Hurricanes can slow you down and speed you up

Interesting, isn't it, how something can slow you down and speed you up at the same time? Like most of the Houston area we were affected by Hurricane Ike. A good bit of our roof flew off and we had some water damage. Let me tell you, it's pretty startling to look up at your roof and see plywood. It's just as amazing to realize that your yard is littered with the shingles that used to cover that plywood. Fortunately for us, the damage done to our house was in rooms where no one lives during the school year. Sorry college boys, you'll have to stay where you are for a while till we get the mess cleaned up.

So the slowing down part....we spent a week without power. That means flashlights at night, no tv and a refrigerator full of food slowly going bad. After 4 days I finally quit turning on the light every time I went in my closet but I never quit looking at the oven to check the time. For seven days, every time I walked through my kitchen I looked at the oven expecting to see the time. I didn't realize I was so obsessed with the time of day. We watched some movies on my daughters portable DVD player, we played cards and monopoly, we napped....a lot. There was a sense of languidness about the days.

Which isn't to say we weren't busy and that is the "speed you up" part. For me, Hurricane Ike was a procrastination buster. I am a procrastinator, I admit it. I don't really get moved to action until there is some stressor in place. For several weeks I have been putting off cleaning up the boys rooms (organizing, putting away, yeah, they are not the cleanest of people....wonder where they get that from?) and cleaning out my fridge (maybe that's where they get it from). Also, their bathroom needed some serious attention. These things had been way down on my list of things to do...or the "Procrastination List" as we affectionately call it. Ike got me moving on all of those things. The boys rooms are now completely empty and the carpet is out. One could eat off of their bathroom floor and the refrigerator is looking new again. Things I may never have accomplished are well on their way due to Ike.

My brother says, "Fortune never comes with both hands full" and I can't decide how that really applies here but it seems to fit. My sister said, "So your carpet got wet and will have to be replaced? That's not a bad thing...I've seen your carpet." That fits too.

Kathy