I know you won't believe this, but I had written a mostly-knitting post, and Blogger ate it. Maybe it will be burped up later. Or maybe Blogger doesn't believe it's me if it's not about hurricanes.

With each storm we get quieter and talk about it less. After Charley it was a big deal - oh wow, first hurricane to hit this area in 40 years. After Frances it was a big pain in the ass - okay, two in a row, that's really weird, but.... After Jeanne, we're in "Let's pretend it didn't happen and talk about something else," mode. And we're all way too aware that hurricane season lasts until November 30 - whenever anyone says "Maybe that was the last one," someone else gloomily points out that nobody expected the two that hit us after Charley. I prefer to think that the insanity is over, and the next storms will be minor and go elsewhere, September is traditionally the most active month. But I'm not restocking the fridge with too much until Thanksgiving.

The mosquitoes are the biggest problem. There is so much standing water everywhere they are multiplying in truly horrific numbers, and they are everywhere, they bite during the day, they sneak into the house, it's a constant battle. My county did some aerial spraying after Frances, I hope to God they have lots more planned. The drainage ditch behind my house is full, stagnant because the lake can't take any more water, and the surface is just shimmering with insect life. And we're in one of the less affected areas.

Once again, my daughter and I were hooting at the hilarity of the Weather Channel. I will never take them seriously again. She was watching reports of a 1/2 inch of rainfall in Tallahassee while looking out her door at three inches of rain that had already fallen and was still pouring down. I already mentioned that 2 inches for Orlando thing I saw - on the radio this morning I heard a report that one area in South Orlando picked up 19 inches. Yep, the Weather Channel, they're all over it.

Okay, now that I've fulfilled my required hurricane commentary so Blogger will not discard my damn post as written by an imposter:

I'm in a knitting deer-in-the-headlights mode right now, I can't decide what to start next, and I'm maybe too tired to think about it, but I still want to do it, so I sit frozen, unable to decide which way to go. I thought I knew, but then again, I don't. Nothing appeals. After three storms and today an outdoor thermometer read 100, it's really, really hard to remember that cooler weather is around the corner. But I know it's true, so I'm thinking a wooly poncho, which I'd originally resisted, may be the best dog-walking attire of all - imagine crawling out of a nice warm bed and having to take a dog out into the chilly morning air - what's better than a blankie-like poncho at that moment? Maybe better than a knitted coat - throw it on, no need to find difficult things like armholes at 5:30 a.m. I have that faux-Manos from ebay that I'd abandoned, but damn, that'd make a warm and cuddly dog-walking poncho. I have to think about that...tomorrow. Tonight I'm too tired, and my arms are aching from heavy yard work yesterday. Actually, my whole body is aching - I'm fine if I'm up and moving around, but if I sit too long everything stiffens up. Condominium isn't such a dirty word right now. I'll feel differently after I've taken care of the endless list of damage and repairs, but right now that whole "let the association do it" thing has a certain appeal. Naaah....

I had a long post written and ready to send when we had a few power issues here that took out my connection for a few hours. Damage here is light - trees, shingles, mangled screen rooms, nothing to get excited about. Power is spotty, my phone just started working reliably a few hours ago, and we're on a boil water alert. Otherwise, this wasn't bad. My parents were in the eye on the western side, they were fine, lost a tree, no shingles, and didn't lose power. I was really worried about that, considering their age and my dad's heart condition, extended time in this heat without A/C would be very risky. Both the children had no problems. We were lucky. We know it and we're grateful.

This was just so unbelievable - three major storms in six weeks, four if you count Ivan (though I don't because it didn't hit us here). Someone on the radio had a great comparison - the last time three major storms hit any area was in the 1800s in Texas. That affected 100,000 people. This affected 17 million.

Network news coverage is so drama queen - I know people in the hardest hit areas, and they are getting up and living with it. This isn't to say it's not really serious or the damage isn't really bad, it's just the Drama Queen Tones of Tom Brokaw are kinda... soap opera. I'm sure there are people who rush to the reporters to play their stories of drama, but everybody I know is just calling the insurance company and picking up the pieces, without cameras. Florida has not been blown off the map. Today I was in the supermarket with a bunch of Brit tourists - how they found their way to this side of town I'll never know - and they were shopping and laughing and having a great adventure. The theme parks will be open tomorrow. My office was closed today but will be open tomorrow. I spent the day cleaning up, aside from missing shingles my neighborhood looks fine. The east coast took a stiff beating but will recover, the rest of the state took a lighter beating and is already bouncing back. Enough with the Storm Drama. I hope I never have to mention another one on this blog. Back to knitting. Please.

Oh my GOD, look at my Weather Pixie, that LYING LITTLE HO!!! The wind is howling, it's dark, the rain is pouring down, and she's standing in partly cloudy! That is really just too funny.

No photos of the downed tree, because it's still pouring out there (but the wind has died to just really windy in a normal way) and because the tree is already gone. The testosterone was thick in the air, let me tell you - as soon as the wind dropped below hurricane force, men with chainsaws were out there in 60mph gusts and driving rain, cutting up that tree and experiencing much male bonding. Arrr rrrr rrr. They enjoy these damn storms way too much.

So does Murphy - we had to go out and watch the Manly Men with Chainsaws cut up the giant tree, and visit with the neighbors. The storm isn't over, everybody's just over it, so we were all out there in it. We don't have any above-ground power lines (which also at least partly explains why we still have power) or flooded streets, so we weren't really taking our lives in our hands, at least not that crazily. Anyway, the rain kicked up and the wind blew really hard, another hurricane-force gust, and Murphy LOVED it - he was soaked to the bone, as was I, and trotting along in the wind, sodden hair blown back, tongue hanging out - this was a fine doggy moment. I could barely stay upright, but he's a low, ground-hugging dog, he thought it was cool. Though when he lifted his leg to pee and was actually blown over, he conceded that going in was a good idea. Besides, the wind driven rain was really hard enough to sting. I changed my clothes and used the dryer on my hair and his. Electricity - it's a good thing.

So let's talk about yarny things. I made a hat today, pink Cascade 220 from the stash, for charitable donation. Pattern from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and I'll top it with a pom-pon. A one day wonder, it got me through endless hours of wind speeds and radar images.

I tried to input my stash into a computer database and quickly got tired. I am just not that anal-retentive, and I prefer to go wander through the shitload of yarn to remember what I have, touching and feeling and planning. I often go in with the idea of one project and find something else entirely. What would a database really do for me?

I was already on a yarn fast, embarrassed by the stash excess, and the words of wisdom on No Idle Hands certainly rang true. When you're worried about the roof falling in, a massive yarn stash is little comfort. And that's coming from the queen of retail therapy - after a while enough big things happen in your life that retail therapy no longer feels right or makes sense, it just seems like pointless excess. I don't WANT to buy more yarn. I want to use the yarn I have.

I'm working on yet another felted pouch from Weekend Knitting. I think that's going to be a standard Christmas gift this year - well, not for the guys.

Oh, I thought the wind was dying down, but I was wrong, another huge blast is howling right now. This has been going on since 2 a.m., and got really bad at 5 a.m. It's almost 7 p.m. Jeanne needs to go the hell away.

Rants about "Why Is It So Hard to Find a Female Friend Who Isn't Insane and/or Totally Narcissistic?" to follow, when I have energy. I've been up since about 3:30, I'm going to retreat to my TV and my felted pouch knitting soon, and revel in Electricity. Without the noble efforts of Thomas Edison and William Haviland Carrier, there is no way in hell I'd live here. Of course, Edison's winter home in Ft. Myers had electric lights but no A/C - but then, it was his winter home. It's a wonderful place, if you ever get to Ft. Myers, do check it out. Edison & Ford Winter Estates Somewhere I have a picture of the Girlchild in front of the 400 ft. banyan tree.

Off to rot my brain on television and mindless fiber manipulations, and fall asleep as early as I can, meaning as soon as the wind quits howling.

I heard a transformer blow and the power went off, then came right back on again. Whatever they did to fix things after Frances (when we were out for 5 days) really worked. Famous last words - I'll probably go dark later. I have no phone service, but I do have power and cable.

It's still blowing 40+ mph out there, with gusts much higher, but cabin fever forced me to take the dog out. Murphy took the longest pee of his entire life. I had become resigned to his using the carpet (any port in a storm, shall we say) but apparently he had been holding it since early evening yesterday. He's such a good boy, but his little eyeballs must have been floating, poor thing. I'm sure he'd like a longer walk, but the 60+ mph gusts are back, and he can hardly walk in that. Neither can I.

