Hurricane Frances and an Anniversary...

I had an alternately relaxing and excruciatingly worrisome long weekend this weekend. Franz had four days off for the Labor Day holiday, and our first year anniversary fell on Sunday in the middle of it. I wanted to do something special for him, so I decided to cook. I am not the world's greatest cook, but I made him a huge lasagna, an Italian salad with Romaine lettuce, red onion and raddichio, garlic bread and a nice bottle of Willamette Valley Vineyards 2003 Pinot Gris. I got us both little apple pie tarts from a specialty bakery near the condo.

Poor Franz had to wait quite a while for dinner to be ready. First I told him we would eat at 2pm, and not to come over before then. Then I called him and pushed the time back to 3:30. Then I called again and pushed it back to 3:45pm. Things always move slower than I think they will when I am trying to cook. Plus, I forget ingredients and have to make mad dashes back to the grocery store. Add to that the fact that I wanted to vacuum the place, dust, and wash the sheets from the bed, and just generally straighten up... and, well, things got delayed.

We also exchanged presents to mark the special occasion. He got me two seasons on DVD of television shows that I loved that have since been cancelled. The sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the complete first (and only) season of Firefly. Both series were created by a man named Joss Whedon, who I think is just an amzing writer. I got him (strangley enough) a DVD of a television show that he liked and that was also cancelled. It's called "Harsh Realm." We have been working our way through the DVDs and having a great time.

In short, we had a wonderful, relaxing and loving weekend. On Monday, Franz made me breakfast in bed, and we went shopping at Pier One, where we found some really pretty cobalt blue martini/Cosmopolitan glasses for the house that were on sale. Then we took Buddy to the dog park and watched him have a great time wearing himself out for about an hour. There is just something about fall in Oregon. There is a peacefulness and calmness to it that is so soothing. I love it here.

Another reason why I love it here is that there are no hurricanes. My Mom, sister and nephew decided to take their dog and evacuate from Florida and Hurricane Frances at almost the last minute. They drove up to North Carolina to stay with my Uncle Tim and Aunt Lynn. It was nerve racking for me not to know how they were, or how their house would be when and if they were able to return home. It's hard to be 3000 miles away from your family when there is trouble. I spent alot of time this weekend watching the weather channel, surfing the web for sites that had news local to my Mom's home. They say that there aren't just hundreds of trees down, but thousands in the county where my Mom lives. Some places may have to wait 10-14 days for power to be restored to their homes. Shelters failed there, and people who went into them had to be moved to safer places. Can you imagine that the shelter you go to has it's roof ripped off? Hard to feel safe anywhere when things like that happen.

I thought my Dad was in Tennessee, but turns out he and his second wife stayed in their home. They boarded up and rode out the storm. He was kind enough to go drive by my Mom's house at my request to see what kind of damage there was. Thankfully, it was minor and it looks like their power was on as of this morning. So, my family is in route to Florida as I type this.

We still don't know what the next hurricane out in the Atlantic, called Ivan, will do. Hopefully it won't make landfall in Florida. I think they have had enough. I'm not even there and I know I have. Worrying is exhausting and draining. I wish there was a way to just blink my eyes or wiggle my nose and make it all better there. Repair everything that was broken, give back the human and animal lives that were lost, and take away all the fear and pain these last few weeks have caused everyone. I wish.

Well, anyway, that's all for now.

(Special anniversary message for Franz:
Franz, my darling, I love you. I couldn't be happier to have made it one whole year with you. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us... though I can't imagine it being better than this year was for me. I love you!!)

Love to all,

Sherry