Finally!

Almost a month later, we FINALLY got the storm debris picked up from our front yard. I know, it's no big deal, but when you see everyone else's debris picked up and yours and your neighbor's debris is still on the curb, you begin to feel like someone forgot you. But Wednesday, Corinne and I were sitting in the living room, eating dinner, when suddenly we heard this loud truck roll down the street. We looked outside and saw a huge truck pulling a HUGE dumpster truck on wheels with a cherry picker attached (the only way I can describe it). In one fell swoop, the cherry picker picked up all of our debris and threw it in the dumpster. Corinne and I just stood there with our mouths wide open.

Life is pretty much back to normal. I am continually amazed when I still see pictures of what destruction Ike has caused and that it will take an extremely long time to fix. I think things that we knew of Galveston won't be same for a long time. The state park that I love to go to will probably take awhile for it to be like it was. Same thing goes for the seawall and the sand dunes. I'm just amazed at the resilience and determination of Galvestonians and their dedication to rebuild their city.

Meanwhile, life goes on. My Girl Scouts tomorrow will be having a Rededication and Bridging ceremony for our troop. This year, Girl Scouts have added a new level: Ambassador Girl Scouts. This will be the last level for girls. The next and final level is to Adult Girl Scouts (which I am). Out of the 5 girls in my troop, 4 will be bridging up to Ambassadors. One will remain as a Senior Girl Scout. Anytime we have a ceremony like this, it is a big deal. Parents come, we have a ceremony explaining why we are doing this, and we eat. I am proud of these girls because there are not many girls that have made it this far in Girl Scouting. My plan is to stay with this troop until next year, when the majority of them will graduate. Even though Corinne will graduate this year, I have made a committment to continue to be a leader for one more year until the girls graduate.

And this will be Corinne's last year to sell cookies! We had better make it a good one this year!

Corinne was inspired. She saw a vest a few weeks ago at the Girl Scout museum at the council headquarters (Goodykuntz Museum of Girl Scouting History) that had just about every IP (badges), patch, award, etc. that could possibly fit on the vest. The curator told us that the girl did not earn EVERY award, but she was pretty close. When I first saw the vest, I was amazed that this girl earned all of those awards. I want to take our troop to the museum one day, just so that they can see all of the artifacts that they have on display. If you haven't been there (it's only been open almost a year), it's a neat thing to see. My favorites are the old artifacts of when our council opened. Girl Scouts of San Jacinto became a council shortly after the formation of Girl Scouts of the USA. Girl Scouts have been around for over 95 years, so GS of San Jacinto have been around 80 -90 years (I can't remember exactly when they started, but it was soon after GSUSA formed). They have displays of old handbooks, uniforms, and displays of the different periods of time. It really is a pretty neat place for girls to learn about Girl Scouts.

Here's a big congrats to my girls for making it this far! I'm proud of each and every one of you!