If the wind and rain ever lets up before it gets dark, which is looking less likely, I would love to get a picture of the massive old oak tree that is now down in the road. Had it fallen the other way, it would have taken out the second story of my neighbor's house. They were so lucky. Meanwhile, one of the Chinese Tallow trees beside my house is swaying ominously, and it is being blown TOWARD my house. I hope it has its very sturdy root system firmly clenched, or I may not be lucky at all. And if it comes down, the odds are it'd take out my new kitchen. Think sturdy root thoughts, please.

I lost a LOT of shingles, but miraculously, so far no leaks. Which is good, because I'd have to tarp the entire roof at this point. My neighbor, who was also out surveying the downed trees, said there are many more down and the drainage ditch behind my house is flooded. At that point the wind gusted again and I became really conscious of standing where another tree could come down at any moment, and came back inside.

It smells like fresh cut pine everywhere. That's what hurricanes smell like, they snap the pine trees in half and release that fresh sap smell. The wind is howling and the rain is still horizontal, but not as heavy as earlier. But this damn wind has got to let up, it's been blowing this hard for 12 hours now, and blowing steadily for 24.


I had to turn off the television - 14 hours of hurricane coverage has gotten rather monotonous. Yes, it's still raining, yes it's still blowing, maybe it will let up in four hours or so, maybe not. I'm so tired, I hope the office is closed tomorrow.

I can't believe I still have power. This is the most incredible storm I've ever seen, it just goes on and on, hour after hour of rain and wind. The Weather Channel lies as bad as the Pixie, I saw a slide that said we were expected to get two inches of rain. Uh, that's actually two inches of rain PER HOUR. The wind gusts are much higher than the Pixie indicates, too - 40mph may be the sustained wind, the gusts are double that. The rain is coming in horizontal sheets, the wind is howling and the roof is making weird noises. And it's going to do this until like, 8 tonight. It's just surreal. Charlie was an evening, this is an endurance contest.

I still have power, but boy, it's getting LOUD out there. I woke up in the middle of the night because of the wind noise, and because it's just kinda cool to watch a hurricane. Every now and then I hear an odd noise that I am afraid is more shingles leaving my roof, but so far no leaks.

I finished the other side of the Galway cardigan and cast on a sleeve, and I'm just watching TV and knitting. The worst we're getting will be here in about an hour or so, at that point I don't plan to be sitting in front of the window.

Oh, piffle. I hope I didn't sound like some sort of Hurricane Drama Queen here, battening down and riding out Armageddon, because the latest track is definitely sleep-through-able in my area. Other areas are not so lucky, but I'm not going to play up their drama. At my house it sounds more and more like...okay, a bigass rainy day. It's gonna rain like a mo-fo and be really windy. I may lose more shingles tomorrow since the roof is on borrowed time, and if I'm really cursed, I may lose power. But...piffle. Between now and Get Up Time tomorrow there are quality sleeping hours.

I'll probably be at work on Monday, so it's time to think of normal things, like working out and continuing to upgrade my working wardrobe. I'll retreat to bed early with an armload of catalogs.

I didn't mention last night's "party" - because it wasn't. We are old. We spent a lot of time at the restaurant, eating and talking and drinking and talking, and by 9 p.m. we were worn out. It's so damn sad, give a bunch of over-40 people alcohol and carbohydrates and we fold and want to go home and sleep. Next time the party starts at my house and stays there - I have the ultimate party house now, no kids and a bitchin' kitchen. It took me 25 years to get here, and dammit, it's time to use it.

It's raining and windy, but hardly alarming yet. I've made up the futon and it's quite comfortable, so it's hardly a hardship to sleep there tonight - small tv with cable, backup radio and flashlights, catalogs, books, knitting, yeah, I'll be suffering. I am an early riser anyway so I expect that the wind and rain will wake me insanely early when things get lively here. But it's really not that scary/bad, it is what it is. I'm in a well-built, if not post-Andrew-hurricane-code house inland, that's about as good as it gets security-wise. I'll be pretty pissed if I lose any major stuff, but that's what insurance is for, so I can get over that too. Perspective. It's a Good Thing.

Wheee! Took Murphy out for what was supposed to be his last long stroll before the storm. We barely got to the end of the street when we ran into our neighbors, a 13 y.o. and his beautiful and bouncy young golden retriever. He was trying to wear her out before hours of confinement. We had just paused and exchanged two sentences when a stiff squall hit us and the wind whipped up and the rain just started pounding down. So the four of us did a brisk jog home - the dogs loved it, the golden danced and romped, Murphy just did his gleeful charging into the wind, tongue lolling, hair blowing, enjoying the hell out of it. The humans were in flip-flops and less enthused and less able to keep up. It really was fun, but we were drenched to the bone in two minutes and I was so glad to be able to change into dry clothes and blow dry my hair. I am very attached to my dryer and I hope I won't be missing it tomorrow. I'm thinking that was the last attempt at a real walkie for many hours. I'm glad the carpet is old. It's due to be replaced anyway, we'll just call it a casualty of the storms.

I'm thinking it won't be a picnic here but it also won't be devastating, so I may or may not be back. Cross your fingers for me that the power stays on.

Oh, forgot to mention - today's mail brought the Patternworks catalog. No, I will not place a stress-induced yarn order. I will browse it for future projects, after the stash is reduced. Let's just hope I'm not here browsing by candlelight....

In case you were wondering, that Weather Pixie is one lying little ho. She should at least be windblown and nervously looking at the sky. The storm is still offshore and many miles away, but the wind is picking up noticeably. Someone asked in comments after - was it Frances or Charley? I can't remember - about the emphasis on the eye on the news. The eyewall is the strongest, definitely, but it also starts to break and slow down when it encounters land. The bands around it can extend for 200 miles and they don't seem to slow down much when they come in. The most dangerous side of the storm is usually the northeast side. Which is also the side we'll be taking in my area, now that the eye has shifted west. But by the time it comes up from poor Vero Beach or wherever it comes ashore it will have slowed to a Category 1.

It's overcast here with occasional bursts of rain, the wind is picking up, the trees are blowing and the garage door is already flexing and creaking. It's going to start getting rough after dark and stay that way for the next 24 hours. I haven't moved the computer, I'm waiting to see how things get later, and where the worst of the wind comes from. The plan is simple, figure out where the wind is worst and go to the other side of the house. :-) Depending on how things are by 9 p.m. I may be sleeping on the futon, that's the most sheltered room in the house. It's going to be a rather sleepless night.

So, storm fiber therapy - I'm so close to finished with the All Season Shawl, I will work on that while there is A/C and light. If the power goes out I need something light in color, not too small in gauge, and not big enough to make me sweat while holding it (I'll be sweating enough, thank you.) I'm thinking cotton-ease baby hat rhythmic, mindless, easy to see, and fun. Fun is good. I need more fun. Life has been strikingly not fun lately.

The storm is still well offshore but we're already getting a few light outer bands - it gets dark, rains for three minutes, the sun comes out again. Right at this moment it's so dark I had to flip on the lights. I'm trying to time removing the pond pump - I don't want to do it earlier than I have to, but I think after lunch it will be time to pull it and the filter and take them inside. It's not hardwired in and not on a GFI circuit so I really don't want to take any chances. By late this afternoon/evening we'll probably be getting more steady rain, though landfall isn't until what, 2 a.m. or so. This is going to be a 24 hour event, or so they say. Whatever - I have ice, food, flashlights, magazines and adult beverage. Tomorrow will be a mess. Fingers crossed for the skylight again please, all of my friends have roof or skylight leaks, I don't know why I haven't so far, but three major storms in six weeks is certainly tempting fate. And if I keep power on I'll be so very, very happy.

I went to FedEx only to find that the package wasn't mine - it wasn't possible to read the name or address, but the phone # started with a different area code. Whoopsie. I went on to Barnes and Noble and bought books and magazines - nothing knitting related. Right now I'm puttering around the house, bored and waiting - I've run out of errands and I'd just as soon not add to the traffic on the road. I'm planning projects - I think while I have power today I'm going to charge up the laptop and inventory my yarn stash. That's probably the best way to curtail buying more yarn, plus my stash is so embarrassingly large, I honestly have forgotten a lot of what I have. Yep, I could sit at the kitchen table with each plastic bin of yarn and input the contents. Sounds like a plan. Anything is better than launching into Storm Snacking.

