As a resident of the Gulf Coast I am sadden by the oil spill that took place in April and the fact that the spill is still continuing to leak out oil. It has been a month since that tragic day where 11 employees lost their lives on the oil rig. A month that BP has had to clean up the mess. I am tired of reading whose fault it is. I don't really give a damn whose fault it is. All I want it to people to join together and fix the problem. We have some brillant brains in the companies in question and they would quit their bickering for a second and use their brains and come up with a solution instead of trying to put the blame on each other maybe there would had been a solution to the problem.
At the moment most people in the US are not directly affected by the oil spill but those who live near the coast are. Many of us not only live near the coast but we fish for our daily food. There are commercial fishermen along with the sportman fisherman. Now before anyone starts to send hate mail to me you need to understand that those sportsman fisherman also bring home food to their families. We are a family of five and the fish that my husband used to catch would feed us throughout the summer and winter. That allowed us to be able to spend less at the grocery store which in this economy is a good thing. Now since our fish supply is running low since he has not been able to fish I am not sure what we are going to do. Food stamps are out of the question because you basically have to be not working in order to get those. With our three jobs we don't qualify. Also BP says that they are offering jobs to the people who live near the coast and are affected by their giant mess. Well that is great but how come is that I have send in my resume, get a letter promising a position, have a phone call and then return the phone call and leave 20 + messages on voice mail for the person to call me back and they don't even have the decency to call me back and at least let me know that they filled the position. It is like they are even leaving the ones that are hoping for employment hanging. Just like they are leaving the public hanging on what is really going on. So yes I have reason to mistrust what BP and the goverment is saying about the spill. They have gave me reason.
Not only is the spill affecting the lively hood of many on the coast but it is affecting our way of life. Many of us choose to live here despite the hurricanes. We love it down here. Hurricanes we can take but a darn oil spill that BP doesn't seem to be able to clean up is not taken likely.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
What is going to happen next?
Why does it seem like when it rains it pours at my house? The first episode was when I slipped in our wonderful Walmart and twisted my ankle. A couple days later David had a heart cath which luckily turned out to be positive and nothing was wrong. Everything look just like it did when they put the stent in back during 2006. Has it been that long? Sunday Gwendolyn broke out in hives. I thought it was from the latex balloons that she got into at the birthday party but it turns out that she has staph. More than likely it is MRSA. We seem to always have a case go through the house around this time of year.
Fast forward to last night. I get off around 7pm and go to pick Gwendolyn up from my mom with the rest of her siblings. She is complaining of her leg hurting but honestly I did not pay much attention to her because she is a drama queen. I know. I feel bad now that I didn't pay attention to her. Well after catching a glimpse of her leg and realizing that it was swollen and red with a bull's eye around the sore I realized that it was bad. Quickly I found a washcloth and heated up in the microwave in order to put a warm compress on her leg. She squeal and jumped in place but finally let me put the compress on the injure spot. I know it had to hurt. Next I gave her some tynelol to help with pain.
She slept through the night but I didn't. Staph in our house means that everyone is going to get it more than likely. This morning she got up and the bump had busted and it was oozing pus. Lots of pus. Yes I know that is disgusting but it is the truth. Not something you want to see before you have had that morning cup of coffee. At that moment I knew we were going to make a trip to the pediatrician.
Update on Gwendolyn:
She appears to have Staph but we do not know if it is MRSA. I am waiting for the doctor to call. They put her on heavy dose of antibotics and ointment.
Fast forward to last night. I get off around 7pm and go to pick Gwendolyn up from my mom with the rest of her siblings. She is complaining of her leg hurting but honestly I did not pay much attention to her because she is a drama queen. I know. I feel bad now that I didn't pay attention to her. Well after catching a glimpse of her leg and realizing that it was swollen and red with a bull's eye around the sore I realized that it was bad. Quickly I found a washcloth and heated up in the microwave in order to put a warm compress on her leg. She squeal and jumped in place but finally let me put the compress on the injure spot. I know it had to hurt. Next I gave her some tynelol to help with pain.
She slept through the night but I didn't. Staph in our house means that everyone is going to get it more than likely. This morning she got up and the bump had busted and it was oozing pus. Lots of pus. Yes I know that is disgusting but it is the truth. Not something you want to see before you have had that morning cup of coffee. At that moment I knew we were going to make a trip to the pediatrician.
Update on Gwendolyn:
She appears to have Staph but we do not know if it is MRSA. I am waiting for the doctor to call. They put her on heavy dose of antibotics and ointment.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Disaster awaits the Gulf Coast
Growing up along the Gulf Coast many times we take for granted what we have here until something threatens our way of life. Hurricanes and tropical storms come and go but oil spills the magnitude of the GOM spill of 2010 is unheard of around my hometown. We know the damage it could cause but is enough being done to prevent it? I know they are trying but the efforts could not withstand mother nature this weekend.
