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We are preparing for Hurricane Ike … it is expected to only get to be a Category 3 now but it is not traveling very fast yet … the tropical storm winds & possibly isolated tornadoes are expected to start here tomorrow [Friday] morning …. they think anywhere from 60 mph and up Friday and hurricane wind speeds on Saturday and probably Sunday too. I live in Katy – I’m NOT in the storm surge area – that means I am not in a coastal area – so I do not need to evacuate. We expect lots of wind, maybe isolated tornadoes … we may get some flooding depending on the rain and how fast it comes down … it’s been dry so the bayous are expected to be able to handle the water coming down.

People along the coast … Galveston Island, Texas City, Freeport and all the other coastal cities are in the process of mandatory evacuations. Could be up to about 22 foot storm surge along the coast … the idea is to run from the [storm surge] water and hide from the wind [stay in place].

When the storm is over, many areas could well be without electricity … up to 3 weeks in some areas as a worst case scenario. For anyone who wants to watch local news or check it once in awhile …. http://www.khou.com … this is the CBS local channel’s website that I am watching on my TV right now. The news is also warning us that cell phones may not work either if their towers are blown around or down … I only have a cell phone.

Hurricane food supplies at my house: crackers … 2 different kinds of crackers [4 wheat saltine boxes and 2 multigrain round] … peanut butter and strawberry preserves … 3 cans of canned chicken, 2 vacuum packaged packs of salmon and 1 can of minced ham … 1 bag of taco chips with a jar of mild Pace picante sauce …. lots of water …. 1 12 pk ea of cherry coke and A&W root beer … and 12 each plastic packs of no refrigeration needed pudding, Mandarin oranges, cinnamon applesauce and mixed fruit.

I’m cooking the pork chops out of the freezer right now while doing laundry. I’ve got the battery operated emergency weather radio/flashlight charging and so is the PSP [gotta have video games if the lights go off!]. Everything has been moved into the garage or the house including the landscape LED lights and the extra batteries are in the closet which is the no-window shelter in the middle of the house.

The track keeps changing a bit … now it is nearly headed right up into downtown Houston … we’ll all still get wind, rain and wind damage … but the storm surge may be in places we wouldn’t want it to be … time will tell .

We may have no electricity for days after the storm … THAT will not be any fun … this heat … no a/c … nope … we are not looking forward to that at all

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The wait seems like forever … LOL … perhaps it is because I want to pack up and move in … start painting …. home decorating …. stencil the walls with hand drawn designs and stencil paint … get on with whatever is next in life and being in a holding pattern is not a lot of fun to my way of thinking

I have not started packing yet … I am planning on starting that this week-end …. I cannot pack up the dishes for example though until just before I move.

Books and magazines … I always pack all but a select chosen few that I know I will be needing between now and when I move …. I expect to have most if not all of my “can do now” packing done this week-end.

Art / painting supplies …. I pack most of them too … my watercolor pencils and the pencil sharpener never get packed til the very last minute though … and I always keep a pad of watercolor paper of each size out and handy since I never know exactly what size I might need for whatever creative painting idea excites me to capture it on paper right away in the moment.

Clothes …. I tend to pack all except selected office wear and casual every day outfits … I have a closet full of clothes and since it is summer … all the winter clothes can be packed right away now … I won’t be wanting to wear those for a few days at the very least.

So far the only thing new that I have bought for the house has been an Indonesian wood 2 chair/bistro table set (looked almost but not quite like redwood to me in the store) that was on clearance sale at the local grocery store … I am thinking I will put it in the living room for my grandson to use when he watches TV while eating.

[shhhh ... don't tell Mommy that Grandma lets him watch TV while he eats at my house! We eat together plus I watch TV with him and we talk together during meals ... it just is not overly formal or with the TV off ... and usually the only time the TV is ever on anyway is when he comes over.]

At first I was thinking of putting the kitchen table and 4 chair set in the living room … the space in the kitchen may be a bit tight with it in that kitchen corner … but after talking to my daughter about it, we decided the kitchen would still be the best place for it [unless it really will not fit when I get moved in].

I am thinking that I want to add cantaloupe melon orange color to my kitchen to go with the browns they have in there. I’ve never had a brown kitchen nor an orange one let alone a combination brown and orange.

Perhaps I might paint a few cantaloupe melons on the walls too? A bit just over the top idea? ROFL … I LOVE seeing stenciling or painting on the walls … a lot … it adds flavor and homey warmth … it says someone who lives here cares enough to personalize and make the space uniquely their own … perhaps it is just the artist in me needing artistic ornamentation surrounding me in my home. BUT … when I go to someone’s home that has unique home personalization stenciling accents etc … I always feel the home has much more warmth and personality than stark modern plain sharp edges. Maybe that is why so many people go “country or home-spun” for decorating … angles and sharp edges can be hard to live with on a daily basis for many people …. I like modern and sharp edges and angles some times in some places … but not everywhere and not in every room … so maybe some of the art work in the living room will have angles and edges … I still have a painting full of angles and sharp edges floating around in my creative mind from my trip to San Francisco a couple years ago … it just hasn’t put itself on paper yet

I can and have cut my own stencils but I also buy ready made … and now that I will have my very own garage {INSERT VERY BIG GRIN HERE} … I can get myself a scroll saw …. a bit of wood for my shelves that my son-in-law did NOT build for me for xmas last year …. and maybe an airbrush paint sprayer … with drop cloth of course … I don’t want to make a mess that won’t clean up.

I’m thinking free-hand mural for the living room using stenciling paint too … it’s my house … I can paint a mural on the wall if I want to do so {wicked grin} and if my daughter goes … MOTHER … that is okay too … it is not her house … it is MY house … and I am the one living there … she just visits every once in awhile … LOL … maybe I will ask my grandson to help me paint a mural on the walls of the house … now THAT probably would freak out his mother, my daughter … ROFL

Posted under Texas