It seems like everybody was a bit more casual about Jeanne - after Charley and Frances, it's becoming routine - we went a couple of weekends without a hurricane hitting our part of FL (Ivan just rained on us here), we were due. I do wish we'd get a one mid-week sometime, to break the monotony. We did laugh yesterday that we know what time the National Hurricane Center posts the tracking maps and, as if by reflex, everybody flips to it on cue. I just flipped to the 5 a.m., and oh look, Jeanne's track moved again with this 5 a.m. update - this time it's coming in somewhere north of West Palm - and it's back on that angle that puts it right up through Orlando. Crap. It's not just the coast under the hurricane warning, my county is too. At my house they're talking sustained winds 85, gusts higher, 5-7 inches of rain. It's like Charley, but from the east - big, fast, powerful, and coming here. And the timing is the part I hate - landfall in the middle of the night. Crap. A night in the back bedroom on the far side of the storm may be in order.

Federal Express left a note on my door about a package that required a signature. I have no freaking idea what this could be. I ordered pond cleaner and some stuff from J.Jill, both packages arrived days ago via UPS. So I guess today I will mobilize early and hit the FedEx office if I can, if they're open (I'll call first, but FedEx seems to run through everything). Laundry is already laundering, I have clean catboxes, water, ice, batteries, the usual. I need to lower the water level in the pond, take out the new pump and bring it in so it doesn't get fried, move the grill (again), and otherwise, it's just time to sit and wait. Shit.

Oh, give me a BREAK!!!





That freaking hurricane has been hanging out in the Caribbean for HOW many days? What the hell, was it just waiting for a chance to come to Disney World?


I'm so over this. I'm not concerned, I'm ready, I have never really restocked the fridge from Frances, I have bottled water, animal provisions, ice and such. I'm just freaking amazed at the path of this storm. And Ivan came all the way back to Florida, rained on us for three days, moved into the Gulf and is now back up to a tropical storm and heading for Texas. This is bizarre.

Apparently I'm having a small party tomorrow night, so I need to go chase cat hair, etc. This came up very spontaneously, dinner with friends has extended into a viewing of Office Space. Call it a pre-hurricane party. Maybe we should just book one for every Friday night until Thanksgiving.

The breeze was lovely and the humidity was lower this evening, so I dragged the dog around the lake. He was into sniffing and socializing, we ran into his favorite small humans and a couple of friendly new dogs, so it wasn't that great as exercise goes, but it was better than sitting. I sit too much. When you are over 40 and sit, everything just sort of slides into a permanent sitting position. I crave exercise.

I haven't made it to the gym to re-up yet, other tasks keep getting in the way. Frankly, that's an excuse, I let other tasks get in the way, but the weather is turning very nice and right now I'm happy to just get out and walk. I'm sleeping better lately, too, walking has helped that too. (Speaking of sleeping, a certain small opinionated dog is snoring loudly right now, the walk put him right out.)

Work is freaking killin' me, I come home wiped out, it took an act of will to go out and walk instead of collapsing. We have several new cases, which is good, but they are multi-party monsters, which is bad. In one, we were third-partied into a behemoth of a case with THIRTY-NINE parties. For the sane people who don't work in the legal field, every official piece of paper in a lawsuit goes to all the parties, the court, the client, and the file. Do the math. This is construction work, which means a motion for summary judgment can weigh about a pound with all its exhibits. Not only does this mean it takes all morning to get a pleading out the door, but the incoming mail is a bitch too. That's one of the new cases. In the other one there are only 12 parties. I don't have the file on the newest one yet, so I don't know how bad it is. Such is life in construction law, but this is why lawyers doing this kind of construction law HAVE A FRIGGIN' SECRETARY, and often a file clerk and a mailroom, as well as a paralegal!!! The two of us (because Boss who is not really my boss is a sweetie and pitches in on this crap) are doing the work of four people, and it's wearing us out. We are trying to outsource serving pleadings but so far have been unsuccessful - I don't need "help" that requires hand-holding and prodding and nagging, I'd rather do it myself than deal with the stress of handing it off to people who don't know what they're doing and have to follow up on them all damn day, that doesn't let me work on anything else either.

But we have to do something about this, because copying and stuffing envelopes is strictly secretarial and I can't bill for it, and I can't keep up my billable hours and move all that paper. We now have a form motion we are filing in these cases to ask the court to permit fax service only ("Tradition" dictates that even if you serve by fax you must mail a service copy as well. There is no good reason for this, other than We Have Always Done It That Way). I did this motion in the 39 party case, and saved it as "motion to keep Catherine from quitting (this week)." This is now its official name in our form directory. If we can get blessed to electronically fax pleadings to a preset, pre-programmed service list, that will infinitely improve this situation. Setup will be tedious but after that, things would move fast. It wouldn't help on the incoming side, but right now I can't even think about that.

I mean, I'm a good sport and I'll stuff envelopes, make copies, whatever has to be done to get the work out the door, but there's substantive work going undone while I'm doing that, and I billed, I kid you not, ONE HALF HOUR of time today. The rest was moving paper. This is nuts. I'm glad we are loved, and there has been alot of rumbling about improving the staffing "issues," but no action yet. If these are the kind of cases they're going to give us, which is great with us because this is the sort of thing we know and love, we need the Fantabulous D or her clone in the worst way. I'm waiting to see how things shake out, other, much more influential voices than ours have been raised to the powers that be about staffing us so we can actually do our jobs right, we'll see if it happens.

There, I'm done ranting about my job. There's more, but it's too office politicky and perhaps identifying to go into in public. Rent the movie Office Space. I may clean a fish on my desk before Christmas. And I don't even fish.

Knitting? Nope. I have been crocheting the apricot shawl, because I think it's going to the Fall Festival craft table if I can get it done in time, and it'll be a donation to some other fund raiser if I can't. I want to start something, but I can't decide what. Last night I thought maybe that aromatherapy tea cosy from Mindful Knitting, but right now that sounds too much like work. I need something totally mindless and soothing. I'm thinking it's time to think of charity knitting, and take some of my nice superwash wool surplus and cast on a nice ribbed hat and scarf set for donation. Yep, a nice 4x4 ribbed scarf, a ribbed hat to match, sometimes it helps to think out loud about what "feels good" to make right now. That's all I have in me right now, but it's something worth doing.

Rip It. Rip It Good!

Okay, now that everybody over 30 has a Devo song stuck on a continuous loop in your brain and soon you'll be praying for the release of death, Dear God Just Make It Stop! my work is nearly done. For those of you whose brains don't automatically start playing that song when you see that title, I have four words for you: Annoying Swiffer Commercial Jingle. There, now no one, or at least no one in North America, has been spared.

I'm ripping the Amanda backpack. I realized this when I started thinking about it while driving home from work. I realized it's not thrilling me, and that lovely deep purple Cascade 220 is too lovely and too deeply purple to use on something that doesn't thrill me. Nothing wrong with the pattern, I'm just not into it.

I'm restless and trying to decide what to start next. Of course, I could FINISH things, but I'm in a starting kinda mood, and you know how it is when the urge to do something new overcomes good sense and responsibility. Somehow Cascade 220 just wants to be felted, it's so good at it, it seems a shame to knit it for something that won't be felted. That's what superwash is for, IMHO. So now I'm pondering its best use. I have enough of that lovely purple Cascade 220 for a felted pillow, but that would require actual organized swatching and felting, to measure to make the right size pre-felting.

I need to spend some time with my knitting books and my stash, and re-ignite the passion for the existing stash. Somehow the yarn in the stash isn't as exciting as the new yarn that can be acquired - it's the thrill of imagining the perfect yarn and the perfect concept coming together in the Perfect Finished Object. I realize this, and I'm far from immune to it, but I am on a Yarn Fast. Not a yarn diet, because that implies a measured small consumption of new yarn - smaller portions, careful selections. No, I am on yarn starvation. The past few months of unexpected household expenses (car repairs, house repairs, supplies needed for two hurricanes, followed by pond parts, oh my) have not been kind. To put it mildly. I have lots and lots of yarn. I do not need to buy any. This yarn fast will continue until the stash is down to 1/3 of its current size.

Meanwhile, the bizarro weather continues - today we had dark skies and bursts of heavy rain. It's the Ghost of IVAN. No kidding, the remains of Ivan beat the hell out of the east coast, went out to sea, turned around and has come back down to dump on Florida some more. I was truly boggled when I heard this on the news. This is just freaky. Jeanne is spinning in circles and not going anywhere but also not going AWAY, Lisa is heading this way, only Karl was polite enough to wander off and not bother anyone.

