9/30/04 sweet tobie lyn

Thursday, September 30, 2004

sweet tobie lyn

Happy

I still don't have cable modem, so am on a dial up connection. I never realized how much I miss the cable!
I have been waiting to post a picture of Tobie, but decided to try to get one posted anyway. Isn't she precious? This was taken on the day we picked her up. She might weigh in at about 3 pounds, and is maybe 4 inches tall at her head. You can't see it, but she has little white tips on her back feet, and the white under her neck, other than that, she is pure black.



My dad gets up at around 4am to take her out to go potty, and then wipes her feet and belly off before putting her back to bed. You would think they gave birth to her.
My mom called me yesterday with the story of "we have to go out to Costco's, and you'll never guess what I did with Tobie. I put her in her crate, and she started to whimper, so I put her back in her bed and put her toys around her and told her it was time to take a nap. Then I pulled the sheet over the crate, and waited for a minute or so, and guess what?, when I peeked in and looked she was sound asleep under her little lambs wool companion."

Needless to say, Tobie is doing her job! She has those two wrapped around her little paw, and all she has to do is whimper once, cast her head over to the side and look up at them, and they melt. I can't really blame them tho, she is precious.

addendum: I have been using "photobucket.com" for my pictures lately due to the ease of putting them in my journal, uploading, etc, but they had some sort of melt down yesterday and the pictures in my journal vanished. Hopefully they will get my album restored later today, if not, I will re-do all the pictures here.
Auntie Lyn
10am It appears my album has been fixed and the photos are back up. (and after I uploaded these to my aol ftp space) Oh well, I will leave things as they are for now. For any that are interested, check out www.photobucket.com for picture storage and use.


lab2401 at 8:44:00 AM EDT Link to this entry

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Yea! Got the Pics. What a handsome and happy family!
V
Comment from deabvt - 10/1/04 2:26 PM

Rats, on dial-up, I get the red dots!
V
Comment from deabvt - 10/1/04 8:33 AM

What a sweet dog and story. My most favorite dog I ever had did have the same name. It's been 24 years since that dog passed away and I still miss him. :(


Comment from readmereadyou - 9/30/04 3:47 PM

She is adorable. What a great addition for your parents.
Comment from mom23nca - 9/30/04 10:23 AM

What a cute puppy...i'm so glad he put such happiness into their lives....dogs have a way of doing just that!
Comment from derasta - 9/30/04 9:41 AM

9/26/04 jeanne

Sunday, September 26, 2004

jeanne

I am so very grateful to report I have come thru hurricane Jeanne, whole and well. I lost power this morning about 7:15, and went thru the worst of the winds and rain listening to my transistor radio. Then I lost my phone about 6:30 tonight. But thankfully the cell phone worked, so I was able to stay in touch with family and friends. Finally my power was restored tonight around 9:30, with the phone very soon after that. I don't have my cable access, but at least I have my phone. Our winds are still gusting but very misty rain now at the most. So far I have recorded about 5½ inches of rain since this started about midnight last night.

Yesterday morning, I took my mom and dad to get a new puppy for them, a shitzu/poodle mix. Little black female. Poor mom and daddy have been frantic today worrying about her pooping and peeing, not being able to get her out, etc. They also lost their power from the storm, but got theirs back tonight also. I have some pictures and when I get my cable back up and running I will post some pictures. She is a little doll, they named her Tobie.

Well, I am out of here, it is time to go to bed and fall asleep counting my many blessings. Thanking God again to have made it thru another hurricane. Love to you all, Auntie Lyn and Uncle Owl.


lab2401 at 11:44:00 PM EDT Link to this entry

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And no more hurricanes!!
V
Comment from deabvt - 10/1/04 2:39 PM

I can't wait to see pictures of the new puppy...I have a Shih Tzu, Layla...she's a great dog...

http://journals.aol.com/derasta/ADayInTheLife
Comment from derasta - 9/28/04 5:18 PM

I am glad that you have once again come through in good health and good spirits. May this be the last hurricane you EVER have to experience! Margo
Comment from magogos - 9/27/04 10:11 AM

No more storms, Florida! : )
I'm so happy all is well and even the puppy can go out now.
Angela
http://journals.aol.com/readmereadyou/MyThoughts/
Comment from readmereadyou - 9/27/04 1:31 AM