The seas from the Gulf of Mexico flowed right over the buoys that were put up to protect the Alabama Gulf Coast. According to news reports along the Gulf Coast many of these buoys broke apart and are either on the beaches or lost forever. In Orange Beach, AL some of the buoys had broken apart and were on the beaches.
The buoy that was placed to the entrance of Weeks Bay which is close to where my house is located is missing. For those who don't much about Mobile Bay and the Bays that surround it do a little research and you will find some interesting information on this area. Mobile Bay is home to a phenomen called Jubliees. There is only two or three places in the world that this phenomen occurs. If the oil enters the bays not only wildlife and marine life is going to be effected by the very lives of many people are going to be changed forever.
So yesterday we made a trip to the Coastal area of Alabama. A place that I have called home for 40 years. I can't even begin to describe my love for this area except that I talked my husband into moving down here in 2001 with our daughter. Of course it did not take much to talk my husband into coming South. All I had to mention was fishing, scuba diving, and enjoying the ocean every day and the rest is history.
The dangers of the oil spill is lurking all over the Coastal States that surround the Gulf of Mexico. It is sad to think that in a couple of days that our beautiful beaches will be covered in oil. The Gulf will become a Dead Zone for marine life, and the estuaries that surround the coastal bays will be in dangers.
The seas from the Gulf of Mexico flowed right over the buoys that were put up to protect the Alabama Gulf Coast. According to news reports along the Gulf Coast many of these buoys broke apart and are either on the beaches or lost forever. In Orange Beach, AL some of the buoys had broken apart and were on the beaches.
The buoy that was placed to the entrance of Weeks Bay which is close to where my house is located is missing. For those who don't much about Mobile Bay and the Bays that surround it do a little research and you will find some interesting information on this area. Mobile Bay is home to a phenomen called Jubliees. There is only two or three places in the world that this phenomen occurs. If the oil enters the bays not only wildlife and marine life is going to be effected by the very lives of many people are going to be changed forever.
So yesterday we made a trip to the Coastal area of Alabama. A place that I have called home for 40 years. I can't even begin to describe my love for this area except that I talked my husband into moving down here in 2001 with our daughter. Of course it did not take much to talk my husband into coming South. All I had to mention was fishing, scuba diving, and enjoying the ocean every day and the rest is history.
The dangers of the oil spill is lurking all over the Coastal States that surround the Gulf of Mexico. It is sad to think that in a couple of days that our beautiful beaches will be covered in oil. The Gulf will become a Dead Zone for marine life, and the estuaries that surround the coastal bays will be in dangers.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Serious Matter on our Hands this weekend with the Gulf of Mexico Spill
Before I go on my rant I want to remember the people who lost their lives on this oil rig. My prayers and thoughts are and have been with their families and friends.
Now for my rant...I live along the Gulf Coast. Actually I grew up here and moved back in 2001 so I could raise my children down here. My husband is a fisherman. We live off of the Gulf's seafood industry. Not necessary that we make our money from the seafood but what my husband catches when he fishes we eat. The area I live is home to many shrimp boats, fisherman, and oyster beds. It is also home to many people who work on these rigs. Just like the one that blew up and is spilling thousands of gallons of oil at the moment and is threatening the land that I love so much. For those who do not live here do not understand what is getting ready to happen to the Gulf Coast Coastal area along the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of miles of coastal land is getting ready for a natural disaster. We are use to hurricanes but oil spills? In my 40 years I do not believe I can remember one of this magnitude.
Now for a little information about one of the areas that is going to be hit hard. This pretty much goes for all of the areas that are going to be hit hard by the oil. I live in a small little town just to the East of Mobile Bay. My hometown sits on the beautiful Mobile Bay. Not only do we have sea life here that is unique and its own way but we also have a phenomen called Jubliees. Mobile_Bay_jubilee
The oil spill is going to also effect these areas too...http://www.mobilebaynep.com/
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
http://www.weeksbay.org/
http://www.outdooralabama.com/Fishing/freshwater/where/rivers/delta/
This is just a few of the places that are going to be devasted by the oil spill from the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Several states are going to be affected. I have read over and over that we need to stop our whining but until you live down here and realize what is going to happen to the place you call home you have no clue what is going on. We are not whining but are concern about the place we call home. We are concern for the those who lost their lives in the Gulf of Mexico when the oil rig exploded. Of course we know that a life can't be replaced and my heart goes out to the familes and friends of the victims.
Yesterday I spent the day with my fifth grader's class at Fort Morgan and Gulf Shores. Two of the places that are going to be hit hard by this massive oil leak in the Gulf. I fear that yesterday will be the last time that I see the white sandy beaches as I remember them. I am afraid that by Sunday these areas will be covered with a slick coating of oil. Wildlife will be lost. Families will lose their jobs because they depend on the waters in order to make a living.
