Metal Meredith

I Done Lost My Bling

In the midst of all of the news and devastation of Hurricane Katrina, I am reminded of the events of one year ago to the day. I was at my mother’s farm visiting with my Grandparents who were down from Baltimore. We knew it was likely to rain. It started about noon and I was on the road soon after, driving the hour from Amelia to Richmond.

We were unfortunate enough not to have local channels at this time, so we had no idea what was going on. That afternoon, Phil noticed that water was dripping into the living room window. When he opened the blinds, we were amazed. Our street was under water. It continued to rain, water continued to rise. By the time we looked outside, both Phil’s truck and the Cadillac were more than 2 feet under water. We watched helplessly as it rose another 2 feet over the next 4 hours.

See Photos Here: Gaston starts and Here: Gaston’s worst

Watching the news coverage, I can’t even imagine. We were blasted by Hurricane Isabelle in September of 2003. When we woke up the next morning, Phil and I were stunned at the amount of debris and destruction. I was anxious and amazed by the look of ‘my city’ which was desolate and transformed overnight. Knowing and experiencing what I did, I simply can’t begin to comprehend the complete devastation of the Gulf Coast cities.

Hold on tight to your own,
Meredith

Is on my side...

Somewhere between last June and today, time has shrunk and the amount of time it takes to get anything done has increased. I am not sure what this phenomenon is called, but I speculate it would be referred to as “having children”.

We moved into Seddon Road in 2000. By the time we moved in, I had all but 2 rooms painted. It took about a month to sort through all the boxes and get everything a home, all belongings a space and make room for more to come. I was working at home then.

This time, I am still emptying boxes two months later. Yes, we have 5 years worth of stuff to unload. Yes, that nice work-from-home job left me with piles and stacks of random crap that I am putting up on eBay (for a darn good profit, might I add). And yes, Vivienne is a whole other person that I have to take into consideration when attempting to do any single task during my day.

So far, I have a wall that is only halfway primed but not yet painted. I have a closet and room full of things to put on eBay. I have sofa slipcovers that have found a permanent home on top of the washer (at least they are clean). Phil has started digging out from under 10 years worth of art projects that lived in boxes until now. Things are rolling along, just at one twentieth the pace that they had before.

It isn’t that I have too much else to do or that I don’t have the energy. They just don’t cross paths. If I have the time, I am dead tired. If I have the energy, there are 40 others things more important to get done. So I live in a time crunch, too much to do, all the time in the world and none of the gumption to get things done.

Phil is working diligently getting the company up and running. He has hired an employee and is pounding the internet pavement scrounging up work. His time is all spent elsewhere, too. When we are home together, Vivienne is front and center. Did I mention how demanding she can be? Now, if you sit, she sticks her hand up under your butt insisting “Mama, Daddy, Git Upppp!” Sweet? Not really. But we smile, maybe giggle and of course rise to do her bidding.

So, instead of apologizing one more time that there aren’t more updates, laying out the list of things I am doing trying to get a house together, trying to entertain my kid or trying to make a buck or two on eBay, I just wanted to complain a little and give a glimpse into the world of the 2 year old’s mom.

Until next time!
Meredith