9/24/04 reflections of mom

Friday, September 24, 2004

reflections of mom

Happy

Sorry I haven't been on the computer much this past week.
My sister and I picked my mom and dad up from the train station on Friday the 17th, and then on Saturday the 18th we celebrated my mom's 79th birthday. We had a wonderful dinner and party with all the kids, and family. The only great grandchild missing was my nephew's oldest daughter Amanda. It has been 2 years now since we have seen Amanda due to divorce issues, not a nice story all in all. Someday I will get into that story and try to sort it out in my mind. This picture is of my mom, and her brother, Arthur. She was about 14 months old here, and Art was 2 years old. This was taken just before my mom contracted polio at 18 months. I love this picture of the two of them. We don't have many pictures of mom when she was young as much of her early years were spent in and out of hospitals, and her parents divorced when she got sick. My mom was born in Connecticut, and when she was around 3 or 4 her dad decided he wanted his kids, and took the two of them to live with him at his sisters in Massachusetts. (Back in those years, a man was considered best to raise his family if that is what he wanted. After all, we are talking about 1928/1929.) His sister convinced him that he couldn't take care of them on his own, and they would be ideal children for an adoption. (My grandma tells the story that the old witch had a couple in mind to adopt my mom, and that Art would be raised to be a priest.) They were placed in a Catholic orphanage, and put up for adoption. This is the picture that was taken at that orphanage. A friend of my Grandma's that lived near my Grandfather let her know what was going on, and with the help of family and friends, she gathered all her resourses, hired acar and went to the orphanage to get her kids. They allowed her to visit them, as they thought she was all for them being adopted out, and on the pretext of taking them shopping, she abducted them, and took them back to Connecticut. My Grandfather sent word that if she wanted them bad enough to face kidnapping charges, she could have them. She raised them both without help from him, and he drifted in and out of their lives once in a while. This last picture was taken of my mom and some of her friends from Newington Childrens Hospital. This was home for mom much of her early life, hospital for surgery and therapy for 8 or 9 months, then to her mom's or her grandmom's house, then back to the hospital for more surgeries. My mom is the first on the left with the big white bow in her blond hair. Mom is writing her story down for the grand and great grand kids, and I, for one, can't wait to read it.

Happy 79th birthday Mom, I love you!



lab2401 at 8:44:00 AM EDT Link to this entry

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You GOTTA be kidding me-- Newington, Connecticut? I lived there from the age of 3 until I was 12. Small world, eh? Great photos! Quite the story, too!
Comment from haikulike - 9/25/04 10:57 AM

Happy Birthday, Mom.....lab, what wonderful memories & Pictures.
V
Comment from deabvt - 9/24/04 6:23 PM

Tell your mom we all want to wish her Happy Birthday. Margo
Comment from magogos - 9/24/04 5:41 PM

Happy Birthday Mom is right! Bless her heart. What a story. Maybe it can even be published one day.

Angela
Comment from readmereadyou - 9/24/04 3:53 PM

9/15/04 breathing a sigh of relief

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

breathing a sigh of relief

Chillin'

My heart and prayers go out for those who have been touched by Ivan's fury, and for all those who stand in his path. At the same time, I count my blessings, that we here in Central Florida were spared his wrath. Clean up is moving along here, now there are still about 170,000 people without power here in Central FL from hurricane Frances, but at least we have some time to get things together before the next one hits. There is another tropical storm, Jeanne, heading in our general direction, but I am praying that it heads itself north back out to sea before it becomes a threat.

It appears that Ivan will hit somewhere between the panhandle of Florida and Louisiana. Even if it doesn't hit New Orleans head on, the wind and tide surge will put that city underwater. I pray that it loses some of it's punch before it makes landfall, but they are predicting that it could actually gain strength, and bump back up to a category 5.

For those who have wondered, S is doing well thru all these storms. Most the time, she is sleeping thru them. Frances took out the nursing home's power out for 4 days, but they had generators to run half power for lights and fans, and keep the refrigerators and freezers up and running. When I got to her on Tuesday after Frances left us, she was in bed with a small fan on her in the window. The power came back on that night. I can't get over how well S is doing now. They have finally gotten her meds regulated, and she is sleeping well, with no nightmares, and she is not hearing music very ofter any longer. I give the psychiatrist lots of credit for his patience with working with her.

I have been fighting a cold since Friday night, and finally feel better tonight. Mom and Daddy will be headed back home Thursday, and I will pick them up at the train station on Friday afternoon. Then on Saturday we will be celebrating mom's 79th birthday. Plans are for the family to meet at my sisters house for roast pork, baked potato, green beans, rutabaga, apple sauce, rolls and butter, iced tea or coffee, and birthday cake and ice cream for dessert. I can't wait to see them both, I have missed them.

lab2401 at 12:17:00 AM EDT Link to this entry

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Lost your journal somehow. Glad I was able to locate it again. Ivan was horrible and my prayers, like yours went out to all who suffered because of it. Stop by and visit sometime. **Barb**
http://journals.aol.com/barbpinion/HEYLETSTALK
Comment from barbpinion - 9/22/04 8:01 PM

I am glad all is well with you- and that S is doing okay, too. I am also sooo glad you were spared Ivan. Take care of your self. Margo
Comment from magogos - 9/19/04 12:12 PM

9/10/04 bracing again

Friday, September 10, 2004

bracing again

Frustrated

AOL got it exactly the way most of us here in Florida are feeling...

