HA! Erin, like we're afraid of you! We scoff at your paltry winds and rain...

Just because we all got complacent those NOAA guys had to fix our wagons and sic a Tropical Storm (Erin as she goes by) on us.

Hey NOAA, I get it. You're Chicken Little and we all blew you off about the sky is falling.

Okay you woke us up, now call back your storm. Tell it to sit, wait, lie, and play dead.

I think the Rita-strength hurricane threat was a little over the top; I noticed even the news media didn't take you seriously. I mean, probably half of the area is all, "Erin? Erin who? And NOAA? Who's that? Her husband?"

That storm? With its paltry 40 mph winds, rapidly approaching land just south of my town? It's leaving the Happy Hurricane Zone of the Gulf. That means the power and force it needed to pick up? TOO LATE BABY!

So HA! I laugh in the face of your storm. HA HA HA HA

It wasn't going to happen anyway because I employed my super secret anti-hurricane magic, also known as Preparing for the Worst. My flood insurance is paid up, the tree at risk already fell, I've stockpiled essentials in the house (water, batteries, flashlights), and my important documents are in grab-n-go mode. I even have an official little Evacuation and Preparedness checklist (typewritten).

You see? No way was this going to be a hurricane and hit here.

So, while I was buying water I grabbed the makings of a happy little cocktail we Gulfies like to call a Hurricane.

What do you mean do I know Dean? Dean who?

Copyright 2007 Julie Pippert
Also blogging at:
Ravin' Maven REVIEWS: Get a real opinion about BOOKS, MUSIC and MORE
Ravin' Maven RECOMMENDS: A real opinion about HELPFUL and TIME-SAVING products
About-HOUSTON-TX.com: HOT scoop about H-Town!

Restaurant Trauma in Texas: How eating out prompted a really uncomfortable lesson about culture

WARNING: This is NOT a family-friendly post, aka the warning I WISH I'd gotten yesterday before I walked in. Yesterday was a Holiday. I hope you heard the scare quotes around that. Yeah, when you are an adult here is how holidays work: you, same workload as always, kids WOO HOO NO SCHOOL FREEDOM. Do the equation. The result is the day I had yesterday. If math isn't your strong suit I'm pretty sure you can still add that up but just in case let's say the highlight of the afternoon included me dumping out the mismatched sock basket and telling the children to have at it, in a way very reminiscent of Miss Hannigan of Annie . Anyway luckily I've taught my kids that Chores are Fun! and they had a good time. Later, I cranked up the fun-o-meter on a bank errand by dropping in the Halloween store to check out costumes, and upped the ante on "Mom needs new running shoes" by tacking on a "Hey let's eat out at a restaurant!" My husband was able to join ...

NEW and UNDISCOVERED BLOGGERS: I'll link you!

** Hey please come vote for this at SK*RT to get the word out! ** You know what? There are new bloggers out there. I know! NEWBIES. What's more...there are undiscovered bloggers, untapped wells of talent. But we don't know about you. I know, some people are shy, not really joiner types, don't prefer blog blasts or carnivals and so forth. So tell you what: I'll try to create a link list with some regularity. All you have to do is comment and let me know how to find you (aka paste in your link). Write a brief description of your blog, you know a couple of sentences a la "Hi I'm a mommyblogger from Detroit and I have two preschoolers who are very loud and creative, all funny stories on my blog!" or "I'm so deep I make Julie look shallow. If you wish you could have hung with Plato, come by my blog." or "I'm a guy who likes to talk about motorcycles." or "My blog is all about space exploration." And I'll link you. I...

Does the abstinence message for drug use work?

This past week I've made time to read up about social aspect awareness and education programs for young children in our public schools. My interest, of course, began with the red ribbon program , which I became alarmingly familiar with due to my daughter's negative experience . I read the Brain, Child article ( Scared Straight? Or Just Scared? Do elementary school anti-drug campaigns work? by Juliette Guilbert), which was excellent, as well as the research study that found the Boomerang effect of drug education and awareness programs that article cited (see a fact sheet that provides source citing for the University of Illinois article and also read the original Brain, Child article for more information). In short, our techniques are not working: "Levels of drug use did not differ as a function of whether students participated in D.A.R.E. Every additional 36 hours of cumulative drug education…were associated with significantly more negative attitudes towards police…m...

Julie Pippert: Using My Words

Search This Blog