Finally HOME!!

My poor SO had to ride out his first "real" hurricane at home with the kidz! I think from the best I can tell they spent a lot of time sleeping once they lost power!! We did a lot of text messaging back and forth during the storm (the worst of it was somewhere around 3 to 4am). Of course noone really got any sleep....I spent the evening wondering if the walkway which was tearing apart outside the window where I was would blow through it.....EEK!

I was SO BLESSED that as soon as I got home from the "lockdown" experience...our house got power. We were nearly the FIRST group to get power returned in Houston!! YIPEE!!! It was the best shower!! We only had minimal damage at home to the roof, the garage roof, lots of tree parts down and the fence down around our itty-bitty yard!

The 'we-coulda-done-without-that' news is our insurance deductible is SOOOO high----EEP!! Moneypit 7 Malwitzs 0

We opened Hotel Malwitz to our friends who didn't yet have power for a few days and now things are getting back to normal. Some incredible elves came to help us clean things up and the piles out front are as tall as me!

We were also blessed by one of my favorite angels that we had many USEFUL items which made our hurricane readiness READY :) Batteries, Coleman lanterns, weather radio, & battery operated fans were cherished items during and after the storm by both of us from my dear Aunt H. She would probably get a chuckle out of the fact that we are still using batteries she sent us for Hurricane Katrina survival now for Hurricane Ike! :)

HURRICANE IKE on lockdown!!

I'm certainly NOT a hurricane virgin but it was my FIRST experience on a disaster team working for a hospital! I don't necessarily recommend it but we did survive ;)!

I'll try to hit the highlights and spare the GORY details ;)

Here are a few things I learned:
1. I didn't need to take my hair dryer, flattening iron, and makeup.
2. It would have been really smart to pack myself say.....at least ONE
bottle of water.
3. The air mattress I picked up in the middle of the night after the garage door
erector set would have been more useful if I had also purchased some EARPLUGS!!
4. Hospitals without water are NOT a good place to be.
5. Red hazardous waste bags are now the stuff of bad dreams.
6. If I lose my job as an OT, I could get a job in the hospital kitchen!
7. Armed guards can be kinda scary looking!!
8. It IS POSSIBLE to make really hot mostly miserable patients laugh and
crack smiles with the use of flashlights and bad singing late at night! :)
9. Disaster Team "A" can be and was a team building experience for our department!



Just part of my "stuff" I decided I must take for the what turned out to be 48 hour lockdown for Team A!!


Aw, come on! :) You all know I pack light!!


FUN before the storm! I was nearly late (*gasp* I know many are surprised to hear that!) to our lockdown deadline b/c my SO sent me on a mission to get candy for my boss, Mike!! *ROFL* BUT you KNOW this opportunity will probably never happen again so it was worth the 48 minutes in the longest line of my life at Kroger! :)


Here we are in the kitchen crew! Yes, the Sports Medicine Department is dispensed as needed and we were NEEDED to help get meals made and served to the patients and staff during and after the storm! Some of our other duties included helping the nurses position patients in bed (complete with a Sports Medicine serenade & light show), helping clean up water & falling ceiling tiles, passing out water to ALL, the serving line in the cafeteria, changing linen/trash, wound care for the patients, and EVEN some physical/occupational therapy!!


We decided the coffee pot was DEFINITELY red-plug worthy!

and THIS is why red bags are now not fondly thought of...we had NO water....'Enuf said.

But doesn't everyone??

Doesn't everyone get ready for a hurricane by completely disassembling their garage door and emptying the garage OUT onto the neighboring patio and house (YES THE HOUSE!!! AAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!) all while screaming at each other lovingly through the stress?? Have you ever tried to get a repairman on the morning a category 3 hurricane is supposed to make landfall over your town????

Our Hurricane Ike saga REALLY DID start this way! People-->I'm not making this stuff up!!

It started off innocently with us trying to quickly "ready" ourselves for the storm Thursday after work (because you see I had to report to the hospital for DISASTER TEAM A by 11 am the next day)! SO we began gathering plants, patio furniture, etc. to put into the garage and LO AND BEHOLD the door self destructs right in front of us ---> we were literally left with the top piece falling into the garage and the rest crooked in the opening not moving up or down!!!!!!!!!!!! OH BOY!!!! We did have a fabulously good time DISMANTLING the thing with a screwdriver.....then reassembling it sans the spring mechanism so that it could be fixed the next day by OUR-HERO-THE-GARAGE-DOOR-FIXIN'-MAN-WHO-SAVED-THE-DAY!!

MONEY PIT WINS AGAIN!!!!!! Current score: Moneypit 6 Malwitzs 0


This was the "bent" panel that fell in on top of us! WOOHOO!!

Here is the beginning of the "garage into the house" MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

Can't you just hear the tune to that awesome song??? I CAN!!!! :) I'm on cloud 9 this morning celebrating with my friends the GOTCHA moments of Miss Raegan with her forever family!!! She is SO beautiful and is already laughing and smiling!!!!! For more details travel over to Mississippizen!!!!!! Sharing some JOYFUL pictures below!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!! :)

Prayers to China!

One of my most favorite families is about to welcome their fourth little one into their arms!!! I'm posting here to ask anyone who reads to send a prayer or angel wish for an easy transition for little Raegan and the rest of the family too! The actual "gotcha" moment will be about 2am our time!! I'm so excited and can hardly wait to meet her!! Anyone who wants to see some beautiful pictures of China and (very soon) of Raegan, Lilli, Savanna, and Austin please tune ;) to www.mississippizen.blogspot.com!

Below is a precious picture of Raegan I swiped from Miltie's site:

BLOOMS!!!!!

I'm so excited!! The plumeria is BLOOMING!!!! They smell amazing! I just had to share this picture with everyone here! Have a wonderful weekend!

It's THAT time of year again!!!!

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!!
GEAUX TIGERS!!!!! The tigers WON thier first game of the season last week! WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Since there is NOT a game this weekend---> I'm taking the opportunity to welcome the onslaught of purple & gold victories!!!! GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!

M and I LOVE TIGER FOOTBALL!!! We are hoping to make it to at least one game in Death Valley this year! We MISSED tailgating with all of the LSU gang last season immensely!!!

I'm going to share a few pics of Mike VI that were taken this summer! He is getting really big!!! What an awesome mascot!!! :) GEAUX TIGERS!!!