For the past 5 or so days everyone on the Gulf Coast has been closely following Isaac. At first it was set to come straight for Pensacola. Full panic set in around town. Residents were buying water, batteries, and non perishable food by the bulk and getting gas meant driving to two or three gas stations before you could find one with gas and then waiting 3-4 cars deep to get to the pump. Although I never pray for a hurricane to hit another city I do pray that they don’t come to Pensacola. Isaac was no exception. Thankfully my prayers were answered and sometime Saturday night/early Sunday morning the computer models were showing a much more westward trend. Despite what appeared to be a clear consensus by mid day Sunday that those of us in Pensacola were out of the “cone of danger,” school was closed for Monday and Tuesday - “just in case.” The weather forecasters were still predicting tropical storm force winds in the Pensacola area and lots of rain. After record rainfall this summer, the grounds were already saturated and many were worried about localized flooding.
Charles is out of the country so Albi and Ed headed to mom’s on Sunday afternoon to put the hurricane shields up. Even though we were pretty sure Pensacola wouldn’t see sustained hurricane force winds, you never really know what the storm surge might do. Plus Charles is out of the country and neither Albi nor Ed wanted to be the one to tell him they were not going to put the storm gear up at his house!
After Ivan destroyed LP 8 years ago, the firm wasn’t taking any chances either. Files were secured on Monday afternoon and everyone was instructed to clear off their desks before leaving.
My desk hasn’t been this bare since my first day at LP which was 1 month prior to Ivan destroying my office and everyone else’s in our building. The sight left me with a slight feeling of unease which was soon forgotten when I got home to my own little hurricanes!
Right after I got home, Copeland pulled all the stuffed animals out of his wagon and sat inside it. He was yelling something that only Mac understood and before I knew it Mac was racing Copey through the house in the wagon. I stood in amazement at how fast they were going and how surprisingly good Mac was at stopping within an inch of running into the wall. I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures before I really came to my senses and ended what I was certain was a dangerous activity!
Since Albi and I were both off unexpectedly, we had absolutely no plans for the day. I made a big breakfast, and we all sat down and ate together which we never do in the mornings.
Lacy called and said her kids were going stir crazy and since the weather didn’t seem to be doing much of anything could Mac come over and play with Jack. Mac had a bag of toys packed before I could hang up the phone.
He stayed at Jack’s for a few hours while Albi, Copeland and I hung out at the house. Coe took a really long morning nap, so I was able to get some work done on the home computer that I had been meaning to do for months.
Copeland spent a lot of time today looking through all the photo books I have made over the years. He loves looking through them, pointing to everyone and then saying their name. I love that he always refers to himself as “baby.” Matter of fact if you ask him his name he tells you its baby! He has also started calling me mommy instead of mama. I love it! He does have a habit of saying it over and over again with about a 5 second pause in between. It doesn’t matter if I respond to him or not. He continues to say it over and over and over again. (I have to admit that can get a little annoying in the car, but I love his sweet little voice so much that I tolerate it just fine. Albi hasn’t adapted to it quite as well!)
I digressed…Albi managed to sneak in a quick nap while I worked out and the boys played on the iPhone and Innopad. I think all Coe managed to do was turn the device on and off a million times, but Albi didn’t seem to care or mind.
Mac and I did some of his at home school books. He generally does these with Miss Colleen, and he was very quick to tell me that she is better at school work than I am. 
Mac helped me make pudding for dessert and then the whole family went on a walk after dinner. We had about an hour of hard rain and wind around 4pm but by the time we finished eating the weather was actually pleasant. We were all a little stir crazy so we put the boys in the double stroller and went for a walk. On our way back we noticed Mac had gotten very quiet. We looked down, and he was sound asleep. It was only 6:40pm. We debated waking him up or putting him straight to bed and hoping he didn’t wake up at 4am. We decided to carry him straight to his bed and if he stayed asleep, we would leave him for the night. He is currently sleeping soundly in his clothes.
I’m happy that for those of us in the Pensacola area, it was a lot of prep, panic and worry for nothing! I know that isn’t the case for those on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in New Orleans, therefore I sit here very grateful that other than about a hour of rain and wind late this afternoon, we saw very little from Isaac. In reality, Isaac allowed me to have a quiet relaxing productive day at home with my family. Thanks Isaac.
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