Monday's over, it's raining, I cleaned the pond filter and didn't go to the gym. Now I'm going to get that purple bag and Rip It Good.

Yes, I did knit today. I started an Amanda backpack while watching Seabiscuit. I am in "wait for video" mode on movies these days, and hadn't seen Seabiscuit. Wonderful movie. It started a bit slow and disjointed, and I wasn't drawn in until the Star appeared -the horse, not the humans - then it was riveting. I also have developed crushes on Chris Cooper and Gary Stevens. I cannot believe Stevens never acted before this movie, he was so natural even in scenes that didn't involve a horse, he has that low-key but powerful thing that really good actors have. It doesn't hurt that he's quite hot, and I grew up in a racetrack town and am not one who normally links "jockey" and "hot" in the same mental file, but he's definitely a babe, at least on the "senior tour". I hope he actually develops an acting career - yeah, so he's a jockey, he's short. It hasn't stopped Tom Cruise.

The Amanda backpack is a cute pattern, but the finished dimensions are small, and even pre-felting it is small. I would like an Amanda on Steroids for those of us who like to carry our lives around with us. But it's a fun and easy project, I've finished the bottom and am working toward the first decrease. It's my kind of knitting, easy and based on clever construction techniques.

I also cleaned the pond filter - I love the new filter and pump. L hooked me up with a Fish Guy who did not steer me wrong. The filter is a breeze to clean and goes together again effortlessly, the system is now a no-brainer. This is so delightful for me, because the old filtration system required a solid hour of cursing in the hot sun to clean and reassemble, O-rings and seals and "this can be cleaned with a hose but that can't," and was rigged together by various fittings and hose clamps, all of which took turns causing trouble. The new setup is a compact and highly efficient system - but then, ponds are trendy now. My husband built ours over four years ago, it was state of the art at the time, but ponds weren't as trendy then as they are now. Just like with computers, after they started selling them at Wal-Mart, they were dumbed-down. I am not complaining. This filter is going to need a daily cleaning, or maybe twice daily, until the pond is healthy and in shape again, but I can do that easily now, it's a ten minute job. This is a good thing, since I will be doing it before and after work for the next week, at least. I'm hoping to avoid a total water change, the frogs, snails and fish are happy in the murk, I hope to clean it up and let it be.

I cannot believe what a difference getting back to walking has done for me. After just a couple of days, my mind is clearer, my energy is better, I slept like a baby for 8 hours last night, and my mood is much more positive. It's no joke, exercise really is everything, and walking/running is the core of it all. I can stretch, lift weights, do whatever, but if I don't get at least a half hour, preferably more, of brisk walking in, my energy sags. Over-40 world is definitely different, it requires much more consistent maintenance, but the body still bounces back and the joy of feeling the bounce is so much greater.

I'm broke, exhausted and slightly sunburned, but the pond is running again. If you are looking for knitting content, click away now. There will be knitting content tomorrow, because as Gawd is Mah Witnuss!! tomorrow I'm going to church and coffee, and then my ass is parking on the couch and I am watching movies and knitting. Today was more than productive enough.

I was rudely awakened this morning at 3:30 - yes, THREE-FREAKING-THIRTY! - when the neighbor's latest cat joined the ranks of all her other cats and came over to my house and asked to come in. (I think they figure out that she's weird and would prefer to live with me, but I've bagged my kitty limit and must refuse their polite, if nocturnal, requests.) Murphy is not very gracious about it, he saw a strange little cat on the front walk and launched a very noisy burst of Protecting the Homestead - "Go Home! My Mommy is trying to sleep!" He would not take a screamed "Shut the Fuck UP!" for an answer, and I had to get up, turn on the front light and yell at the small offending cat, who took himself home. I wanted to kill Murphy for being such a noisy little watchdog about a 2 lb. kitten, but didn't. I wanted to go back to sleep, but didn't. After an hour of trying, I got up and started laundry and drank coffee.

When it got light enough I took Murphy for a walk around the lake. We are experiencing that subtle weather change that only Floridians can notice - visitors still perceive it as Really Freaking Hot, which it is, but it's RFH in a different way - slightly lower humidity, a breeze that is actually refreshing rather than an exhaust fan from Hell's dry cleaner. (Oh please, you know there are dry cleaners, where else would all those assholes who operate those $1.50 Dry Cleaning businesses go?)

We did a lap, and Murphy was so happy to walk around the lake again after weeks of no lake walkies due to endless rain and storms, he kept up a great pace. The funniest sight of the walk was ducks paddling around eating bugs - in people's backyards. The standing water is deep enough for ducks to swim in. It's also breeding mosquitoes like nobody's business, even the ducks can't keep up. The lake, which was very low in the spring, is now very, very high, there's almost no dry land between the lake and the sidewalk, and then on the opposite side of the sidewalk is more standing water. It doesn't smell too great in places, either.

So after a lap Murphy got tired and I took him home, but I still felt like walking and enjoying that low humidity, and went back out and did another lap. Two miles of walking, the most in many weeks, and it felt soooo good.

Energized by the walking, I paid bills, did laundry, ran errands, bought new pond pump and filter, installed same, tried to fix fence, swore, found out I need to bridge the gap between fence posts with a board I did not have on hand, did more laundry, and am now ready to freaking collapse. All of this, except the laundry and bill paying, was done in 90 degree heat and blazing sun. I am so glad I do not work outdoors for a living.

The pond is running again, the water is a lovely emerald green, almost a solid, actually, but after generous applications of algae-fixing stuff, I hope it will clear up in a day or two. The fish are alive, I caught glimpses of them in the murk while I was putting in the new equipment. It's "put in" in the sense that it is in the water and working, in a temporary way - I do want a more permanent power arrangement, but right now a cord running to the external outlet on the patio will be just fine.

I think I am too tired to knit tonight. I could crochet the All Seasons Shawl, that's rhythmic and requires no counting, and by now I'm at that stage where I can subconsciously sense a mistake as I make it, even if my eyes are glued to a movie. Yeah, that's the way to go tonight. Tomorrow I will talk about knitting. I am thinking about it, just not doing it much.

Post edited to remove the first paragraph with the link to Jeanne. Now it's back on the path I had thought most logical. I'll quit bitching about yet another friggin' storm, at least until it changes again.

Speaking of storm things, my pond pump was a casualty of Frances - the circuit breaker has popped, the pump is burned out, the circuit may be bad, thank God my Home Improvement Gods are electricians - but in the meantime, I have to rig up some sort of temporary power off the patio to a new pump. Could I simply BUY a PUMP that actually would work with my existing filter system? Oh, no. It's as old as the pump, they don't make 'em anymore. So, okay, could I buy a new pump and filter for my measly little 300 gallon glorified goldfish bowl of a pond? Nyet. I went to Petsmart and Lowe's, both stock pond stuff, neither had compatible anything in any brand. I won't go into the gory details of gallons per hour and UV filters and tube sizes and such, but trust me, they had nothing that would work. So tomorrow I am off to an aquarium/pond store my friend L told me about, VISA card in hand, to find a new pump and matching filter if necessary, in the appropriate size, and come home and rig it up with an extension cord until I can get my Home Improvement Gods to come out and hard-wire it in.

My late husband, God love him, of course never imagined that he'd not be here to replace a burned-out pump, so he hard-wired it in. I am not an electrician (neither was he, but as a computer hardware engineer he dealt with a lot of power issues so he was in practice like an uber-electrician) and I don't even know where to begin to mess with the conduit and wiring he so perfectly and neatly installed. That's not true, I do know about it, that's why I know enough to know I don't know what I'm doing. I'll call the Gods and get them to come out and hook me up with a different power setup wired off the external power on the patio. They'll know what to do, but won't be able to get to it for a while, I'm sure, with all the really serious storm fixing work to be done. I can get by with an outdoor grounded extension cord until they can get here to re-work it all.

Last night, among many other weird dreams, I had a virtual yarn orgy. I went shopping and came home with bags and bags of yarn. I need a yarn orgy like Hugh Hefner needs to meet more bimbos. I woke up amused, and strangely more focused on what I want to do with myself.