I would like to thank the Coast Guard for helping because I realize that they are getting a lot of heat for how they responded. I also would like to thank the people who have volunteer their time to help protect our coastal lands! I do have one request...President please send some help this way to the Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. We are going to need all of the help we can get to help fight this major disaster headed our way.
Now for my rant...I live along the Gulf Coast. Actually I grew up here and moved back in 2001 so I could raise my children down here. My husband is a fisherman. We live off of the Gulf's seafood industry. Not necessary that we make our money from the seafood but what my husband catches when he fishes we eat. The area I live is home to many shrimp boats, fisherman, and oyster beds. It is also home to many people who work on these rigs. Just like the one that blew up and is spilling thousands of gallons of oil at the moment and is threatening the land that I love so much. For those who do not live here do not understand what is getting ready to happen to the Gulf Coast Coastal area along the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of miles of coastal land is getting ready for a natural disaster. We are use to hurricanes but oil spills? In my 40 years I do not believe I can remember one of this magnitude.
Now for a little information about one of the areas that is going to be hit hard. This pretty much goes for all of the areas that are going to be hit hard by the oil. I live in a small little town just to the East of Mobile Bay. My hometown sits on the beautiful Mobile Bay. Not only do we have sea life here that is unique and its own way but we also have a phenomen called Jubliees. Mobile_Bay_jubilee
The oil spill is going to also effect these areas too...http://www.mobilebaynep.com/
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
http://www.weeksbay.org/
http://www.outdooralabama.com/Fishing/freshwater/where/rivers/delta/
This is just a few of the places that are going to be devasted by the oil spill from the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Several states are going to be affected. I have read over and over that we need to stop our whining but until you live down here and realize what is going to happen to the place you call home you have no clue what is going on. We are not whining but are concern about the place we call home. We are concern for the those who lost their lives in the Gulf of Mexico when the oil rig exploded. Of course we know that a life can't be replaced and my heart goes out to the familes and friends of the victims.
Yesterday I spent the day with my fifth grader's class at Fort Morgan and Gulf Shores. Two of the places that are going to be hit hard by this massive oil leak in the Gulf. I fear that yesterday will be the last time that I see the white sandy beaches as I remember them. I am afraid that by Sunday these areas will be covered with a slick coating of oil. Wildlife will be lost. Families will lose their jobs because they depend on the waters in order to make a living.
I would like to thank the Coast Guard for helping because I realize that they are getting a lot of heat for how they responded. I also would like to thank the people who have volunteer their time to help protect our coastal lands! I do have one request...President please send some help this way to the Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. We are going to need all of the help we can get to help fight this major disaster headed our way.
The Beach as I remember it on 4/28. Looking at Dauphin Island Bridge
from the top of Fort Morgan Fort.
The White Sandy Beaches of Gulf Shores in Alabama 4/28/10.
Sunday these beach will be covered with a slick coating of black oil.
The sea life that lives in the water will be destroyed.
Sunday will not see children playing on the beaches but
instead they will be volunteering to help to do what they can.
What do you say to an eleven year old when she ask what can I do
to save the animals from the oil?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Nothing like Recital Week
You would think I was a pro at this by now since my oldest daughter has been taking dance since she was 2 1/2 years old and she is now 11 but every year dance recital week gets me by surprise. Today we start out our afternoon at the Civic Center in town where they have to have their recital costumes but not the makeup. That is great because I don't want to put makeup on my 11 year old after she had poison ivy this past weekend. Today will follow up by Friday afternoon at the Civic Center until after 5:30 in costume. My two youngest daughters take dance on Fridays so they will be there at that time. Saturday morning we have to be at the Civic Center in costume and makeup at 8am. It is going to be a long day. This is where they actually go through the whole rehearsal for the first Act and it usually takes several hours. For a short period of time we will go home and rest and around 5pm we have to be back up at the Civic Center for the recital. The Big Show!
Sad to say that I do not have a picture of my oldest daughter in her ballet outfit. I will try to get one this afternoon. She is a rose from Bette Midler's The Rose. Another song from my childhood. :) The outfit is beautiful and I wish I had one but she didn't want to do pictures the day I took pictures of my two younger girls.
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| My Lil Pink Pedal Pusher |
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| Never thought that one of my daughters would get to be a Pink Lady from the movie Grease! |
Beautiful Life taken too Early
Many people in my hometown are asking why this morning? Why would a young, beautiful girl with so much ahead of her in life had to die this weekend? There are stories going around at the moment but until the family says what happen I am not going to report what I have heard out of respect for her family and friends. No need to spread rumors if they are not true.
