hurricane irene prep

 

propane stove and 2 full tanks at the ready.
freezers are full enough to keep contents cold for a couple days.
ham & navy bean soup in the crockpot, ready to reheat tomorrow.
instant coffee is on the way home.
banana oatmeal coffeecake, banana bread, italian herb bread: baked.
uniforms ironed for the week.
bedrom furniture on blocks (cuz my bedroom is in the basement.) one room left to tidy in the basement and i can call it a night.
i think we are ready. except for not having a battery back up for the sump pump. :o(

untitled

 

...and in the silence, doubt

creeps on silent slippered feet;

a thousand unspoken thoughts

rest on closed lips.

the pain of nothing wells

up to overflow its banks

while i wait out the silence

once again.

it was the tiffany lamp

 

The call came in at 13:20 that D pier was dumped for an unattended bag. My co-workers headed upstairs with test kits. The office I was in was included in the blast zone; I could get out, but I would be unable to return until the all clear was sounded.  Deep in a protocol discussion, I noticed the pull chain from a desk lamp, rattling against a mug. I stopped, splayed my hand flat on the desk and said, "Why is the airport... MOVING?"

Considering the thickness of the tarmac and the fact that my office is not located in a high traffic area, this was very odd indeed. "It's just a tug going by," waved off one of the instructors. "It's a plane."

"We don't feel the tugs in here," I said, pushing away from my desk and looking at the ceiling. "Or planes. My God. Did the bomb just go off upstairs?? Was there more than one?? It's still shaking!"  At that point boxes on the top shelves began shifting violently and there were screams from the locker room next door. "It's an earthquake." (Insert a wave of relief here, followed by a breath of panic.) I picked up my phone and wallet, locked my computer screen, fumbled around looking for keys and by the time I got to the door (which everyone was trying to stand in) the earthquake was over. Those In Charge decided that everyone needed to evacuate the building.

I immediately called the kids. They were confused and scared, but safe. The phone fell off the table, but they didn't see any other damage. My supervisor told me to go home instead of standing around outside; I asked if I should stay and help when the checkpoint re-opened but he said no. So I threw my stuff in my bag and left. On the tarmac, I tried to make phone calls, but I got nothing. No dial tone, no busy signal. Just air. Very disconcerting. I was able to shoot some texts through and I was receiving them just fine.

Got a text from Fergus on his cell phone, indicating that he was out of the building and at least at his car. I could not reach my parents through any of their phone numbers. On the way to the parking lot, I could see passengers, airport employees, police, TSA friends with walkies standing surrounding the parking garage.  Not a few passengers had given up and decided it was Not A Day To Fly and were walking towards the hotel district.

By the time I got to my car, about 14:10, there were carloads of airport employees returning to the lot. As in, they friggin ran. As in, left the airport property entirely, not merely evacuated the building. The fact that they were returning by the carload (seven people in the back of one pickup all wearing the same shirts) says that they were supposed to still be in place, helping with evacuations and directing passengers..... what an embarrassment. While I won't call anyone or any business out individually, I will say that I am ashamed to work in an environment where people who think it is just fine to leave in a crisis. Good to see who has my back. Or, not.

Kids hugged me hard when I got home, ahead of the traffic wave.  Heard from Fergus, my father and somce close friends. Finally calmed my nerves enough to take a short nap. And I get to wake up and start all over again tomorrow! Yay Friday!!

silver turtles (campfire)

 

this is a pretty filling recipe for a family of six.  we served with dinner rolls and butter, but only 2 kids were still hungry for them!

1-1/3 lb ground turkey (or beef, whatevs)
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can green beans (or your fave veggie)
shredded cheddar cheese
~ 6X9" rectangle of foil
i also used a smaller square of foil to keep the meat from burning

fill a chimney with charcoal and let burn til slightly ashy.
1.  season your ground meat to your liking.  we generally throw in italian bread crumbs, minced onion, garlic salt & pepper.
2.  skoosh seasonings into meat and form into 6 patties, one on each small foil square (about 4x4").
3.  place small foil onto large rectangle. 
4.  spoon soup on top of meat patty.
5.  place drained veggies on/slightly to the side of soup.
6.  sprinkle shredded cheese atop.
7.  fold short sides of foil up first.  make a tent of the long sides and fold over. (if patties have different ingredients, mark the fold with names before placing in the fire.) they should look like little silver ovals.
8. arrange coals in a circle, placing turtles on top of coals.  cook for about 30 minutes, turning turtles so that the sides away from the center get moved to the center coals (where it's hotter).  ground meat is done between 165-170 degrees. depending on the thickness of the patties and the heat of the coals, your turtles may cook faster or slower.