It must be a new weekend because there's a new hurricane coming...
right? right!

I'm sure that as tired as others are from heaing about Florida's run of bad weather luck, we are tired of going thru it. It is surreal to go to the grocery, and have all the bread gone, to have bottled water and flashlights to be in the center isles as the impulse items to purchase. To wait 15 or 20 minutes in line waiting to top your gas off for fear you wont find any if you don't. To see grown men and women scrambling to grab the last 5 pieces of plywood because you are only allowed 5 at a time, and you might need them. Besides, if you don't get them when you can, you may miss out on the opportunity.

The waiting is intolerable. When you turn on local TV or radio all you see and hear are coordinates of latitudes and longitudes. We are learning more geography and meteorology than any normal person should ever be required to know. I can tell you what a cold front can do to a tropical depression, and how a high pressure area can drive a weather system. How millibars (mb) of minimal central depression mean a storm is gaining or losing strength, and how wind shears can weaken the formation and the eye. This is all stuff that I don't want to know, but the fact that we have had two major storms in 3 weeks, and by week 4 another hurricane will be at our back door, makes all this knowledge possible. I am beginning to know the Windward Islands by name and coordinates. I can even tell you which land mass will depreciate the storms magnitude, and which will have no effect.

I am sick and tired of my week being disrupted by weather! I am ready for a break from the drama and fears!

We started this all out with hurricane Charley on Friday, August the 13th, and now they are predicting that our third hurricane will begin to impact us around Monday, September the 13th. Here's the latest projection from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.


lab2401 at 9:02:00 AM EDT Link to this entry

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Prayers for everyone in the Path.
V
Comment from deabvt - 9/12/04 9:11 AM

I hope Florida will be okay. It really is getting to be such a stressful thing for all of you. You guys haven't had a chance to just exhale.


Comment from readmereadyou - 9/10/04 3:17 PM

OMG, Lyn, it is monsterously unfair! Where are you? I mean, what general area? I've forgotten. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers-again-and am so sorry you have to be under this kind of stress for so ling. Please take care of yourself and Walter(did I get the dog's name right?) Blessings, Margo
Comment from magogos - 9/10/04 2:01 PM

lab, prayers...and that was very enlightening...we tend to forget how it is in the eye of the storm.
V
Comment from deabvt - 9/10/04 9:24 AM

9/8/04 the aftermath

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

the aftermath

Thought it might be a good idea to check in again. There are still over 1.5 million people without power here in the state of Florida, and the heat and humidity is climbing. There have now been 14 deaths directly caused by this hurricane disaster. Another 4 were killed when their motorcycles struck a downed tree. They were not found until yesterday morning when a newspaper delivery truck could not get past this tree in the road, and he found their bikes and bodies tangled in the branches.

There is good news from this hurricane disaster 3 week period. There is a network of volunteers helping each other that is stretching thru the counties. There are people calling a number saying they have this and that, or can do this or that service, and then there are those that are calling and saying they need this and that, and they are all being hooked up together. A young teenager who is out of school until next Monday called and offered her services for free pet sitting or baby sitting for those parents/owners who needed the assistance. A woman called and offered the use of a generator and a gas stove that she used when Charley came thru and she lost her power. Several have called needing to get trees cleared off houses, and they have been hooked up with people with chainsaws offering their services. We have even had several of the local physicians and nurses get involved, with a free walk in clinic for minor injuries and difficulties located in a parking lot. They have been diagnosing, treating, caring and writing prescriptions for the elderly, young and in between for no charge. Our hospitals are out straight, and the emergency rooms are at full capacity and this has really helped out. These are only a few examples of the ways people are reaching out to each other.

So even with all the chaos, good has come from this. Proof positive that Goodness does exist!

lab2401 at 10:03:00 PM EDT Link to this entry

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lab, isn`t that wonderful to hear!
V
Comment from deabvt - 9/9/04 3:21 AM

Great entry! I truly believe, like you, all that's good in people comes out when things like this happen. Everyone becomes a loving human being......I wish we could all be that way even when things are good. God bless and stay safe from Ivan. I haven't watched the news, so I don't know where it is now.


Comment from readmereadyou - 9/8/04 10:29 PM

9/6/04 another day

Monday, September 6, 2004

another day

Hopeful

Well, I'm still here with my power and phone this morning. The day is bleak, dark and dreary. Still having rain, and gust wind on and off. The tree is still standing out there, and that is good. Sure enough a transformer went last night, the back door neighbors are without power, the housing development across the street, and my next door neighbor with the split tree. There is one section of us in this group with our power on. (About 5 homes) I consider myself blessed.