I'm rejoining the gym, or another gym, this week. My company has a gym discount program and the old gym is on it, it's a bargain, $20 a month, and I'm going to use a "guest pass" to make sure the place is still what it was 3 years ago, if it is, I'll join again. If it's not, I'll move on up the road to other options. I'm hoping it's the same, because the next nearby option is a "women's gym" and I don't like those. I've belong to two of them, each time it was a hangout for women who sat on the equipment talking. No matter what time I went, early, late, during dinner hour, it was so - if the place was open, because they tended to keep soccer mom hours. Honey, move your ass, I want to actually use that machine. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather deal with men who are perhaps Way Too Intense about their workouts - at least they keep moving and you don't have to interrupt endless discussions of Ashley's last soccer game.

I am swatching for a plain black ribbon yarn pullover from yarn already in Ze Stash -I'd bought this yarn for a cardigan but it just wasn't right for the intended pattern, it needed to be knit at a smaller gauge, too drapey, etc. So it's going to morph into a drapey black v-neck plain I don't care if you think it's boring it's what I really wear pullover.

I'm finishing the apricot Key Largo shawl for donation to the Fall Festival.

I'm stuffing catnip mice for donation to the FF.

I'm watching the weather in amusement and disbelief.

Okay, so Ivan comes ashore, and the worst reported damage so far is to...Pensacola. They got trashed. The northeastern side of the storm is the worst, and the eye came in in Alabama and they got slammed, but a lot of the wicked shit was in...Florida. Again. This time it was Pensacola. Maybe God's just pissed off at Jeb because He knows another election is about to be manipulated. (That's a joke, for the humor-impaired - after all, Tallahassee wasn't hit.) But then, we've gotten swatted worse this year than in what, four decades, and right before a highly contested election where FL was the "deciding vote" last time. And the "conservative" zones of the state are the ones getting smacked down each time....

Girlchild reports that 5 people died in the tornadoes 5 miles away from her. They had wind and rain and lost power briefly, and some of the trees are leaning ominously, but no big deal. She won't park her car under the leaning trees.

Meanwhile, on an actual knitting, or at least knitting-related note,
I bought some stuff on sale from J.Jill and one of the items was a ribbon-yarn pullover, very plain, rolled neck/edges, for, like $25. I can't knit it for that. But the point of my sharing this is that I realized that my knitting taste reflects my wardrobe taste. I like simple and classic and unobtrusive clothing. This is not because I am a shy wallflower who does not want to be noticed. If saw me in action in a social situation in which I wanted to be noticed, you'd not question this. But I want to be noticed for me, not for my clothing, so elaborate clothing is not my style. My knitting is a reflection of my own taste, if it's plain or boring by other knitterly standards, oh well. I like it.

Funny phone conversation with a friend from the old employer - a different subsidiary, but we became friends at the first legal meeting we attended together and stayed in touch. We hadn't talked in a long time, so we spent an hour on the phone. Interesting insight to Hurricane News Coverage. She's in a part of South FL that was untouched by Charley and only lightly tapped by Frances. We live in the same state. Let me repeat that for clarity.

She had NO idea that the Charley damage in Central Florida was as bad as it was, because her news coverage was all about where the storm made landfall, not where it went an hour or two later. She's a native Floridian, she did Andrew (I was in NC that year) and even she was amazed that the damage was as extensive as it was, because all she heard about was Punta Gorda. She called a lawyer she works with in this area and he said he was the only one who made it into the office, and she asked, innocently, "Why?" She's a few hundred miles away in the same state and had no idea what had happened up the road.

She was more informed about Frances because that landed on the East Coast (where the newspoodles like to cluster because they have better hotels and restaurants). Even so, she didn't know we were as badly affected as we were.

It's all about the landfall on the news, and these storms don't just magically vanish after landfall. That's the EYE of the storm. It's basically meaningless on the ground - the eye can skirt offshore and the storm can kick the crap out of the entire coast it passes - or not. The eye can be very small, the storm very intense, and it's a nuclear blast in a small area - or not. The storm can be huge, like the last two, and the damage is extensive over a huge area - or not. Bad stuff happens long before the freaking eye comes ashore, wherever it may be pinpointed. If it's a big strong storm, by the time the eyewall hits the leading edge has trashed a big swath of territory, and then there's the backside of it. Or you may be in an outer band and it's nothing much, while a county away is smashed hard. Nobody explains this on the news. It's all about the eye, because that's how the weatherbunnies transmit it to the newspoodles. It's stupid.

We were just laughing at the truly shitty news coverage of these stories - even if you are IN hurricane world, if you aren't on the freaking eyewall nobody cares, and if you are watching this from Idaho, trust me, you have no idea what a skewed story you're getting. It's not local damage to a few beach houses.

As further evidence of the "coverage is skewed" - but in the other direction - Girlchild just called in from Tallahassee, where she is at work, on a normal worknight. They are in the "tropical storm warning" zone but they are having a rainy evening. People are out doing normal things. The coverage of these events just sucks - local outlets hype it into "death and mayhem everywhere," when you can look out the window and see that it's only raining. Meanwhile, many miss actual bad stuff happening when it does happen, because thousands without power or water isn't as exciting as, say, actual death. If nobody died, why report it? Never mind that the business disruption and property damage and infrastructure damage is a huge expensive freaking deal, nobody died, it's just a minor story. You'll all be paying for it in your produce prices for months, but nevermind. Just an observation from a non-political front on the vagarities/sensationalism of news coverage.

I realized that, with all the hurricane weirdness, I didn't even discuss my visit to the Girlchild's. It really was very pleasant, but it was obvious to both of us that we now live in different worlds. This isn't bad, or traumatic, it's just life. The dog and I live in We Get Up Disgustingly Early, Go Walkies and Make Coffee, and she lives in Works Nights and Comes Home While I'm Drinking That Coffee. Her classes are in the evenings, she works nights in a restaurant, is plugged into local music world and lives in that world, comes home in the wee hours and sleeps during daylight. We did spend time together, but not in any organized activity fashion, it was nice but random. It's better when she comes here, and there are more organized daytime things to do in town that make it worthwhile for a night person to wake up.

I'm torn between commenting publicly on the Boyfriend and not, because I don't know if he reads this blog or not, so I'll be brief - I like him. He's a good guy. He didn't do the smarmy "I've gotta win the approval of the Mother!" crap on me, which I totally appreciated, he was quiet, pleasant and natural. I know she's a very picky pain in the ass, so if he met her standards he meets mine, she's worse than I am. He's very tall (she's tall) quite cute, smart, funny, and nice - but not in a cloying "trying to curry favor" way. I liked him. What's not to like?

I know it couldn't have been fun for him - it was the Gilligan's Island of mother visits, the three hour tour turned into something endless - she came for two days and the friggin' hurricane came right after her and nobody knows when she can leave! He was cool. No drama, no tension, I hope that next time they can come down here and actually do things in a town that doesn't revolve around...nothing...and we can actually do something besides watch a hurricane on the Weather Channel.

I also didn't mention the drive back from her house on Monday - in the backside of Frances. Okay, I was insane and this is a "Don't try this at home!" thing. Damn, I'm definitely not a wuss about driving in rain, but that was quite hairy. Horizontal rain, and wind so strong it took me an extra quarter tank of gas just to make it from her house to I-75. I was driving into the wind, it sucked down gas like nothing I've ever seen.

Meanwhile I'm listening to the radio and all the news broadcasts are saying, "It's really hazardous out there, don't get on the road!" While I and a few other psychos were on the road.... About an hour out of town I was seriously questioning my own sanity even trying to get home in that mess, but then it would let up a bit and I'd think it was breaking, and then it would slam us again, and after a while it became a "Might as well go for it," situation - too far to turn back because everyplace was out of gas. It was me, a few other psychos, and many convoys of power company trucks. I was on the road with trucks from Louisiana and Houston on I-10, on I-75 we were joined by trucks from the Carolinas. After Ocala it let up a LOT and became just a gray rainy day. But I-10 on Monday morning was definitely one for the mental scrapbook. I got home with less than 1/4 tank of gas to spare, in a trip that took about 1.5 hours longer than it should have. Not one of my smarter decisions. Given this experience, I won't try that again, I think I done used up my luck.

As of this morning, Ivan appears to be heading west, away from the FL peninsula - let's keep thinking him westward. Not that I have a grudge against Louisiana, but we've had our share of hurricanes in the past month, it's time for someplace else to catch one. Girlchild and her friends have a contingency evacuation plan in place - pile in the car and head for Savannah for a midweek vacation. By tonight they should have a better idea about whether that's going to be necessary.