As a parent of three daughters I can imagine the pain of Elizabeth's parents. Nine years ago in 2001 I lost my only son at the tender age of 3 years old and 6 months. He was a healthy young boy whose life was taken too soon by the hands of another person who shot him. Nine years later I can say that I have made it. Somedays are harder than others but there is a light and leaning on faith and friends do help. My heart goes out to Elizabeth's parents because I remember the numb feeling that I felt when my son was killed. The feeling that it is a nightmare and when you wake up your child will be there. The only problem is that the nightmare continues and you do not wake up from it. Reality sinks in and you ask why? Why did it happen? Could I had done anything to prevent it? Even though I know more than likely Elizabeth's parents will probably never read this they need to know that it is not their fault. They provided a loving home for their daughter and from what all of her friends and her brother's friends have said they are wonderful people. There is no blame but just heartache.
At the moment my heart is torn for this family because this is a club you do not want to join. A club of losing a child. I know for me it is different because I have been there and until you experience the heartache of losing a child you do not know the pain. It is not something you get over. There is no limit on the grieving. Nine years later I can tell those parents who are going through this that you never forget but there is a time when you will be able to look at your child's pictures and remember those great memories of them and smile without tears coming to your eyes. There is life after you lose a child even though at the moment and even years after you feel like there is no life because a part of you has died. To keep your child's memory alive you must go on living. Find a positive thing to do in order to remember your child's life.
I wish this beautiful child would had realized how many people loved her and how many people she has touched. It is sad that after someone dies that the realization of the love that surrounds the person comes out even though they are not here to witness it. Please keep Elizabeth and her family in your prayers as they go through the most difficult time in their lives. Please pray for Elizabeth's journey to heaven and help the family and friends that she has left behind. If you are a friend of the family that is reading this please pass it on. Also here is a little advice from just my experience of losing a child.
Don't be afraid to speak my child's name. Hearing my child's name will not hurt me. Actually it is a soothing memory of him/her.
Don't be afraid of bringing up memories of my child. I want to hear the stories and remember everything.
Don't be afraid to show pictures of beautiful child. I want to see pictures.
Don't be afraid to comfort me or talk because I am mourning the loss of my child. I need your friendship more than ever and even though I am crying don't be scared to talk to me.
Our children are not gone. They are angels in heaven looking over us until we join them.
As a parent of three daughters I can imagine the pain of Elizabeth's parents. Nine years ago in 2001 I lost my only son at the tender age of 3 years old and 6 months. He was a healthy young boy whose life was taken too soon by the hands of another person who shot him. Nine years later I can say that I have made it. Somedays are harder than others but there is a light and leaning on faith and friends do help. My heart goes out to Elizabeth's parents because I remember the numb feeling that I felt when my son was killed. The feeling that it is a nightmare and when you wake up your child will be there. The only problem is that the nightmare continues and you do not wake up from it. Reality sinks in and you ask why? Why did it happen? Could I had done anything to prevent it? Even though I know more than likely Elizabeth's parents will probably never read this they need to know that it is not their fault. They provided a loving home for their daughter and from what all of her friends and her brother's friends have said they are wonderful people. There is no blame but just heartache.
At the moment my heart is torn for this family because this is a club you do not want to join. A club of losing a child. I know for me it is different because I have been there and until you experience the heartache of losing a child you do not know the pain. It is not something you get over. There is no limit on the grieving. Nine years later I can tell those parents who are going through this that you never forget but there is a time when you will be able to look at your child's pictures and remember those great memories of them and smile without tears coming to your eyes. There is life after you lose a child even though at the moment and even years after you feel like there is no life because a part of you has died. To keep your child's memory alive you must go on living. Find a positive thing to do in order to remember your child's life.
I wish this beautiful child would had realized how many people loved her and how many people she has touched. It is sad that after someone dies that the realization of the love that surrounds the person comes out even though they are not here to witness it. Please keep Elizabeth and her family in your prayers as they go through the most difficult time in their lives. Please pray for Elizabeth's journey to heaven and help the family and friends that she has left behind. If you are a friend of the family that is reading this please pass it on. Also here is a little advice from just my experience of losing a child.
Don't be afraid to speak my child's name. Hearing my child's name will not hurt me. Actually it is a soothing memory of him/her.
Don't be afraid of bringing up memories of my child. I want to hear the stories and remember everything.
Don't be afraid to show pictures of beautiful child. I want to see pictures.
Don't be afraid to comfort me or talk because I am mourning the loss of my child. I need your friendship more than ever and even though I am crying don't be scared to talk to me.
Our children are not gone. They are angels in heaven looking over us until we join them.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Worry Wart on the lose again
DD had his doctor's appt today and it was not good. I knew the doctor was going to say that he needed another heart cath so we will be at the hospital on Tuesday morning. Don't know what will happen from there. Already have one stent in his artery. I think that is what they did. So I guess I better start cleaning house because I can almost bet my mil will be making a visit.
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