At Starbucks with Lena. Just chillin. Also taking advantage of some free time to relax before, potentially, the storm gets here and, potentially, electricity goes the way of the wind, taking with it much of what I value as attributes of comfort in day-to-day life. Like, oh, air-conditioning. haha
Kind of funny... like how annoying it is to me when someone is called an "alleged" criminal. Whoever... was SEEN shooting whoever else... tons of people SAW it, etc etc, yet, until the aforementioned Whoever is convicted in a court of law, Whoever is referred to as the "alleged" shooter or the "alleged" murderer or what have you. It's all BS in my opinion.
Anyway, so we are waiting on Isaac, the ALLEGED tropical storm - slash - potential hurricane... to make landfall and shred away at the toes of the State of Louisiana. Then allegedly, potentially continue on its North/Northwest predicted path... and come blow things around up here in Baton Rouge. Well, that's after Isaac deals with New Orleans... and may God have mercy on that city. They don't need another soak.
Today, at the end of my workday, I was way out near what, for some reason, they call the "Bone Yard" in the North 40 of the plant where I work... filling sandbags. About 1/3 of the bags we began filling revealed themselves to be torn, or split down the sides, probably from sitting unused in the warehouse for who knows how long. So we covered about 2 wooden pallets with filled sandbags, and my guess is we'll be out there again tomorrow doing the same thing. Isaac is expected to arrive tomorrow evening.
Allegedly... LOL
So, when Lena and I leave here, we are going to my house to gather my baby boys... my sweet kitty cat loves of my life, Hippie and Leroy. We are all bunking at Lena's for the duration of the storm. Luna is already there. We have plenty of water, canned goods, non-perishables of various varieties, and enough toilet paper to wipe both our behinds completely off, should the notion strike us. Additionally, I am stocked up on art supplies and crossword puzzles, and a book I'm reading... my pastime passions of late. I hope Lena has things to do. I can entertain myself endlessly in my own little world of imagination, creativity and construction... but I don't want to wall her out. Hopefully, we can each do... whatever... simultaneously. And for those in-between times, we have purchased two decks of playing cards. We should be fine
I also want to go out walking with Luna after the brunt of the storm has passed. Make it kind of a tradition; she and I took a long photo walk together after Gustav in 2008. Cool thing about Lena is, she'll probably want to walk too. And take pictures too. UNLIKE my paramour during Gustav... who rathered to spend her time at the house. I'm not criticizing... just really liking the extent to which Lena and I share so many interests. Awesome to have that in a relationship. :)
Okay, time is passing... gotta hit the road and go get my boys and a few odds and ends I've been writing in a list while typing this blog.
All this Isaac stuff will turn out fine. Hopefully there's not too much disaster... maybe just a good day off work. That'd be fine by me. :) :)
I am at a Starbucks, trying to set up a budget spreadsheet and get my finances organized.
I'm a little irritated but I think that's because I forgot to take my medicine this morning. I will take it when I go back to Lena's house, though I hate to be around her feeling like this. She will understand, though, that I just need a minute. I worry too much.
I'm wrestling with whether to close my checking account. When Hancock Bank was bought out by Whitney, WHITNEY started charging me $7 a month for the account, whereas Hancock charged me nothing, ever. So I got a prepaid debit card that is free with my direct deposit and charges $3 a month as a maintenance fee IF I deposit (not maintain; just deposit) less than $1000 a month. Which, with God's blessing, I am paid more than $1000 a month so there would be no charge. Just, if I ever needed to cash a paper check, it would be a hassle without a private checking account. Right now my balance is $0.00 with nothing pending. Maybe I should just close it. Maybe I should close it before they decide to close it for me. But I have awful credit, so opening another account in the future might be hard for me or impossible. I don't know. I just don't know.
I do know I need to pay my tithe for God's blessing. But lately I hate my church so I don't want to pay them a dime. I wonder if God counts as tithing when you use your 10% to support the Kingdom in some other way. Like things Jesus would do, like being kind to the poor or supporting a battered women's ministry. Gotta pray about that.
It rained like crazy last night. Guess who forgot to close their sunroof. Yep, real nice. Real nice. LOL
Tomorrow is my brother Matthew's birthday. I need to do something nice for him. He has expressed feeling overlooked since my little nephew was born on 8/8/2005. Their birthdays are 4 days apart so Matt's kinda gotten lost in the childhood birthday party mayhem since then. I love my Matthew. Gonna get him a gift if I can think of what he might like. He's into... guns and... well, guns... that's all I really know. He loves guns and Ron Paul. Hmmmm. hehehe...
All I really know is, God is in control. He really has no competition. A bunch of people got laid off where I work Friday. The survivors clustered in groups around the plant and spoke quietly of the casualties, like little support groups after a tragedy. It made me realize how fleeting are things we can label "security." But there's no sense in worrying about it... that won't change anything.
Okay. Back to the budget, and doing the best I can with what I have now. That's all I can do. I have no control over anything else.
