Ann

Muriel, I'm still cleaning up from Frances ! I will promise and make it next Tuesday if Jeanne doesn't come a calling! After all these hurricanes this year, you're going to be afraid to move to our lovely state!!! Don't worry, this year is really an oddity for us!

I will certainly keep all of you affected by Ivan in my prayers. You all were so wonderful when "praying me through" Frances. We're still in a mess here over Frances and now hear Jeanne is maybe headed our direction!!! What's up with all these hurricanes????

Curtis, this makes me wonder if someone else didn't actually jump over the counter at this jerk. If so, good for them!!

Pecola...I absolutely love your Florida advertising slogan regarding the categories. Glad to hear you're OK but sorry to hear you have no power. It's so funny....already one week without power and I still walk over and flip a switch to turn something on. I finally got a call from my insurance adjustor and he's coming here tommorrow to access the damage to my house. Sure do hope he's in a nice generous mood when he gets here. Think I should offer him a nice cold beer??? I sure hope Ivan sees fit to spare us this one!!! Ann

Well, it'a now been over a week and I still have no power or phone but am hanging in here! They now tell us we "may" have power by Saturday the 18th. Thank goodness for generators. That has given me a chance to hop online and to run a fan to try and circulate some air. Oh, I can also keep the fridge running most of the time which eliminates some of the long lines for ice. You know, times like this can really build character and bring out creativity. Yesterday, I used the base of my turkey fryer and a big pot to heat some water for a bath. I actually had a lukewarm bath! It was wonderful. I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to talk radio, trying to keep an eye...or should I say "ear"...on Ivan. Right now his path is pretty much up in the air but the reports seem to be looking better each day. The bad path is him hitting the west coast and exiting directly over us. They say that could bring winds strong enough to destroy trees and power lines to us. Just what we need...right? FEMA sent an inspector to check my roof yesterday. HE said I should recieve a check in 7-10 days. I haven't seen anyone from my insurance company yet, so I can't totally repair the roof. FEMA is going to reimburse me for my generator and help with my insurance deductible, which is a lot. Here in Florida, we have an additional hurricane deductible, based on the house value. I have a hurricane deductible of $5500.00. At this stage of the game, I feel like a welfare case.....but all the help is welcomed and I guess that's part of what my taxes have been paying for years!

Cat, so good to read that you're alright. Still without power here...using generator to post. I ate my first MRE today, courtesy of FEMA. Thank God they are here providing us with ice. Never knew frozen water could be such a special gift! Lines for ice and water are long..sometimes over 2 hours. Gas is very hard to find. Many stations that had gas left are still without power and stations that have power are out of gas. Our grocery shelves are empty excluding beer. The county has put a ban on the sale of any alcoholic beverages until this is over. Insurance company has still not surfaces, so I still have a pretty bright blue tarp covering my roof...or what used to be my roof. Thanks for all the love and support!!!

Checking in to let everyone know I'm alright. I have a generator up and running and am using a little juice to post! This was the most horrible thing I have ever experienced. My little town was absolutely pounded for over 18 hours with hurricane force winds and tons of rain. I am missing a lot of my roof and all of my fence and I have trees down but am still so much better off than many others here. I have no idea when our power will be restored. Not to complain...but it's so hot here right now and there is no wind stirring anywhere. When I can't take anymore heat, I start the car and turn on the AC for a few minutes. I have been taking about 6 cold showers a day just to try and get cool and refreshed. My sons put tarps on my remaining roof areas yesterday to try and prevent further water damage. The insurance company has to send someone out before I do anything other than temporary work. Lord only knows when that will be. I finally took a couple of plywood boards off my windows, against the governor's wishes. He advised that we need to leave everything in place until after we are sure of Ivan's path. Saturday night was the worst. It was pitch black and winds were making sounds lile a freight train. I could hear things flying from my roof and could hear things from my neighbors houses hitting my house but had no idea what I was hearing. Cell phones are useless here, as all circuits are busy. Thank God for FEMA and their trucks of ice and water. I had plenty of water on hand but ice is a real treasure!!! I pray all my Florida friends are safe! Thank you for all your prayers!!!

Kelly, I am so very sorry! I will keep you in my prayers!

Bellringer...thanks for the generous offer. I am as prepared as humanly possible. All windows and doors are boarded up and I feel like a prisioner in my own home. It's 1:45 in the afternoon and I have lights on inside. I went out this morning and got dry ice, as there is no regular ice to be found. I have been emptying ice from my ice maker as soon as it fills and putting ice into plastic bags in the freezer. Everything is closed and boarded up here...even Walmart and convenience stores. It looked like a ghost town when I was out. I think tonight we will probably lose power. I will probably gain 50 pounds during this storm, as I baked everything possible last night while I had power. I have an abundance of brownies and banana bread. My grill propane tank is filled and I have a back up. I will cook things in the freezer as they begin to thaw. If any of you have been watching the weather channel, they have had a reporter right here in my home town of Palm Bay since yesterday. Prayers going out to all my Florida friends.....Cat, Betsplace, Pecola and anyone else I missed!!! Thanks for all the love and prayers! I know Dennis is watching over me!!!

Betsplace...you are always in my prayers!!!!

Karen,,,we all only live once and should really enjoy the time and things we have!!! I say...Go For It...don't think about it too much...just do it!!!!

Lois...I'm AppleAnnie on the craft forum and the one that mentioned this site. I lost mu DH to sclc in December 2002 and could not have made it without the love and support from this group. I'm so very glad you stopped in to visit with us. Please stay and continue to post. We cover a wide area of topics regarding lung cancer. Welcome aboard!!!!

