rayvyn2k: cute icon (unenthusiastic)
rayvyn2k ([personal profile] rayvyn2k) wrote2005-11-03 07:26 pm
Entry tags:

Randomness

First of all, I want to say Happy Birthday to all of the November babies in my family...Mom, Amanda, James, Jeffrey, Nicole and Junior.

Next, my sister sent some pictures of the damage of her house and yard.

There are many shingles missing from her roof...but thankfully the roof itself held. It will have to be repaired or replaced. There used to be a shrubbery in front of her porch and a small palm tree in the center of the yard. The big, bushy-looking thing on the side must be part of a tree, unless there's a shrub in the yard I'm not remembering.


Here is a pic from a year and a half ago, it's the only one I could find of their backyard, the way it was...(that's my gorgeous daughter--very pregnant and still wearing a bikini!)

You can see how pretty it was. Here's a couple of pictures of how it looks now. The pictures say it all. Except for the trampoline. That was a "gift" from the neighbor's yard--it seems they didn't bother to bring it in or tie it down. Thanks to that little "gift", the power pole behind my sister's house snapped. Nice, eh? Oh, and the reason the screened porch survived is because my brother-in-law created an ingenius anchor system to tie it down to their pool deck. The screens were blown out, but the structure made it through.









So, sad. But I'm sure my brother-in-law will soon have it as gorgeous as it once was.

They still don't have power, in fact, the only ones I know who DO have power back is my son and his g/f. My sister, brother, mother and best friend are still power-less. I wish I could run an extension cord from here to there.

We heard from the EPA people of Wilson County. It seems they have not been able to get any part of the property where we want to put our future house to "perk". The land has to have a certain absorbtion level in order to put a septic tank in the ground, and apparently, of the entire 10 acre plot, there is not ONE place where it "perks" well enough to do that. This is very disheartening, especially since we had the test done two years ago and were told (and given a certificate to show) the land perked just fine. Hubby and I have decided to hire an independant soil testing scientist to come give it another try. If that fails, then we have pretty much decided to just get ten or so acres deeded over to him and to use that as collatoral to buy a "brick and mortar" house somewhere. We would prefer to build a manfactured house in the country, but if it's not possible, then we will go to plan B.

Work still sucks, but I'm trying to make the best of it.

Just to end on a cute note, here's a pic of my grandson in his Halloween costume. He was Yoda. Hee.


Now, I really must get to work on the next chapter of my HP fic. *wanders away*

[identity profile] aramintasnape.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
I do hope they manage to get the yard back to how it was. It looked lovely. And I can't believe how slim your daughter stayed! Look at her arms and legs! It seems she didn't put on an ounce, except for the belly and even that looks very neat and not huge at all!

And your grandson is very sweet :)

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, she lost all the "weight" she gained right away too. Did you see the pictures I posted of her trying on wedding dresses from September? Grr.

[identity profile] aramintasnape.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, no I didn't! Possibly I didn't have you friended at that point. *goes off to look for pics*

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
Here's a link:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/rayvyn2k/2005/09/19/

[identity profile] aramintasnape.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I did find them earlier and left a comment there. Hoepfully you'll have seen it by now.

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Doh! I didn't even stop to think you might have commented there. Believe it or not, the gown she chose looks even better on her. heh. If she wasn't my daughter, I'd hate her. ;)

[identity profile] islandsmoke.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
Wow! Messy, but could have been so much worse. Glad they're OK.

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, they were luckier than so many other people as far as damage goes...I have been following the story through the local paper and it is just heartbreaking. Several of the large, senior citizen condo buildings were damaged and they are forcing those folks out--some of whom are in their 80s and 90s! Those people have lost everything. Not to mention some of the poorer folks, too. Just like in NOLA.
My sister lives in an "older" house, built, I believe in the 50s--so it is very solid. She and her husband did what they could to prepare the building for the storm and so they basically made it through. For which I am so thankful.

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
OH, and where have you been? You've been missed.

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee..I think so too! My daughter said that when they put the ears on him, he just froze...didn't know what to do. I think that's hilarious.

[identity profile] islandsmoke.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Where've I been? Outside. It finally stopped raining, which means:
clean the gutters
re-tarp the dog pen
bank the house
stack the wood
go to the dump
mow
weed
mulch
etc
etc

[identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com 2005-11-04 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
EEK! I'm tired just reading that list. Wow, that's amazing.

And, of course I noticed! Your witty reparte has been very much missed on my f-list. *smooch*

[identity profile] islandsmoke.livejournal.com 2005-11-05 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Your witty reparte...

*spits coffee on monitor*

*smooches back*