Life's Been Good to Me So Far...

Kinda showing my age a little with that title, but either you get it or you don't. I ran into an old friend of mine in the parking lot of a store last night. She's a sweet person, always has been. But, I realized, as I listened to her go on and on about all the tradgedies she's had in the last fifteen years, that life's been good to me... so far. I've had very few truly bad things happen. I have a family unit that is close and supportive. I have a wonderful husband and beautiful children. My lifestyle affords me the opportunity to stay home with my children. I've got it pretty good. Am I rolling in dough? Absolutely not. Financially, things are tight. But, they are do-able. Yep, I've got it pretty darn good. I just need to remember that sometimes when I get irritated with life. I can't complain, really. So, thanks, Life, for treatin' me right.

It's that time...

Hurricane season. Already we've had two named storms. This does not bode well for the rest of the season. I don't mind a hurricane, really. A nice category one can actually be quite refreshing. It cleans out the trees, provides much needed rain, and just gives you a gentle reminder that no matter who you are, Mother Nature is still in charge. It's the larger ones that I don't like. But, I'm sure there are very few people who look forward to a major hurricane. But, at the moment, the little tropical storm/depression that came through Florida was very welcome. We need the rain desperately. I don't know anyone who wasn't happy about it. And I'd like to see maybe one or two more - and soon.

What I am not looking forward to is the panic that ensues when a hurricane is announced. The panic that is caused, largely, by the media here. They flip out. They start getting an almost excited tone to their voice. They continually play out the "worst case" scenarios. And what happens? Those who are "new" to the state start to flip. They rush out and buy every bottle of water they can find, they fill up their gas tanks and keep them full to the top. They buy every single item that the media says they might need. Now, those of us who are REAL Floridians, don't panic. But, we know that if we want to have water, or gas, or food, that we have to run, not walk, to the store because of all the northerners who don't know any better. Then, it just makes the situation that much worse. I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to delve into this in much greater detail later in the summer, so I'll save that for later. But, for those of us who have lived here all our lives, hurricane season can be a welcome break from the terrible drought we're experiencing right now.