Staring down the eye of Hurricane Gustav ...

What a bundle of emotions I been since the threat to Texas and Lousisiana became known. I sit here in Texas, concerned about my home, family and friends who are in the path of the storm. My long time readers may remember as I chronicled Huuricane Rita in 2005. It was shortly after Hurricane Katrina, which my father's side of the family had been in the path of to include my brother who was on call as a medic for the Fire Department while his wife and four girls rode it out with her family. Rita was suppose to hit Houston, which is where my mother's family is as well as George's family, but it split down the middle and hit the western side of Louisiana where we are.

I was well prepared having grown up in the area and was use to it, but it was the first time I had to do it on my own as an adult and of course I was responcible for decisions that would affect Sgt. Major as well.

Then, I thought that it would've easier to stay and now that I am gone, I am convinced of that. The Army did an amazing job of taking care of it's families. They had tractor trailers coming in daily with food, gas and other supplies. We had water the entire time as well as electricity within three day where the outlying communities were without for up to six weeks.

Now I sit here imagining all of the things that could go wrong and all of the things that should've been tucked away. I think of all the little treasures I left behind ... the jewelry box George sent me from Afghanistan, my tea cup collection to include the ones from my greandmother's collection, all of the pictures that chronical my life with George. It's nerve-wracking to say the least. I know I shouldn't be so worried about material things, but there is so much that hold precious memories, like the lace angel my great-grandmother made or the handmade Christmas ornaments that line our Christmas tree each year. Thankfully, I have a friend who has agreed to stay at the house in between patrols (she is military police) so I know that there is less chance of my home being targeted for theft if there is power outages. I guess all I can do now is what I did then, sit back, wait it out and deal with whatever happens when it does. I am learning that I am not a patient person ...

Until our next cup of tea ...