Yesterday was a quiet day, I did as little as possible - church, coffee, laundry, a little grocery shopping. The supermarket has almost fully restocked after regaining normal electrical power, I was able to buy most of what I wanted. Whoo-hoo. I worked on the second front panel of the Galway cardigan, which is coming along quickly. I should have done backyard work, but by 1 p.m. it was pouring rain again, and after the rain passed the steamy heat and humidity was enough to take your breath away, literally - I stayed inside. It's just insanely hot and wet here, we are getting no break as we move into mid-September. I am half-hoping that when Ivan passes through the Gulf it will pull all this very wet air with it and leave us with lower humidity after it passes, for at least a day or two. That' how hurricanes used to work, but it seems like something is different these days. We've had exceptionally heavy daily rain every day post-Frances. I'm glad my roof isn't leaking.

Lots to do this week, including focusing more energy on finishing knitting projects and less on online yakking. I want to whip up at least one baby set from that pink Softball cotton, to donate to the Fall Festival - that's a month away so I really need to get cracking on it. I have lots of catnip mice that just need to be loaded up with catnip, and those bright granny squares I made last summer will be put together into a toddler-sized afghan. I've volunteered to work the festival too - our Fall Festival is a BIG deal, live bands, restaurants set up sit-down dinner tents, a beer garden, dancing - it draws a lot of the community. I'm looking forward to it, it will be a blast.

Anyway, I plan to focus on working out, storm cleanup, and finishing projects for donation, and quit frittering away time online. I'd gotten sucked into political discussions on Knitter's Review, and of course no good can come of that. It's so depressing - the polarization, the self-righteousness, the smug "I've got mine, screw everybody else!" attitude among certain individuals (I was called a socialist for wanting to fund public schools adequately), it's just ugly. The weirdest part is that at least some of these girls are younger than my kids! Whatever happened to the idealism of youth? Instead of Bright Young Things, excited about the possibilities of the world, they are just Bitter Little Things. Sad, very sad - I can only hope that life experience changes them, but I suspect it will just make them more bitter. Anyway, I'm outta there for the next week, I have wasted enough of my precious free time. I have things to do, and talking to those people accomplishes nothing at all.

Veni, Vidi, VISA. Actually not, I'm a cash paying gal.

New Vincent Longo foundation from Sephora, but that was courtesy of Girlchild's birthday gift card. The Sephora makeup girl was totally amazing - she walked to the right color of the right foundation in ONE hit. It was the most buckage I've ever dropped on foundation in my entire existence, but damn, it's also the most perfect match ever achieved, even beating out my previous high dollar choice, Prescriptives, by damnlongshot.

The next score was a lovely soft robe from Inner Self. When I was at Girlchild's I felt envy for her pink terrycloth robe. My only robe is, I did the math, 11 years old, and thin and not at all suitable for after bath wrapping. Inner Self had a lush lavender robe, so soft it's obscene, and a 25% off sale. Done.

Bath and Body Works - Cotton Blossom, buy three get one free, shower cream and body spray. Sold.

Two boatneck tees from Gap and some books from Barnes and Noble rounded out the day. Four hours of heavy-duty shopping, a relatively modest expenditure, but an entire day not thinking about work or hurricanes or home maintenance. It was good.

Girl is shopping for a gym, and I've been thinking about rejoining the gym my husband and I belonged to before the Cancer Tornado sent us all to Hell's Version of Oz. I think I'm ready to go back. I was really iffy about it before, too many memories of getting up really early with my husband and going there to do weights and cardio before work 3x a week, before the world changed. Now I want it for me. It felt good and I miss it.

Mindless knitting and hurricane-free TV, that's the plan for this evening.

Ivan, Ivan, Ivanivanivan!!! It's all Ivan all the time on the news, the entire state is in a sort of mass panic attack and has been rendered dysfunctional, doing nothing but watching the track of the storm and discussing which Home Depot has restocked on generators and plywood. The Charley-Frances double hit really has the entire state crazy, and the obsessive local news coverage fuels the hysteria. I'm so over it. I'll be watching videos this weekend, thank you, and peek at the latest map online every now and then. You know it's really crazy when our offices in Miami announced that they were closing Monday for a storm that, so far, isn't going to go anywhere near them. It's like closing Washington D.C. for a storm in New England - we're in the middle of the state going HUH?? WE aren't closing, why are they? It's just nuts.

Right now it looks like Ivan will be heading for Girlchild's house, which alarms me a lot, but the path continues to turn westward. Maybe some other state can have a turn with this one. If it doesn't turn far enough west, a few days in Jacksonville with her other family look like a really good idea.

On to other subjects, because I'm sick of living, breathing, thinking and talking about hurricanes and the preparation for and cleanup after. Some of the other subjects are actually knitting-related.

The new Knitty: Zigzag is very nice, but I really like Blaze, the shape, the neckline, very nice! I'd have to substitute the yarn, there's no way I can do alpaca/angora in this climate, but that's totally my style. I also love Leo, the man's sweater, I'd wear that myself. The articles, as usual, are terrific.

I'm on the second front panel of Plain Jane, my oatmeal Galway raglan cardigan. I think I'll make a lot of progress on it while watching videos and avoiding local news.

Happy news from the world of my old employer - the vile Queen Bee was fired! It took them a long time to notice that she was completely worthless and an arrogant bitch to boot, but the clue fairy finally whacked management hard enough to wake them up. Whoo-hoo!

I think I'll hold off on a few rants that I felt like ranting earlier - I just came in from a hot session of storm cleanup in the yard, and right now I think it's time to color my hair, take a long shower, and maybe - just imagine - go to the mall. I feel like all I've done for the past month is prepare for storms, clean up after storms and go to work. I haven't been inside a mall in months. I'm due for a little retail R&R.

Ivan is wobbling, the 11 a.m. prediction put it over my house on Tuesday, now it's aiming further into the Gulf, which means Girlchild needs to pay attention to this one and consider hauling ass to Jax or here if it keeps heading in that direction. It's still too soon to call, but a Category 5 is not to be trifled with, it will not lose much strength at all in the short distance between the coast and Tallahassee. I've seen her townhouse and it is an end unit surrounded by tall trees, of older and dubious construction. There is no way in hell I'd ride out a 5 there. I will nag the kids to watch the Weather Channel until this thing decides where it's going, and if it's heading for Apalachicola or anywhere in the Big Bend they need to bug outta town, or at the very least go to a shelter, preferably one built to withstand a nuclear blast.

Frances damage reports are coming in from friends and co-workers, the worst off so far is my boss (not Boss, but real boss) - his hurricane shutters failed and windows were knocked out and the interior of his house is a mess. Another colleague lost part of the roof. Haven't heard from the rest yet. Again, I lost shingles and the food in the fridge, I ain't complaining.

I just don't want Ivan to finish off my roof. Estimates on roof repair are running 3 to 6 months out - mine isn't leaking and I can wait, but if another big storm works it over I think my luck will run out. At least three houses on my street need roof replacements, we are going to shop it as a package deal - the first reputable roofer we lure in can keep a crew busy for almost a week in one location. And we'll buy them beer (for after work). Here, roofer roofer roofer....

I should also mention that we are not getting a break in the weather between hurricanes, every day brings the usual tropical thunderstorm action, with lightning and tons of rain, which means the power company guys have to lay off their heroic efforts to turn everybody on. (It is dark and thundering even as I type this, but I have the Floridian's casual attitude toward thunderstorms, and a kickass surge protector.)

I was in line in Publix with a lady who lives one town over, she hasn't had power OR WATER since Friday. The cashier offered to let her come shower and do laundry at her house, but she had already made arrangements. People really are pitching in and looking after each other. It's the sort of warm-fuzzy story you read in your morning paper, with a cup of coffee at your side, at your kitchen table, far away. It sucks to live in those stories.

So I was very glad to get a package of books I'd ordered pre-Frances, which included
Mindful Knitting. This was an impulse purchase, motivated partly by the "aromatherapy tea cosy" pattern and largely by the "knitting as meditation" theme. I have long said knitting was my meditation, which is why if I find a pattern annoying or overly fussy I don't want to make it. I want to focus on the pleasure of making stitches, making fabric, making something simple and attractive and useful. I have zero desire to tackle something so complicated it reduces me to frustrated tears, I am not motivated to see how uber-skilled a knitter I can be. My skills aren't the issue, I can DO it, I just don't want to because for me it sucks the relaxation out of the experience. It's a slim, well-written, simple book, and it gives a "for dummies" overview of meditation and lots of warm, easy advice about how to experience knitting on a different level. Nice book, I like it. I'm not quite halfway through it, but so far I really want to make that aromatherapy tea cosy, I think it would be delightful over a pot of rooibos tea, with lavender in the pockets. Very clever indeed.

