Back in business

Wilma came, she saw, she kicked the ever lovin' shit out of the area, and left. A pleasure to see her go, that's for sure.

Luckily for the Dee family, we're on some good power grid I tell ya and we managed to get power back on Tuesday (!) morning, a little over 24 hours after Wilma roared through our end of the county. Phone service and DSL (hallelujah!) were restored today. But we are the exception, not the rule--case in point, the homes right behind us are still without power and the sound of numerous generators punctuate the air. Those in the counties to our south and west are dealing with power, phone, food, water and other woes on a much larger scale than we are here.

We've got weeks' worth of work in store for us in cleaning up our acre and a quarter. We have also temporarily postponed Miss J's baptism, which was to take place this coming Sunday. The church is down in Broward county, which took a heavier beating than we did here. I just figured it made sense to reschedule, especially since all of our family and friends live down there and are dealing with no electricity and having to clean up or repair their homes, etc. So it's just better that we do it at a later date, most likely in December--post-hurricane season (exactly the reason why A and I got married on Nov. 30th--the last day of it).

And Miss J's daycare is without power which means that I'm staying home with her temporarily. Thankfully, my work is okay with me working from home for the time being (and, with only half a tank of gas in my car right now, I'm not driving anywhere since there currently are 2 hour + lines for gasoline at local stations).

It's kind of nice to be back at home with J again though she now requires much more 'entertainment' than she did back in months one through three (this means I'm doing my work late in the evening hours). But sister does love her some exersaucer and some baby bjorn time while we clean the yard with daddy before dinner. And she loves to blow raspberries--something I never tire of listening or responding with my own to. She laughs now...the most beautiful sound my ears have ever heard.

I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am that the hurricane spared our family of three any real devastation. With Miss J in my life now, I think I know what it's like to be willing to give up your life for someone else in a time of danger. And I also know that if a category 4 or 5 storm heads our way, we're getting the hell out of dodge...pronto.