Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

We ventured into town today. I want some new curtains for the room I'm fixing up for my parents. Trying to make it homey. Sigh...

Went to Petco because Cowboy is making me CRAZY! Maddie is out of heat, but Gracie is in. She's in the house, and most of the time Cowboy hangs out on the back porch...waiting...and waiting to see if Gracie will make an appearance. But, regularly he decides to go looking for her and I find him out of the backyard and looking in the front door - ARGH! I had a chain - he broke it....I had a heavy duty collar - he broke that. It just annoys the HEck out of me that I can't control this dog....grrrrr!

So - off to Petco. I went with the extra large collar and a cable tie out rated for 200 lb dogs. He will NOT break this. Fifty bucks worth of heavy duty Cowboy defeating stuff, lol. Worth every penny!!

Thought we'd run in the grocery store because Wal-Mart closed at 5 - argh. (What time did I get there? 4:55.) Hoped the grocery store would have what I was looking for - furniture polish and some spray cleaner. They did. "Greeters" meet ya at the door with their mantra "no milk, no bread, no water". Okaaaaay - I didn't want any. Was weird walking through seeing all those empty shelves and hearing the other customers wondering when all those things will be back in stock. Kinda sad really.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Very sad. And you're 200 miles away from the worst of it?
It all reinforces my desire to be debt free and as self sufficient as possible. It opens up options so many people just don't have.
It also convicts me to be thankful for what I DO have.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We were almost 200 miles away from the place it made landfall, but as it moved we had unprecedented amounts of rain and flooding. I'm just south of Houston where all heck broke loose. The area that the hurricane made landfall certainly got the worst of the winds, but this area got soo much of the rain.... ugh! And, we had all kinds of wind and even more rain yesterday and the day before as it skirted the coast and got us again...

We were warned by the media for several days to do things like stock up on water and milk and bread. I guess not enough folks listened.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I bet there were a LOT of people waiting for payday, or just too broke to buy much. Or elderly who had to wait for a ride...It's sad. So many people...
It's scary how many people are literally living paycheck to paycheck. And then something like this happens, and overnight, their job is gone.

 

[Mini Horses]

I bet there were a LOT of people waiting for payday, or just too broke to buy much. Or elderly who had to wait for a ride...It's sad. So many people...
It's scary how many people are literally living paycheck to paycheck. And then something like this happens, and overnight, their job is gone.

3X this......as I posted a few days ago, dominos falling!

Then, they have nothing, lost house or rental, lost possessions and no where to turn. No end -- depression gotta happen. In cases where families live in same area -- they all have this happening. Some may be able to move to family out of area and re-establish. These are really tough issues.

At least FEM was prepared and spared from much, much worse. Mom, dad & bro seem to be "OK for now" . I hope they had flood insurance.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I wonder what some of these people do when they have no family or "community".

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Mom, dad & bro seem to be "OK for now" . I hope they had flood insurance.

They did not... In a place where nobody ever needed it...same story a million other folks are telling right now. I HAVE flood insurance and didn't get water....go figure!

We did have to go in town today to start getting stuff for mom and dad to move in. I'm putting them in a room between house and garage. It's a finished room, but not part of the main house. It's literally between the dining room and the garage and gets tons of traffic because that's how I usually go into the back yard and then on to the pasture. Guess for privacy sake - I'll start going out the front door and go around.

The room has two walls that are almost all windows front and back - and of course no curtains because it's never been a bedroom. Got curtains today, and have a bed frame. We'll take a box springs/mattress set out of the guest room and put down there. I'll have to get another set for the upstairs guest room eventually. DD said she was changing out beds in her house and she'd donate a set from her house. Just can't get it here for awhile.

Remember 'entertainment centers' that folks used some years ago - that you could put your tv in and close the doors on it? That's their new closet. I even ordered a portable potty to go in that room because the closest bathroom is still quite a hike for an old man and a walker.

It's coming together, but slowly. I'm going to get them tomorrow whether everything is finished or not... Just need to get them here so they can start settling in. I have to go back to work Tuesday. Thank goodness there is a lady down the street from me who does elderly care. She'll be coming in for awhile to help out. I need to get mom/dad a new phone or they won't have any way to communicate with me while I'm gone... can't have them here with no ability to get in touch with me.

I even bought them some basics in clothing today because I don't know what we can salvage from their house. Sure they'll need more, just not sure what yet.

So much to do - so little time!

 

[FarmerJamie]

Wow, I don't know how some of you do it all.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I just admire your positivity FEM. Not only do it all, but do it all while not complaining (much, I mean you are human!)

I hope you are about to have a whole bunch of quiet time without drama cause oh man... You have earned that!

 

[sumi]

I didn't get time today to do more than pop in and read a few updates here, but I'm thinking of you all.