·   You have FEMA's number on your speed dialer.

·   You have more than 300 'C' and 'D' batteries in your kitchen drawer.

·   Your pantry contains more than 20 cans of Spaghetti Os.

·   You are thinking of repainting your house to match the plywood covering your windows.

·   When describing your house to a prospective buyer, you say it has three bedrooms, two baths and one safe hallway

·   Your SSN isn't a secret, it's written in Sharpie on your arms.

·   You are on a first-name basis with the cashier at Home Depot.

·   You are delighted to pay $3 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

·   The road leading to your house has been declared a No-Wake Zone.

·   You decide that your patio furniture looks better on the bottom  of the pool.

·   You own more than three large coolers.

·   You can wish that other people get hit by a hurricane and not feel the least bit guilty about it.

·   You rationalize helping a friend board up by thinking "It'll only take a gallon of gas to get there and back"

·   You have 2-liter coke bottles and milk jugs filled with water in your freezer

·   Three months ago you couldn't hang a shower curtain; today you can assemble a portable generator by candlelight.

·   You catch a 13-pound redfish - in your driveway.

·   You can recite from memory whole portions of your homeowner's insurance policy.

·   You consider a "vacation" to stunning Tupelo, Mississippi.

·   At cocktail parties, women are attracted to the guy with the biggest chainsaw.

·   You have had tuna fish more than 5 days in a row.

·   There is a roll of tar paper in your garage.

·   You can rattle off the names of three or more meteorologists who work at the Weather Channel.

·   Someone comes to your door to tell you they found your roof.

·   Ice is a valid topic of conversation.

·   Your "drive-thru" meal consists of MRE's and bottled water.

·   Relocating to South Dakota does not seem like such a crazy idea.

·   You spend more time on your roof than in your living room.

·   You've been laughed at over the phone by a roofer, fence builder or a tree worker.

·   A battery powered TV is considered a home entertainment center.

·   You don't worry about relatives wanting to visit during the summer.

·   Your child's first words are "hunker down" and you didn't go to Ole Miss!

·   Having a tree in your living room does not necessarily mean it's Christmas.

·   Toilet Paper is elevated to coin of the realm at the shelters.

·   You know the difference between the "good side" of a storm and the "bad side."

·   Your kids start school in August and finish in July.

     You go to work early and stay late just to enjoy the air conditioning

This isn't meant to offend anyone since most of us had damage due to Ike.  I am just passing along an email sent by a friend that you really have to laugh at.  Without humor, we would all be going crazy!!!  Or, we can laugh while going crazy!
Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season is Like Christmas


 

Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas:

Number Ten: Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number Nine: Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number Eight: Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number Seven: Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number Six: Family coming to stay with you.

Number Five: Family and friends from out of state calling you.

Number Four: Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number Three: Days off from work.

Number Two: Candles.

And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
 
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

Something to laugh at/with!
 
Hurricane Education: What I've learned during our last hurricane . . . 
 
1. Coffee and frozen pizzas can be made on a BBQ grill.
 
2. No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work without electricity.
 
3. My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY (you can ask the people in line who helped me push it).
 
4. Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game controller in their hand.
 
5. Cats are even more irritating without power.
 
6. He who has the biggest generator wins.
 
7. Women can actually survive without doing their hair- you just wish they weren't around you.
 
8. A new method of non-lethal torture- showers without hot water.
 
9. There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.
 
10. TV is an addiction and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.
 
11. A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6-12 oz Budweiser's to a drinkable temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen for 8 more hours.
 
12. There are a lot of dang trees around here.
 
13. Flood plane drawings on some mortgage documents were seriously wrong..
 
14. Aluminum siding, while aesthetically pleasing, is definitely not required.
 
15. Crickets can increase their volume to overcome the sound of 14 generators.
 
16. People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for.
 
17. When required, a Lincoln Continental will float, doesn't steer well but floats just the same.
 
18. Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.
 
19. Cell phones work when land lines are down, but only as long as the battery remains charged.
 
20. 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you, and they are quick to point that out!
 
21. Hampers were not made to contain such a volume.
 
22. If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators... I'd be rich.
 
23. Price of a can of soup rises 200% in a storm.
 
24. Your water front property can quickly become someone else's fishing hole.
 
25. Tree service companies are under appreciated.
 
26. I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' blackout.
 
27. MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 6 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????
 
28. Drywall is a compound word, take away the "dry" part and it's worthless.
 
29. I can walk a lot farther than I thought.
 
For those of you in the Hurricane Ike hit areas - ***Hope your power is back on!***

We got back into town Monday.  But we werent able to get into our house.  There were fallen trees all around and blocking the door.  We are lucky that we only got a small amount of damage.  A window, the storm door, and a tree limb that might have caused a small amount of sturctural damage is all we got.  I feel bad for those who lost everything.  We finally got power on last night.  And we are hoping that it stays on while others are trying to finish repairing the lines and such.  Thank you to all who kept us in your prayers and thoughts.  As for us, hubby has missed a week of work.  Oh joy :(  And my parents, who just redid their entire down stairs (new sheet rock, carpet, furniture, etc.) took 4 feet of water in their house.  The motorcycle, golf cart and everything else down stairs is completely ruined.  So I am spending part of my days at my house trying to clean up the trees and get things back in order and what time I can over at my parents house pulling this up and out of the house.  The funny thing about them getting water is...  We were finding crabs and shrimp in their house.  Well, I have to go for now.  A lot still needs to get done.

Take care all.

Well, we are out of town.  We dont know how bad the damage is yet.  But looking at the path Ike took he hit our house pretty bad.  We are waiting on word that it is ok for us to return home.  But as of right now, we are being urged not to come home.  Although we dont know if we have a home to come back too.  Our neighborhood was flooding greatly before the hurricane hit.  So we dont know what happened after it hit.  My parents neighborhood even was flooded.  A person down the street from them who stayed instead of evacuating got 3 feet of water in their house.  So my dad, sister, and bro-n-law went ahead of Hubby, kids and I, to see how bad the damage was.  And to let us know if it is safe to come home.  Wether it be his or ours.  So please keep us in your prayers as we are trying to stay strong and have hope that there is something for us to return to.