Hurricane IVAN...The Aftermath

Well, western North Carolina has now experienced 2 Hundred Year floods in a span of only 10 days!! The Pigeon River here in Canton rose higher than it did when Frances came through. We had about 15 inches of water standing in our root cellar. Downtown Canton was devastated again. Geof's pediatrician's office was destroyed by Frances and the work that had begun to fix it was destroyed during Ivan. Luckily we live on a hill so the only trouble we had was with the root cellar. A lot of folks lost everything. It's really depressing. The mill in town has shut down. It is Haywood county's largest employer and it may never open again, thus ruining the local economy. The other day I saw a crib mattress lying beside the road where the river had left it. That really struck cord with me. I wanted to cry and I prayed that the child to whom the mattress belonged was safe and warm. There's a weird vibe around here now. It feels as if our lives have come to a screeching halt while the rest of the world carries on obliviously. By "our lives" I mean the lives of the people in this town. I'm lucky I can carry on with my life with only minor disruptions such as: downtown Canton is still off limits, we had to boil our water before using it for a couple days, Geof's pediatrician's office being destroyed. All just minor annoyances, but I still feel for the folks who were left with nothing. They are always in my thoughts.

Ole Crochet!

So, I've recently taken to crochet. I love it!! I used to be a knitter but I've been working on the same damn scarf for 8 years now. I like the fact that with crochet you get instant gratification...you don't have to wait to see the fruits of your labor. Right now all I can make is a granny square. So, in honor of my mother teaching me to crochet, I am making her an afghan for Christmas. I think I've mentioned this in a previous post. Oh well. I'm excited. No, I am addicted to crochet!!!!! I crave yarn and patterns and hooks!! Geez, I'm salivating now!!! I've also been cross-stitching. My mom gave me the entire contents of her "miscellaneous sewing bag". In it were some old Christmas ornament cross stitching kits. I made on already for my bestest friend Morgan. It's a little reindeer with it's antlers decorated with garland and the word "NOEL"....well, I had to put my little twist on it. Instead of "NOEL" it now says "SHIT". I guess you had to be there. Maybe I'll post a picture of it.

Hand In My Pants

So, I woke up about 5 o'clock this morning with a hand in my pants. No, it wasn't my own. Nathaniel, they hubby, was letting me know that he might possibly be kinda interested in a quick roll in the hay. I couldn't resist so we did. I like spontaneity. It seems to make life a little more exciting. These days, it's all about schedules. I'm not very fond of schedules. Damn I miss my youth. Lately, I'm feeling twice my age. I'm 22 years old and have been experiencing chest pains!! Is it stress? Is it my heart? Is it gas? I dunno. My fucking teeth are rotting out of my head because we can't afford the dental work. Luckily, I'm not in pain...yet. I have wrinkles...WRINKLES!! I have to put on a sweater when the temperature dips into the low 60s. Is this normal? I feel like I'm dying from the inside out. I am not the person I was 2 years ago. I miss that person. She was happy all the time.

Damn it!! I hate when I bitch!! What do I have to complain about?! I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my belly. I have a wonderful family, a loving and supportive husband, and the most beautiful, smart, blue-eyed, almost 2 year old son. To a lot of people I have it made in the shade! I guess it's human nature to believe that the grass is greener on the other side. It's really not, we all have our problems.

There, I feel much better. Thank you dear Blog!!

I've Got Ripplin' Water To Wake Me

Geof's little sponge brain has been working over time these past few days. He has learned to say "apple juice", "ouch, hurt" (and the appropriate time to use them), "ooo-ooo-ooo-ahahaha" (you know, monkey noises)....there was something else too but I can't recall.....OH YEAH! I asked him the other day if he was happy and he said "happy, happy, happy" like some cracked out addict. Now, he goes around saying, "Happy! Happy! Happy!" He's so funny. I've really been amazed lately at how fast he's growing and learning. I am very proud of him...as is Nathaniel. Watching my child grow up is the most joyously painful spectacle to behold. He's changing so much, I can't believe that he'll be 2 years old in January. I wouldn't trade motherhood for anything. It's such a humbling experience. I have a lot more respect for all women especially mothers now....well, the mothers that give a shit. Everything that he learns and absorbs now is going to shape the person he is to become, and it will continue on through the generations. He will teach what he has been taught. I guess it's true that you can change the world, it's a ripple effect. I just hope I don't let the world, or more importantly, my son down. Motherhood/Parenthood....this is what life is all about.