Ivan is a Category 5 and so far we are directly on the path. Of course, the local weatherpeople are already doing the "Ivan the Terrible" schtick. This is just insane, we are all suffering from storm fatigue. The stress from the impending storm, dealing with the property damage and cleanup and repairs from the last two storms, the power outages and flooded roads and sinkholes opening up and on and freaking on, it just consumes your energy, it's hard to concentrate on normal work matters or much of anything else. My office is normally very chatty, in fact, so loud it's hard to concentrate at times, and yesterday, our first day back, it was quiet - nobody had the energy to socialize. The past 30 days have been absolutely exhausting, and it's not over yet.

I'm keeping a wary eye on Ivan, praying it goes somewhere else, but making preparations - I'm making tons of ice, and all laundry will be done every single day - clean towels and clean underwear become very important. I'm not restocking the fridge or freezer - a small carton of half and half and soft drinks and water, that's all that's in the fridge right now.

I received some new knitting books and have barely had a chance to glance through them, I'll comment more when my brain can actually absorb something. Right now I will take a HOT shower, blow-dry my hair, and go to the office and try to work.

I'm baaack!!! The power came on late this afternoon. I am not going to rush out and restock the fridge until we see what Ivan's going to do, but for now I will luxuriate in 'lectricity. Damn, the past couple of days were absolutely miserable, the search for ice was like the most critical part of the day, just to keep a few cold drinks and a bit of sandwich stuff on hand. The cold showers weren't so bad, it was the way nothing was DRY that made me nuts. The heat index was 100 and the humidity unreal, everything was sticky to the touch, it was disgusting. When I got home from the office (where there was power) this afternoon, the A/C was working hard to cool the place off, and the thermostat read 88 degrees. It had been running for a while.

I had to throw out the contents of my fridge, and I'm so glad that I took the expensive frozen stuff to Girlchild's - something just told me that I would not be lucky enough to keep power on through this one. My house is damaged but not leaking, and I'm not going to even try to contact a roofer until the next storm has passed and the people who have no roof at all have been taken care of. I know people who lost roofs, I can wait my turn.

People are so stressed and tired and slap-happy here, after being hit with two major storms in three weeks, and now that sonofabitch Ivan is out there.

Knitting content tomorrow, after I have a chance to catch up on laundry and sleep in comfort. Glad to be back - at least for now. Ivan, Ivan, Go Away!!!

Just a quick "I'm alive" note. No power at my house, hasn't been on for days and no estimate of when it will be on. I've lost some shingles but nothing leaked. The office was closed today but will be open tomorrow. I'm hot and tired and really sick of hurricanes, and here comes Ivan. I wonder if I'll get electricity before Ivan puts it off again?

Back for real when I get power.

Frances is on her way here, and with all the trees in this town I do not expect to have power past the first strong blast of wind and rain, so this may be my last post for a few days. Boy called, my house is intact but has no power. Since I didn't expect to have power and was concerned about having a waterfall in my living room, I'm quite fine with that. He fared well too - in the dark, but with roof. His worst crisis is they ran out of beer.

I'm here for the next 36 hours, probably - I hope to get up and out Tuesday morning. I'm willing to drive in the tail end of the storm as long as the roads are clear, but in this area I'm kinda doubting they will be clear.

I'm still working on the Plain Jane cardigan, I'm finishing the first side panel while watching the approaching storm. I'm glad it's a light color, I'll be able to work on it by candlelight later.

The kids went to Super Walmart to round up additional supplies. I've got cabin fever already and may venture out to do the same, with dog in bag. He has settled down a lot, especially since he figured out that he can actually jump up on the furniture here (he gets traction on the carpet). The novelty of being able to sleep on the couch whenever he wants without asking for help has made him very happy. But I still can't leave him without him freaking out.

Frances is heading up here tonight and tomorrow, so it looks like I'm here until Tuesday. Then I hope the roads are open and my car isn't flooded or hit by a falling tree - Tallahassee is very prone to flooding and has many, many trees.

I'm just watching the Weather Channel, hypnotized by the storm damage, recognizing so many familiar places, and wondering how my house is holding up, how my son's doing, and how my family and friends are faring. We are scattered all over the state and we're all either taking a beating now or will be later.

Off to the store. Before I go stir crazy.

I neglected to mention that Murphy has settled down wonderfully and now accepts this as his house, except that I Cannot Leave the House Without Him. Just call him American Express. I went to Publix without him (because the supermarket does draw a line between Therapy Dogs and Dogs Who Need Therapy) and he drove Girlchild insane crying because I abandoned him. Of course, Home Depot is a dog friendly zone and that's my last shopping stop before Frances gets her big butt outta our lives, so his issues should not be a further conflict. We'll be confined together for the next 24 hours. He'll love it.

Shit. I am really hating every minute of this.

I'd rather be there. Not knowing what is happening at home is driving me crazy. Now I may be here through Tuesday morning before this lazy bitch Frances decides to move her humongous ass out of here. My family and friends and office colleagues and parish and even the lawyers I can't stand are all directly in the storm's path - this one is very, very personal for me. I have so many people to worry about personally, never mind the general Holy Shit aspect of a storm this big, bad and slow moving. And of course I should still worry about myself and Girlchild and her friends, since we are not dodging this, we're right on the path up here, though it won't be as mind-blowingly bad here as it will be back home. Charley was a breeze in comparison, he whipped through here like Lance Armstrong. Frances flunked gym class. Charley did billions in damage while small and moving fast. I can't even wrap my mind around what Frances is doing while lumbering through.

My son had power and cell service up 'til about an hour and a half ago, he called to let me know that things weren't that bad there yet, he and his friends are hunkered in the Bunker dining very well on the remains of my freezer - shrimp, two tuna steaks, crab cakes - and said he'd go check out my house as soon as he could afterward. Of course, he most likely won't be able to call me afterward because service will be down. I was kicking myself all day -I should have gone home. It's not like I came here to "be safe" since I planned to come anyway, and now the impending storm has intruded on what was to be a relaxed, fun visit. Even my plan to find supplies to bring back is screwed since everybody here has grabbed all the camping lanterns and such. I hope to find a spare grill and charcoal for Boy, and I hope my grill is still where I left it (safely tucked into the corner of the backyard where it rode out Charley unscathed). I'm off to Home Depot bright and early tomorrow, to stock up for here and then bring stuff home.

This is a demented summer. Somehow I don't think you people up north ever live with these particular adventures. It's great here in late fall and early spring, but hurricane season lasts a long time, and this year was our turn to get beat up.

Checking in from Tallahassee. It's very weird to realize I'm "stuck here" and can't go home until Frances passes. I did pick up some extra bottled water and batteries while I'm up here, because I don't expect to have power when I get home. Again, I'll be very pleasantly surprised if I do. If I can get out and on the road Monday I will, it will depend on conditions en route, but at this moment the damn storm is coming right through here, too.

Murphy is being completely neurotic - he wants to go home, NOW, and I am not allowed out of his sight. I know how he feels.

I did go to Fay's, where Murphy was neurotic but welcomed graciously. I was as usual paralyzed by the choices in that shop, but actually focused on things I do want to make. I bought Berroco Zen Colors for a Hannan crocheted shawl, and enough Suede to make the Sueet bag from Knitty. Haven't started either, I'm still working on the Plain Jane cardigan and trying to distract myself from what's going on at home with movies.

I guess I'm supposed to be the right demographic to love "Something's Gotta Give," but it was so boring and predictable we turned it off. Right from the premise that this very rich man (Nicholson) would have to recuperate from his heart attack in Keaton's weekend house (like he couldn't afford transportation home and nursing care?) it was just a string of dumb forced situations, and there was no good reason for Keaton to ever find Nicholson (who really looks like a gnarly old potato with frizzy mold "hair" these days) attractive. She looked great, though. But they lost me when she was so calm and accepting of her daughter dating that old fart, when any sane mother would have been screaming "Are you out of your fucking mind???"

I guess I'll go make and drink a pot of coffee, and work on Plain Jane. Maybe I can finish a sweater between now and when I can get out of here.

