
We'll be thinking about your mom, too.
Have you found http://weatherbug.typepad.com?
It's a pretty good site for hurricane coverage.
Posted by: Melissa at September 3, 2004 01:05 PM
*fingers crossed for your mom and Jim!*
Posted by: kerry at September 3, 2004 01:11 PM
We're tuned into the Weather Channel. Family in all parts of Florida. Looks like it's letting up a little bit.
Posted by: meg at September 3, 2004 11:39 PM
I hope it doesn't get too bad down there. I've had little time to check on the weather situation, but I have some family there, too (near Daytona). Going to check the status of things now.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Posted by: deb at September 4, 2004 07:26 AM
Your mom sounds like mine...cleans when she's nervous. I didn't inherit those genes either! I hope your mom weathered the storm okay...I saw some pretty horrible pictures of the area yesterday on the Weather Channel. It's heading up my way now, but we shouldn't get anything but lots of rain and some wind.
Posted by: Faith at September 6, 2004 10:56 AM
sending well wishes. let us know how they weathered the storm.
(and i am completely hip with 'cleaning for stress')
Posted by: lisa at September 7, 2004 12:36 PM