Heat wave

It’s blazing hot here in South Florida.  I think the high today is 93.  Now, 93 may now sound terribly hot (I’ve experience worse myself!)…but the humidity here is a killer!  I broke a sweat just walking out of Target today (how embarrassing).   Maybe I’m just ready for cooler weather but I know that will not be for a little while longer.  I am happy that Hurricane Bill has given us a pass so I think I’ll just try to stay positive. 

In an effort to feel cooler, I’m trying to think “cool.”  Here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

Polar bears

Popsicles

Igloos

Margarita

Ice cream

Snow

Snow skiing

Ice skating

Iceland

Snowman

Snowballs

Glacier

Ice

What else???

I think I’m melting.

 

Need I say more?

Hurricane Season Countdown:

87 days, 3 hours, 53 minutes

until the end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season on November 30, 2008.

 

For a current hurricane season countdown, go to :  http://www.weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral

Ike is the one I’m watching for now… 

 

For a little more fun…

Names of Atlantic storms -  2008

(Blue dot:  tropical storm /  Red dot: hurricane)

Arthur

Bertha

Cristobal

Dolly

Edouard

Fay

Gustav

Hanna

Ike

Josephine

Still remaining: 

Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy,Vicky, Wilfred

 

We’ve got crabs!

…well actually, just one .   This morning, Cubs was in the garage when he heard an interesting noise.  We’ve had a family of stray cats around recently and he thought it might be a kitten.  He didn’t see anything at first so he thought it might be a rat (yes, Boca Raton has rats!).  He followed the sound until he saw a small crab on the side of the garage door!  I guess the little crustacean was just visiting. Of course, Cubs had to find something so that he could poke at it a bit – that’s the straw you see in the photo.

Now that’s something we never saw in north Texas!

Speaking of Texas, it looks like they are preparing along the coast for the impact of Gustav, which is likely to be a category 3 hurricane.  Even though I grew up in Lufkin, in east Texas, I don’t remember my family ever having any major concerns about hurricanes as a child.  However, we never had to worry about hurricane shutters and that sort of thing because we were so far inland.  Dear said he could recall his family “preparing” for a hurricane a couple of times when he was a teenager when they lived in Houston (which was farther south than where I grew up).   While the Gulf Coast is getting ready for Gustav, here in southeast Florida, we are closely tracking “Tropical Storm #8″ (already pre-named “Hannah”)…it’s a busy season.

 

Here comes trouble

The time has finally come.  Our first real hurricane (as Florida transplants) is on the way and her name is Fay.  I say this with anticipation, concern, and strangely, interest.  It’s nice to know ahead of time that something foreboding is heading toward you, don’t you think?  The forecasters are saying Fay is likely to become a Category 1 hurricane.  On the Saffir-Simpson scale, a category 1 is defined as:

Winds 74-95 mph. Storm surge generally 4-5 ft above normal. No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage.

www.wunderground.com

I know I have experienced storms with similar winds and rain in the past although they weren’t officially considered hurricanes or even tornados.   The locals around here in South Florida aren’t too worried about this one.  They say, “Just watch the tracking.  It’s probably no big deal…just a big storm.”   As of now, Fay is supposed to hug the west coast which would result in us just getting the effects of the outer bands. 

The kids begin school on Monday and Fay is supposed to hit our area late Monday night.  Of course, the kids want to know if school will be canceled (i.e. How exciting!).  I guess there are things to get excited about in a hurricane! 

Okay.  Here’s the plan.  I am going be a “local” and not worry too much.  I will be prepared.  I have stocked up on extra water, batteries, food,  and of course, wine!  All will be okay…

 

All’s well on Halloween

I give our first Halloween in Florida 1 1/2 thumbs up!  I would give it 2 thumbs up but it wasn’t cool at all…well, it is southeast Florida, right?  There were several Halloweens in Texas that weren’t cool either – and I would have knocked off half a thumb for those too.  However, we did just dodge a tropical storm…hmmm – maybe I really should go with 2 thumbs up in that case!  Actually, I was pleasantly surprised overall.  There were tons of kids roaming the neighborhood throughout the evening, as well as parents tagging along with many of the younger kiddos.  There was lots of giggling, running, and cheerful yells of “Trick-or-Treat.”     The most creative costume I saw was a young adult / older teenager who asked if we liked his costume as he passed out candy at his house.  It was cute – he wore a box painted (rather well!) like a nightstand.  He then told us he was “a one night stand.”  Very clever.  The kids were pretty happy with their candy haul.  Cubs was particularly pleased with a “regular size peanut M&Ms!”  The thing about a warm Halloween is that the jack-o-lanterns have a short shelf life.  I went out today to pick up Halloween decorations including our scary pumpkins – they were pretty gross as a swarm of tiny bugs buzzed inside and out…and the black mold that had formed looked pretty threatening.  We just carved them on Sunday night, so they barely made it to Halloween in this heat.  We are looking forward to a cool front to hit this Friday night.  Ahh…I can’t wait for that high of a cool 83 degrees on November 3rd!!!

(These were the pumpkins on the first night after carving…pretty good, huh?)

 

It’s never too late

Since we moved to Boca, Dear and the kids have been doing a lot of bike riding around the neighborhood and local area.  I have not desired to bike ride but finally, the pleading from the kids and Dear rose to such a great level that I gave in.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against bike riding but it’s been a long time since I last hopped on a bike.  Actually, the year was 1983.  I was in college and some friends wanted to go on a bike ride around campus so they let me borrow a bike to go along.  Now, before that fateful ride in 1983, it had probably been 7 years or so since my prior riding experience.  So, that evening on the college campus, we rode along just fine until we rounded a corner where about 20 people stood.  Apparently, I panicked and forgot to how to use the hand brake – and almost ran over someone!  How embarrassing.  I guess that experience resulted in my 24 year delay in getting back on a bike.  (That’s serious, isn’t it?).  Well, last night, Dear and Aggie talked me into going on a ride around the neighborhood (Cubs was at youth group at church).   How did I do?  I didn’t wipe out anyone – and, actually, it was pretty fun!  Initially I rode Cubs’ bike but the seat was extremely uncomfortable so Dear traded with me.  His bike was fun – but his seat was also uncomfortable.  After we returned home, Aggie expressed her surprise.  She said, “You did better than I thought you were going to!”  (…me too!).   I guess it’s never too late to get back on that bike!

 

Be sure and check out new posts on Foodie Fun and Cork Talk this week!

 

Peanut butter, school, and emergency supplies

YES!  We made it to Friday.  TGIF!  The kids have lived through their first three days of school here in Boca.  Although it’s been a little bumpy for Cubs, his middle school experience appears to be getting “better.”  Aggie couldn’t wait to get to school today.  She was looking forward to playing with her new girlfriends at recess and her class is having a “healthy snack” party today.  The students were to bring a healthy snack – enough for 4 students.  I usually have healthy snacks on hand for the kids but we had a tough time finding them last night (I guess it’s time to replenish).   Aggie settled on apples and unsweetened strawberry applesauce cups (I sense a theme…).  I suggested she take peanut butter for apple dipping but she didn’t want to do that.  I then suggested celery with peanut butter but she said another friend was already bringing that that healthy combo.  Why the push for peanut butter?  Well, with my recent preparation of emergency supplies (you know, in the event of a hurricane), I had stocked up on about 5 jars of the creamy goodness.  This wasn’t on purpose…I just kept forgetting how many jars of PB we had in the pantry as saw the Skippy and Peter Pan on the grocery store shelf.   Well, Aggie didn’t end up taking PB for her snack after all, but we do have plenty more for PB&J sandwiches (…or a hurricane).