The latest track of Frances is still big, still messy, still bad - but not quite as horrifying as the earlier predictions. Lots and lots and lots of rain, I'm definitely moving the electronics to high ground, but the projected wind speeds are down to numbers that don't totally freak me out. It's still going to be wicked bad, mostly because we're not talking about a few hours, we're talking about 12-13 hours of that level of wind and rain. It's going to be just devastating, but compared to the high winds they were talking about earlier, it's awful on a slightly different level, and we take what we can get here. I'm still going to move, unplug, etc. and get on the road as early as I can - and I get up really early - but at this moment I'm slightly more comfortable that I will not come home to total disaster. A huge mess, real damage, yes - devastation, hopefully not.

I am an insomniac - a world class insomniac. If I wake up at 4 a.m., which is quite normal for me, I will not even pretend I have to go back to sleep for another work day. I will get up, suck down a lot of coffee, pour some into a thermal cup and load up and hit the road. If I can get north of Ocala before everybody else finishes breakfast at Denny's the rest of the ride should be fine. Frances has slowed down, so now it's not likely I'll be outrunning the outer bands. Girlchild is braced for me to hit her house by noon, and even leaving at, say, 5:30 or 6, I'm betting it'll be noon before I get there in the Exodus traffic.

How ironic that a week ago this was a pleasure trip, and now even my damn "vacation" is a source of demented stress. My life is just too damn weird.

I hope Fay's is open tomorrow or Saturday, I feel a need to fondle fibers and calm myself down. That's the kinda demented part of this that I feel slightly embarrassed about talking about in public, but hell, this is a knitting blog and I know you people "get it." My world is being menaced with a major hurricane and my many thoughts about this include: "Damn, I'm glad the yarn is in plastic containers!" and "So, what do I bring with me?" When you think about this, it's really a "That Girl Just Ain't Right in the Head" thang - of all the things to think of when a hurricane is bearing down, knitting is probably one of the weirdest and dumbest.

Knitting is more than a hobby, it's a crutch, an addiction, a "lovey" we fondle when we are under pressure. I have knitted through the most devastating times of my life. I knitted at my husband's bedside, day after day, as he was dying. I knit when I'm bored, when I'm stressed, when I'm tired, when I'm worried. I need to do it, the rhythm of the stitches and the concentration on watching the moving yarn calms me more than any other method I've ever tried. I need it.

Work was bizarre today - people trying to do normal work things while battening down the office (we're in a tall glass building) and obsessively watching Frances on the internet.

I'm packing and cleaning up my house, putting away anything I can, in plastic containers if appropriate, and generally going for Zen Decor here. I hope to come home to a very tidy and intact house, but I can't count on it. If windows get broken or blown out that's bad enough, I can at least try to minimize collateral damage. Later this evening I will move this computer from its current location (in front of several windows) and put it up on my dresser. I'm unplugging anything electronic and if possible, moving it to higher ground and away from windows. I'm kinda freaking because some of my neighbors are actually boarding up windows. I've been in Central Florida for over 20 years and I have never seen anybody board up in our area. That's something that happens on the coast. Personally I don't see much point in it, because if anything goes in my house it'll be the 20+ year old living room skylight, and boarding the windows won't make much difference if that sucker blows out. I'm closing the blinds when I leave, it'll catch anything that might fly through, but that's it.

Besides important papers, I'm bringing my laptop, some software I've been meaning to load and play with, the camera and its software, bank stuff, as much of the expensive contents of the fridge as I can fit in the two cheap coolers I managed to grab at the supermarket, a lasagna for Friday night, and of course knitting and things to do. And then I will try not to sit there freaking out over what's happening at home.

The latest path of the storm has it exiting the state over Tallahassee, so it's not like I'm going to avoid participating in this fun. But by the time it gets that far it should have weakened to a really bad rainstorm/weak tropical storm.

I have no idea when my office will reopen, I have no idea when I will have regular internet access again, I have no idea what I'll come home to on Monday, if I can even get out of Tallahassee on Monday. I'm so scared for the Boychild, who is riding out the storm in "the bunker" as we call his 40-something year old rental house - concrete block, flat roof and plaster walls, it's old school FL construction and is as good as it gets for riding out a hurricane. I invited him to come up to his sister's and join the hurricane party, but he's of course a Manly Man and he's not going to retreat. I'm worried about the kitties, but this house is also concrete block and though not flat roofed, it's small and square and built to take a beating. I will move their litterboxes from the garage to interior rooms where they will be likely to shelter if it gets scary here. I'm just plain worried, period.

The further north on the coast it hits, the greater the damage to the Orlando area, because it won't have slowed down much when it gets here. But of course, there are millions of people in greater danger right now, so I'm not trying to be melodramatic about my personal plight. This is really bad for most of the state. This is Stormzilla.

Okay, today was possibly one of my weirdest working experiences (and I've had many weird ones). I was working in a law office in Indian River County, and the windows were being boarded up while we were working. It just kept getting darker and darker, as each panel of plywood went up. We did not linger, everybody wanted to get the hell outta Dodge and go home and start getting ready for the weekend.

Frances has not turned and so far seems disinclined to do so. News coverage is fixated on when and where the eye comes ashore, but that really doesn't mean much - the feeder bands extend hundreds of miles in front of it and things get ugly long before landfall. I'm concerned about when we will actually start feeling the storm, because I want to bug out ahead of it and hopefully not end up in the middle of the first feeder bands and hellacious traffic heading up 75.

I'm thinking if I can get everything done tonight and tomorrow I can leave early on Friday. I don't even care if nobody's home at Girl's when I get there, I can kill time at the yarn shop (what a sacrifice) or whatever, I just don't want to be in the panic-traffic.

Right now they're saying 100 mph winds at my house, and insane, torrential rainfall -and that's not for an hour or two like Charley, that's for a day. And I'm inland, in the "safe" area, the people on the coast, wherever the hell it finally decides to go, are going to get slammed with 140 mph and it will linger. This is not another Charley. This is another Andrew. It's so large and so wide and so strong, it really doesn't matter where the eye goes, unless it changes direction drastically in the next 24 hours, Florida is going to get slammed, it's just a question of degree, bad or really really freaking bad. We'll probably still feel it as a borderline tropical storm in Tallahassee Sunday night, if it stays on its current course.

So Girlchild is going to think I'm moving in - I'm bringing important papers, my laptop, the digital camera, and as much of the more expensive contents of the fridge as I can manage, like meat and such, because the odds are I will NOT have power this time and will just have to come home and throw it all out. I hope it will pass quickly, and I can come home Monday to survey the damage, and I hope there won't be much damage, but I can't assume that I'll be lucky twice in a row. I'd rather prepare and have the storm change course and miss us than assume it won't be that bad here and get surprised.

I am very worried about the cats, but honestly they are probably as safe here as anywhere. I will leave my closet door open so they can retreat to a windowless protected space full of soft things to hide under. They have enough good sense to hide under the furniture at loud noises, so unlike the dog, they won't run toward a breaking window to check it out. In times of crisis they normally gather under my bed, which is as safe a place as any. It's where I'd go if I could fit.

Okay, local weather says the wind will start getting bad here on Friday. See, that's what I mean, they're talking "landfall 2 p.m. Saturday but that's the eye, the storm extends far beyond the eye. So yeah, I'll be up and outta here early Friday.

Oh please, not another damn hurricane. The report when I went to bed last night had it heading further north - we'd get brushed, not slammed. At this point the track puts it right over Central Florida. Again. This is really serious and not at all amusing - the biggest concern is the tons of debris still sitting around in nearly every neighborhood, waiting for the cleanup trucks to remove it. That and all the trees and structures that were weakened in the last storm that may not stand up in this one. It may change, but right now the projections make it way worse than Charley - bigger, badder, and moving slower. Charley was powerful but relatively fast-moving, it blew through my neighborhood in just a few hours. The amount of damage done by a big storm taking its sweet time is far worse.

I can't do anything about this by staying home to sit through it, and frankly, I'd rather not, so I'm still going to Girlchild's as planned. Now I just have to figure out how much of the contents of the fridge and freezer I can bring with me - might as well bring as much as I can, because I can't assume the luck I had with Charley will hold for two storms in a row. It also looks like I'll be gone an extra day, because Sunday night the storm will be just leaving the state.

I have a road trip today, working in a town that may just be ground zero for landfall this weekend. Hard to care about petty little legal matters when you put it in perspective, you know? I have to leave very early and I hope to be home early, so I can drive some big nails in the wobbly parts of my fence and do some other storm prep - and make lasagna. I had planned to make and bring lasagna, and dammit, I'm going to go ahead and do that.

Damn. This is not good.