vent and serve straight from the foil packet.  they smell fantastic over the fire.  our next door neighbor said he could smell them from his house.  if you double wrap the foil packets, it may take longer to cook.  that is why i only doubled the bottom layer.  juices from the meat combine with the soup and make an almost gravy for the meat and potatoes.

we are heading out to the yard to make deluxe s'mores for dessert.  instead of plain chocolates, we use different kinds of candies: peanut putter cups, godiva chocolates, mr. goodbars, YUM!!!

wanted: control

 

my mother is compiling a power point presentation for her funeral. if anything at all says 'control freak', that is pretty much it.

so she needs these pictures that she thinks i have for her presentation. husband dear says mother forbade us to remove these items from her house when we visited. we are far too irresponsible to handle such things as pictures of her father. she insisted that we scan the picture and documents in at her house and take only electronics with us.

nine years later, she calls asking for the pictures back. since i have seen the pictures she is asking about, i tell her we will check in our storage unit, where we keep things we aren't looking at right now. she called back 48 hours later, wanting to know if we had found them. i told her i hadn't looked yet. that did not make mother happy. 

four days later, she called again. said my brother was going to drive down and get the pictures from us on friday on his way to her house. she was very disappointed to learn that we were to be out of state on friday. 

two days later, my brother called to ask if we could puppy sit for him whilst he visited mother. seems his puppysitter was unexpectedly called out of town. mother does not allow dogs in her house, so she told him he would have to board the dog. doggie, however, was not old enough to receive all the shots she needs to be allowed in a boarding house. no go. well. mother does not allow dogs in the house. so i am going to puppysit. and brother is supposed to pick up those pictures we discussed. 

i cannot believe that my mother is being so self-centered. while i was talking to my brother, she called my house and cell phone FIVE times. when i called her back i said, "seriously? five times in ten minutes? can't a girl take a dump??" seems she planned originally to drive up this way and stop by my house anyway. to fetch the pictures. UM, WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME, BITCH?? i think it would have been hilarious had she decided to just show up and we were out of town.

i am really not understanding what is going on here. i told her, "i have contractors coming in and out of the house. i have multiple children going to and from summer camp. i work full time and have a house to run. i haven't had time to set my pants on fire and go look for the pictures. what is the big hurry??" 

the only answer i got was, "i need those pictures."

effing control freak. someone tell me why i left home at age 18 years, 3 weeks and four days? yeah. that was it.

 

 

husband has just returned from the storage unit. and the verdict is: we have no pictures or documents from my side of the family. at. all. everything we have has been scanned or downloaded from the census bureau. mother will not be pleased.

my all-stars

To my Den 8 Webelos at Dulaney Cub Scout camp: you are my all-stars, those boys of summer who tried their hardest, sang their hearts out (even when they didn't want to), made new friends & palled around, learned scouting values (and the Scout Law!), sweated like pigs & drank like horses, wowed the camp with their sincerity, all the while earning the bragging rights to Best in Camp for Marksman, Archery, Fishing & the Obstacle Course, in addition to top Webelos scores in those categories. On behalf of Mr. Mike, you made us proud.

 

See you on the trails, boys. 

 

PS - I remember your names, finally.  ;o)

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFk friday.

 today i celebrated friday by

 

* working with douchecanoes on the checkpoint when i didn't have to (but wasn't told that until 11am)

* getting my new badge re-issued since this current one was deactivated the day after i got it

* staying an hour late to re-vamp a 940 line spreadsheet in which i was directed to "guess" at some of the unknown/uncollected data by a dude whose breath smelled like he frequently licked public ashtrays

* not calling the house because someone sat on the phone making it off the hook for 6 hours

* not fixing dinner because i couldn't call anyone to start the bread machine or tell me what was left on the grocery list

* and having no inclination whatsoever to fix dinner.