This is a SCARY storm. I am safe and snug in Cindy's house in the Baltimore area, but I am very worried about our relatives, friends, synagogue members, and all of our neighbors in the Kissimmee/Poinciana/Orlando area.
Yesterday the track shifted slightly westward bringing a direct hit over our house. Then it was reported that it was going to be a Cat 5 hitting Miami and probably a FOUR on our house. We started to really worry then because we didn't have the hurricane shutters up or the lanai cleared. I contacted my cleaning team, Carol and Abdul, and offered them a little more money than I had already offered my handyman, who could not do it since he had five other houses to do. Lo and Behold! They happened to be off work today and were more than happy to go do it. God Bless Carol and Abdul!!
Now this morning the track is moving even more to the west putting Tampa under the direct hit at a Cat 3. We are now on the east side winds, which are going to be high plus a high chance of tornadoes, too. Geez. Well, I don't know if that's better or worse for our neighborhood, but at least we will have done all we can do to prepare.
The roads in Florida are clogged and barely moving as people try to evacuate. There are many mandatory evacuations from all the Keys and south Florida like Miami and other places there. There is no gas, no water, barely any other supplies. Airlines have sent out their last flight last night. As many people as could be flew out. Airlines sent bigger planes in to max the numbers, and yet many people could not get a flight at all and are now hunkering down in shelters. Shelters quickly filled to capacity, so new ones had to be opened. Tourists and residents alike are just doing their best to stay safe in the path of this monstrous storm.
Many of our favorite Caribbean ports have been completely destroyed especially Grand Turk, St. Martin, and St. Bart. Also the US and British Virgin Islands are in a shambles. I wonder how long it will be before the cruise ships will be able to go back to those places. The airport on St. Martin is destroyed! This is just such a tragedy. Last I heard there have been 21 deaths, but everyone anticipates that number will be higher eventually. Everyone is praying for Florida.
All the major theme parks are closing later today and staying closed through Monday. This is unprecedented for them, having never closed more than a day for any storm before. That just shows how horrible they anticipate this one is going to be.
Still, Evey and Eric have changed their flight to go through Detroit instead of Atlanta, which is expected to be under the remnants of Irma on Tuesday as a Tropical Storm, and will land in Orlando on Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. Who knows if there will be power or water? Maybe their flight may yet be canceled. Who really knows? When they changed their Magical Express bus with Disney, the lady was confident that they would have no problems and have a great vacation. I hope she is right. Sadly, we will not be seeing them and enjoying the parks with them as we had originally planned. I just hope that if they are determined to do this, it goes well for them. WDW has its own power plant, so they can possibly keep power going when the rest of greater Orlando has no power.
We are scheduled to return next Sunday, the 17th, and we are fervently hoping that the power and water are working by then and that we have an intact house to go home to.
Finally, there's good news and bad news for me here in Maryland.
The good news is that I've lost almost two pounds since Wednesday! I'm only 273.5 this morning, which surprised me because I had a lot of sodium yesterday. I played Mah Jongg at the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt with my Mishkan Torah synagogue friends, so we all ate lunch while we played. I got the portobello mushroom sandwich with cheese, pesto, lettuce, tomato, and onion, and it came with a big pile of sweet potato fries. I ate every last bite, and it was delicious. I tried to estimate the calories and carbs, but that is always so hard. My best guess was 775 calories and 85 carbs. Ha! 85-100 carbs is Mark's daily allotment of carbs, and I ate it at lunch. My total carbs yesterday were 167.
That is probably why the bad news is bad. My fasting blood sugar was 117 today. I have not had a normal reading, that is 100 or less, since I first thought about the thirst and urination back on August 29. That was the day I tested for the first time and got 120 fasting. This is the twelfth morning that I have been above 100, and once it was as high as 129. Clearly, if I'm not a full blown diabetic, I am at least in the pre diabetes stages. The only fix for that is weight loss, so I will continue to work on that. I also have an appointment with my new family doctor on September 27. I will continue to test several times a day and log it all in as well as keep my calories and carbs low, despite what I just did yesterday, and see if I can lose a few more pounds by then. I want to be able to say to her that I am doing my best so far. Even though my carbs were high yesterday, I did keep my calories right on the target amount of 1516 for the day. So that's something.
This morning we are heading out soon to Mishkan Torah for services with Rabbi Saul again. We visited them in their new home, the house provided by the synagogue for the rabbi, and then we went to lunch at Max's where Rudy also joined us. I ordered the chicken vegetable soup and the hamburger patty with lettuce, tomato, and broccoli, no bun. That was an excellent choice. I am concentrating on trying to make better restaurant choices, and I admit to being disappointed that I failed at that yesterday. So, pick myself up and move on. Right? I have spent a lifetime beating myself up about poor choices and binge-eating, and that just leads to feelings of guilt, depression, and more eating. I'm trying to turn that around, although I admit it's very, very hard.
Let me close with prayers for the state of Florida and all of our friends and relatives. Dear Lord, if it be Your will, please hold our friends and relatives and everyone in the path of Hurricane Irma in Your arms and bring them through this storm safely.
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