The official word is that 2 people lost their lives as a direct result of hurricane Frances, both in North Florida, in the Gainesville area (University of Florida). One was a woman who died when a huge oak tree fell on her trailer and struck her, and the other was a gentleman who was out looking at the damage, and ran into a tree on the road. Considering the magnitude of this storm, I am glad there have only been 2 deaths. The idiot out driving around should have known better. All of us here in the central FL area are under a 6pm to 6am curfew, and they are requesting today, that if you don't have emergency business to take care of, please stay off the roads today to allow the work crews to assess and take care of the damage.

Hurricane Frances, in her typical fashion, is off the coast of Tampa, and just sitting there. She is churning away, causing all kinds of problems for those of us here in FL, as well as far north as S. Carolina, all of Georgia, and Alabama. Not a nice girl if you get my meaning! Here is map of Ivan's approach, let's pray he gets tired of all the hoopla and fizzles out!


lab2401 at 8:32:00 AM EDT Link to this entry

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Glad to hear you're okay. I was reading today that a bunch of Baptists in Oklahoma got together and are driving a food wagon down there to help feed the people whose homes have been destroyed and those without power, etc. Then one of my best friends, whose dad is a trucker, told me that his dad has been hauling loads for FEMA. It seems he doesn't even have to comply with our hours of service rules or weight restrictions while he's doing this. They're just putting as much drinking water (or food or whatever else he's been hauling) on his truck as will fit, regardless of if it's over weight and he's been driving them down there as fast and hard as he wants.

I hate that so many are hurt and out of a home, but I love to hear how everyone pulls together to help. Hang in there Auntie Lyn. :)

Sammie
http://journals.aol.com/ladydriversammie/MovinOn

P.S. Oh, and I also read a news story that said there are folks putting various things on sale on Ebay, like vials of rainwater from Frances. The things people think of! I suppose if someone would buy them though, that might be a way to raise money for the people who have lost so much...
Comment from ladydriversammie - 9/7/04 10:02 PM

Let's hope he's Ivan the Not-So-Terrible! (knock on wood!)

Glad you're ok!
~tara :)
Comment from pollysci - 9/7/04 8:27 PM

Thank goodness. I am glad to see you up and typing, so to speak. Ivan had better blow himself out somewhere other than FL, I pray!
Comment from magogos - 9/6/04 5:45 PM

Let's hope God transfers that hurricane Ivan out to sea!


Comment from readmereadyou - 9/6/04 3:51 PM

9/5/04 checking in again

Sunday, September 5, 2004

checking in again

Hopeful

I'm hanging in there still, power and phone still on. Just heard a transformer blow close by, my next door neighbor is in the black now, as well as the housing development across the street. We are still getting some periods of high winds and heavy rains at 8:00pm. So far, I have recorded 6 inches of rain since yesterday when this started in earnest. My neighbors tree on the fence line got hit with a twisting wind and split in two. Thank God, the half that would be headed for my place is hung up in the trees, and hasn't fallen as of yet. I figure if it hasn't come down in the winds we have had so far, it probably will hold until this is over and it can be taken down. I got this picture about 5:00 tonight when the winds had died down, and was under my umbrella. You can see the edge of it across the top of the photo. This neighbor has the whole fence line lined with oak trees. The wind and rains are still coming down pretty hard at times, we are having a deluge as I type this.

Now I am waiting word on hurricane Ivan, who is making his way from Africa very quickly. He is following the path that Frances took, and he is gaining speed and strength already. They are telling us, that it looks good that Florida will be impacted by him also. They are saying by this Thursday, he will be near the Dominican Republic, and we will know by Friday if we will get hit by him over this next weekend. I am thinking that maybe we all ought to abandon ship, and the last person out leave a FOR SALE sign at the Georgia border! I will write more as I can. Thank all of you for your prayers for me and my fellow Floridians. I believe that this is what has saved this from being a total disaster that was predicted on Thursday night.

lab2401 at 8:48:00 PM EDT Link to this entry

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Wishing you well with prayer. Paula
Comment from plieck30 - 9/6/04 1:57 AM

So glad you are safe...thanks for letting us know that. I can't believe that another hurricane is on it's way!!! Forest fires in California...all this in Florida. Unreal.

God Bless....TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
SHARON
Comment from spurgins311 - 9/6/04 12:49 AM

Glad for the update. Mother Nature sure can show her furious dark side, can't she. Sorry that you are in Her path. Take care. Margo
Comment from magogos - 9/5/04 10:24 PM

I think the prayers have worked. From what I've heard so far on TV, no loss of life and that's what I really prayed for and I'm hoping that news continues.


Comment from readmereadyou - 9/5/04 9:38 PM

keeping you in prayers. Thanks for keepin in touch. *Barb*
Comment from barbpinion - 9/5/04 9:24 PM