Tropical Storm Nicole has put me a little behind

September 28, 2010 part 2

I am experiencing my first tropical storm! It is something else! I am not sure if it is actually a tropical storm or if it is still just a depression. It rained all day today but after dinner the wind started to really pick up! I don't know what the gusts are at, but I would guess around 50 mph. When we were getting ready to put the kids down tonight the girls came out and their room was soaked! The rain was coming down sideways and going right into their room! We had to move beds and Joel and Matt had to go find some sheets of plywood to cover up some windows. It is kinda crazy! Nurse Hedram was laughing at me because I was out trying to get some pictures. She said that is why tourists get hurt during storms because they don't know when to stay inside. She reminded me that I wasn't a tourist and I needed to stay inside. Thankfully we still have power. It has gone off a few times but has come right back on. Hopefully the worst of it will be over my morning! The kids are all hoping that school will be cancelled. It's kinda like being at home the night of a big snow storm. Hoping that it will be bad enough or the roads will be slick enough for them to cancel school. Kids are these same just about everywhere. They love having school cancelled! Well, I took some good cough medicine so hopefully I will sleep soundly and not be up coughing all night! I will try to keep everyone posted on the storm if we have internet.

September 29, 2010

So we are officially in the middle of Tropical Storm Nicole. We have been without power all day. Thankfully we have a generator. We had a very limited staff today. We all pitched in and got things done. We are all exhausted! I told Angie that Nurse Hedrem gets the "Trooper of the Week" award. She has been on for over 24 hours with 3 hours of sleep and has not complained one time. We truly do have an amazing staff here. It has been raining almost constantly since yesterday morning. The Island is under flood and mudslide warnings. The small bridge down at John's Hall, our only way into town, is completely gone. That could make things interesting for us. We cannot get staff, groceries, or anything else up or down the mountain.

September 30, 2010

Today was a crazy busy day! Yesterday was such an overwhelming day emotionally and physically. We were overwhelmed by the storm and all that came with that. Power outage, no staff, flooding, keeping kids busy and out of trouble, making sure that people were safe, keeping up with dishes, making dinner, putting kids to bed, etc. Somehow we made it through the day. We were emotionally drained as well. We found out yesterday morning that Jhanelle had passed away on Tuesday evening. Praise the Lord she was in the hospital and not here at The Nest when she entered eternity. With all the unknown about the storm and Jhanelle's passing, we were just done! I lost it and had to take some time away from everyone. I think that Jhanelle's passing is going to be what make's Quest's death real for me. I tear up just thinking about having to go through the whole funeral/burial process. I know it is good to process and it needs to be done, but with so many other things going on down here I feel like I can only handle one thing at a time! The storm caused all sorts of emotions as well. Feeling "stuck" and claustrophobic not being able to leave and just so many unknowns.
We woke up today to almost clear skies. Still a bit windy, but the ground looked as if it hadn't rained in several hours. It was still wet, but there was no standing water. The sun even appeared for a little bit! We found out that the Ministry of Education has cancelled school until further notice. So who knows when that will be. We have heard that Kingston has been just hammered by this storm even worse that we were. We were able to get some staff up for the day so it was nice to have it almost be "normal". We decided to do the big room switch today. Joel went down to identify Jhanelle's body and we wanted to have all her stuff moved and cleaned up before he got back. We didn't want him to have to deal with that after going to do the hospital stuff. We put the 4 younger girls, Yvonne, Zoe, Abby & Brittanya in the middle room, all the boys in the girls old room and Sue, Damille, Jodi and Shana Kay in the boys old room. It took us ALL DAY to clean out the rooms, move furniture and reset the rooms. I was completely exhausted! The girls did pretty well helping most of the day. I have been so impressed with Shana Kay lately. She has had a great attitude and has been working so hard. You ask her to do something and the is little to no complaining and most of the time she does it with a smile on her face! 180 degree turn around from last year at this time. Jodi, on the other hand, has been pretty hard to deal with lately. She is rude and mean to me almost constantly. I don't know what her deal is, but I have just about had it. I was very upset with her today. She had a horrible attitude while we were cleaning and getting ready to switch rooms. She wasn't doing anything and was just sitting watching. I looked at her and she gave me a nasty look. I saw that she had the necklace my mom gave her for her birthday on. I wanted to go rip it off of her. I feel like my mom has gone above and beyond to give stuff to Jodi. Sometimes I think my mom forgets that I am her kid that is living thousands of miles away from home and would like to be sent something every once and a while. So it really makes me mad when my mom has done all of that and Jodi treats me like crap. Well anyway, that's enough of that.
I am completely wiped out. I can hardly keep my eyes open. It has been an extremely long day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, the storm will keep moving on and we can get back to normal around here. Whatever normals is.

October 1, 2010

HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!!!

Things are starting to return to "normal" around here. We had our regular staff back and even though things are still a little crazy i feel like the worst is behind us. We have an unbelievable about of laundry to get done, but other than that the storm seems to have blown over. I think we finally got everything switched around for the kids bedrooms. We were labeling and putting away the boys clothes today. It is so fun to see them loving their new room. Not much else happened today. I took a "nap" today I actually went and laid down in my bed for a couple hours, but I didn't sleep. Carly had one of her Christy Miller books and I read that the whole time. Those are my absolute favorite books!! Even though I know they are about a 15 year old girl, I get sucked in and I become Christy Miller. Probably not the best choice for me today. After I finished reading the book, I definitely entered the "Land of If Only". If only I had a boyfriend…. If only I knew what was going to happen in the next couple years… If only… If only… I kind of got into a funk for a little bit. Then I gave it all to God. I prayed that I would be able to focus on what he has for me here and now. I know that God has me here at this time and in this location for a very specific purpose. I also prayed for my "Todd" whoever that may be. I prayed that God would protect his heart, eyes and mind and that I would wait patiently for the day that we would meet. Easier said than done, but I know that, in God's timing, it will happen.
We ended the day the same way we have since Nicole started on Tuesday, with popcorn! It has been fun to just hang out in the evenings with the O'Dell and Wiley families. We all decided that on Sunday we are not taking any kids to church with us. I think we are going to try out a new church and then go to Margaritaville or something to have a break from the kids and the chaos! I am so looking forward to a break. I am ending my day watching "Nacho Libre"!! I honestly laugh so hard every time I watch this movie. I can still picture Mr. Brewer cracking himself up the first time I watched it in Oklahoma 3 years ago. Well, I am off to watch my movie! Good night all!