Cat, Grix, Pecola and Betsplace....How are all of you doing? Are you staying or getting out of Dodge??? I have decided to stay put. I have plywood on all windows. The darkness inside this house really has my biological timeclock confused. It's now just after 3:00 and nothing seems to have changed with regards to the targeted path except that Frances decided to "wobble" a bit to the north which brought her a bit away from Grix and a bit closer to me. I can now give all of you a geography lesson, with national television to assist visually. You will see Melbourne and Vero Beach on all the maps now. I am between the two of them in the far southern end of Brevard County. They are telling us to expect 145 mph winds! I guess I will see how well my house was built after this. I'm about 10 miles inland from the coast. The really bad thing about this storm is that it is moving very slowly. With Charley, it passed over rather quickly and then was gone. Not so with Frances. Forecasters are telling us we can have these high winds (in one place) for up to 24 hours. Frances is bigger than the state of Florida and almost as big as Texas, so all Floridians will be somehow impacted by this storm. Cat, I really hope you are outta here, as you live on the second floor. Grix, Stuart is probably closer to the shoreline than I am, so if I were you, I'd at least go to a shelter. We're counting on all you lcbuddies to make a big prayer circle and keep us safe through this monster of a storm!!!

Cat, thanks so much for listing all of us that are here in Florida. It makes it easier to keep up with each other after this thing passes. The 11:00 update is calling for the Vero Beach area. I can tell all of you that today my panic officially set in. I was at Walmart at 0 dark thirty and was able to find nothing that I need. People were making announcements stating we are not out of this...we are now out of that!!! I had tears in my eyes before I got out of that store!!! Please pray for all of that are in harms way of this storm. (((((((((((CAT))))))))))))) I am praying so hard for you right now!!! Feel it?????

Karen, that was great advice for Cat. The problem here is that our roads get so very backed up that traffic is literally bumper to bumper with people trying to evacuate. There have been occasions when people were sitting in traffic in the middle of the hurricane. Emergency management officials just had a news conference and said..."If we tell you to go, please do so immediately. If we don't tell you to go, please stay put." I think that's the best advice right now. Karen, I know you guys have been having way too much rain up your way. My area, is usually fairly dry and we most always worry about the risk of fires. This month alone we have already had over 10 inches of rain!!!

Cat, if you have seen the latest update, it has landfall hitting around Jacksonville. Of course, they are still saying that it could fall much further south but the last flyover has indicated a slight turn to the north. Like I said earlier, I think it's just too early for them to predict what is going to happen with this thing. By the way, is this storm masculine or femine? I have seen the name Frances for a man and Francis for a woman??? Which gender is our Frances? If it's a woman, we know it has the option of changing its mind!!!

Cat, exactly where are you? I'm going to try and stay calm until tommorrow afternoon and then see what path they are predicting. You know, these storms get out there and develop a mind of their own. I think Charley was a prime example of how these guys just don't know what or where. They had everybody out of the Tampa Bay area and then Tampa didn't get hit at all. What are we supposed to do? I'm in Brevard County and the news has been showing actual fights breaking out at Home Depots here over plywood! They are limiting people to 15 sheets per customer. Cat, let's keep in close touch during this thing! If you like, please email me your phone number so I can keep tabs on you. My email is king3419@bellsouth.net

Becky, thanks so much for posting this. I have read this somewhere and always have wished I would have kept it. Now I can!!! This little story is so very true. Sometimes, I think we all want too much out of life...much more than is necessary to be truly happy! All any of us really need is...enough!!!

Angie, I am keeping both you and your Dad on my prayer list! I hope today brings good news and relief from pain!

Cat, I am by no means an authority on these storms but from where you have told me you are located, I can't imagine they are suggesting any type of evacuation at this point. The National Weather Service is saying, as of the 5:00 am update, that Frances will come ashore somewhere between Vero Beach and just south of Melbourne. Guess what??? That is exactly where I live...Palm Bay!!!! I'm about three miles in from the coast. I was really worried about you during Charley. so perhaps it would be best for you to find safe shelter before the roads are jammed, shelters full, and no hotel rooms to be found. They are planning to have only one direction (westbound) of I-4 and 528 open if an evacuation is required. There is still a chance (small one) that Frances will turn away from us. Let's just pray!!!

Tess, I am so glad you had this wonderful experience. I, too, have had several such encounters since I lost my dear Dennis. As Lillian said, you will never forget these moments and will always be able to travel back and feel the feelings you have described!!! True love never dies!!!

Kitty, I am so sorry to hear of your father's loss. Praying God will grant you much needed strength and peace in the upcoming days!

Renee, I am so sorry to hear of this turn of events. Please know that I am keeping you and ypur family in my prayers. I know this is a very hard time for you but please try and take care of yourself!

Dawn, I"m going to have to differ with others opinion that have posted here but that's what this board is all about...opinions. My husband had what I consider to be the world's best oncologist. He was very kind, sensitive and caring. He is considered to be at the very "top of his field" in cancer treatment and research. My husband was diagnosed with sclc, extensive. Mets were in liver and spine. On our first visit after biopsy, our oncologist said......Incureable, inoperable but with treatment we can buy some quality time. Never have I considered that to be insensitive and I am a very densitive person. My husband chose to never ask how much time that "bought time" might be, but I did ask in a private setting, away from my husband. I appreciated the frankness and honesty of our doctor's opinion. Had he said....I can cure this and then the result have been different, I would have been bitter and angry. Instead, my husband knew that he would always have cancer but fought with all his might to make that "bought time" last as long as possible. The doctor told me 3-6 months, if the treatment was a success and we got 9 more months together, for which I am very thankful!!!!

Cindy....Prayers and fingers crossed for Tom. Glad to hear daughter moved back home. I know from experience that you worry less when they're living at home. Last, but far from least...I know you'll make a WONDERFUL teacher! Look how much you have taught all of us!!!!