My birthday came and went.  The best part was the phone calls.  Thank all of you for the voices.  It was wonderful.  But it was definitely the strangest birthday I have ever had.  One highlight was getting out of the house and walking the dog.  Squig and I made it to the end of the street--but it was so hot we had to come home.  I hear we set a heat record yesterday for March 26.

I did clean out my freezer for some entertainment.  Mercy.  Stuff that I had no idea about was in there.  I got it organized so I at least know what I have.  I am definitely not going to starve.  I even found a turkey!!

People are worried about me being here by myself.  No problem.  I know how to do this.  I spent a lot of time alone in my early (age 18-28) married years (except for company of my children)   Ken was always flying somewhere.  And gone for three months, here or there. In the first ten years, he had two different deployments overseas for thirteen months each--leaving me to parent alone.  I'm well trained for managing things on my own.  I've dealt with crisis before. 

When we got married, Ken said, "I'll fly the airplanes and you will have to be in charge of everything else."  And that was what happened.  I remember one hurricane--there was more than one I went through on the east coast and the gulf at Pensacola. I went through it with three kids.  The pilots took all the A-4s and flew them inland so they wouldn't be damaged.  They spent the time playing Acey-Ducey and left wives and children to manage the hurricane.

We managed.  Plywood on the windows, sandbags ready for flooding, and enough water and food to make it through.  When it was over, the guys flew the planes back--safe and sound.  Marines go to war.  Their wives do the rest.  "Crisis management" is my middle name.