The Frances Aftermath

So, I finally got out last Friday to see the devastation caused by all the flooding from Frances. I wanted to cry. There were houses at the bottom of the other side of the hill that have been condemned. There was a lot of garbage pressed up against the guard rails on some of the bridges where the water had been rushing. It looked like a war zone. Now, with Ivan making what looks to be a bee line for us, I'm concerned that it may be us next time. We went to a 38th birthday party for a friend of ours. There were folks there that were affected by the flooding. Apparently, there are several cracks in some majorly important dam somewhere. If Ivan dumps on us before the dam is repaired we'll be washed away. That would be one hell of a flood because we live on top of a good sized hill. Anyone know how to build an Ark?

Nathaniel's wine making is coming along nicely. It stinks but it's also alcohol, so I'll live happily with it. It should be ready for drinking in about a week or two I believe. WOOHOO!!!

I've been working on an afghan for my mom. She taught me to crochet the other weekend so I'm attempting a granny square afghan. It will be a Christmas present if I don't give up between now and then. She'll get it mistakes and all. So far I'm very pleased with how things are coming along. I like the whole instant gratification thing. It's much faster and less mundane than knitting. Knitting sucks!! Crochet rules!! Oh dear God I am a total dork...

Well, Nathaniel's last day at work will be this Thursday. Those rich, fat, fuckers are laying him off then....he's the last to go; all the others finished last Friday. Apparently, the making of corn chips is more appealing than installing security alarms. Yes, they are giving up a very lucrative ADT dealership with a huge local market to make corn chips. What really gripes my ass is that Nathaniel is the best worker they have ever had there and they're too blinded by money and corn chips to see it. Every time they threw more bullshit in his lap he'd keep trudging along not asking questions. He was always on time, extremely professional with customers, very proficient at his work, etc, etc. There are NOT a lot of 22 year olds out there with the same work ethic. I'll be the first to admit I'm one of them. Oh well, Nathaniel isn't worried so neither am I. He'll get to take a 4 month "vacation" drawing unemployment. He told me that this couldn't have happened at a more convenient time for him because deer season started the other day. Now, he'll have all the time in the world to hunt. When he decides to work again he'll do the same thing only under Dustin's license, and he's agreed to pay him under the table for a little while. How 'bout that?!

My morning cigarette is calling and I've got an old brown dog starting to bark....have a great day!!!

Where's the Ark?

So, after about 36 hours of non stop rain why was I so surprised to be living on my own little island this morning? We ended up with about 6-8 inches of rain from "Frances." Nathaniel left for work at the same time as usual. He called me about 5 minutes later and said that he wasn't going to work because Canton didn't exist anymore. I thought he was just shitting me. He gets back and says that the folks on the other side of the hill are under water. He went back with camera in tow and shot some footage. I wouldn't have believed it otherwise. We were pretty lucky, we only had a foot of water in our root cellar. Now, the whole town is under a boil-your-water-or-risk-dysentery warning. I would like to have seen all the destruction in person, but I didn't think it would be wise to drag Geof around that shit. Anyhoo, now Canton and Clyde are have a curfew until 2pm.

Damn it, I've been caught blogging!!!!!!! Nathaniel just came in, now he thinks I'm a complete dork. I'm too sensitive. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I learned to crochet this past weekend. It absolutely kicked my ass at first, but I'm starting to kick it back. It's harder than one would think. There's a lot of counting and thinking involved and I've gotten out of the habit of doing either. Yeah, I'm a dumbass, but I have my good days.

Nathaniel is making wine in our bedroom now. Muscadine wine. He jokes that I could have married someone normal instead I snagged someone industrious and resourceful. I think I made the right choice. There's never a dull moment!!