Off Topic, Swimming With 2 Cakes And 40 Cookies.
Decorating By deetmar Updated 13 Jun 2008 , 3:35pm by Suzycakes
I don't know if the outside world knows what's going on here in Iowa, but we are in the middle of one of the worst floods in our States history.
Personally, we have been pumping water out of our back yard for the last four days. They opened the flood gates today and there is a chance that we will lose our house. I have a bridal shower and a birthday cake due next Friday . Today was the first chance I got to work on my bows and the 40 cookie that will be used as guest favors.
I know the clients will understand if it doesn't get done, but I am going to work delinquently to make my deadline. If we have to evacuate, the cakes and cookies are coming with me. I have put together a box with everything I need to complete the orders, just in case.
I would appreciate it if everyone could say a little prayer to please stop the rain. Our State can't take anymore on. We are expecting severe weather again tonight, tornadoes and another 3 inches of rain, with more to follow tomorrow and Friday. We could use all the positive prayers we can get.
Thanks for your help.
Bless your heart!
When the tornado hit here back in Feb. I called an canceled all my orders. The tornado hit on Tues night/ Wen morning, so I just called as soon as we had phone service. Everyone understood.
Sometimes it can be so hard when you work for yourself like this. I hope that you all get a break in the bad weather. I really hope releif comes soon and I hope an pray you don't loose your home.
We'll be thinking about you! 
Weather update. A tornado has touched down in Little Soux, at a Boy Scout Camp. Four are reported dead, others missing. Rescue workers have been dispatched. There are five other tornadoes down east of us, moving west. The State of Iowa could use all the prayers they can get right now.
It's the fist time I have seen our local TV Reporters break down and cry. At first they weren't telling us it was a Boy Scout Camp, but now they are starting to release the information.
It will be a long night in our State. I haven't fealt this helpless since 911.
deetmar, please be careful. my sis in law just called me from her basement to tell me about the camp. I was my little brothers scout leader, and spent a lot of summertime at that camp. No real good places to hide for cover there, at least there wasnt the last time I was there. It's so sad, I've been trying to get ahold of my old high school teacher, I'm hopeing and praying he wasnt there.
Where are you at? My family is in omaha, LaVista, and Bellevue. A tornado was right by the Super target at 84th & Cornhusker, right by where my sis in law lives. There sirens have been going off for a few hours now.
Oh Deetmar, my heart just sank when I read your post. I cannot imagine how frightened you must be. My house was severely damaged in Hurricane Ivan almost 4 years ago, and although it was frightening at least we knew the hurricane was coming and could prepare as best we could. Tornadoes are just evil things, so unpredictable.
Sometimes good things come out of bad situations though. I found cake decorating as a direct result of the hurricane. When we were able to move back into our house after 6 months I went into full nesting mode, baking and cooking up a storm. (No pun intended there btw.) From all the baking I happened upon cake decorating and I have not looked back.
I wish you all the best. Stay tuned to a reliable source of weather updates and take shelter sooner rather than later. And if it takes your mind off the situation - bake and decorate your heart out!
Good luck, you are in my thoughts!
My prayers are with you and your family and everyone else in these hard hit areas. this year has already been such a nasty year for tornadoes and flooding. It breaks my heart to know that so many families are hurting.
Thoughts are with you. Be safe.
However, I do admire your work ethic! 
Thanks for all the prayers and support.
There are now four confirmed dead and 48 injured at the Boy Scout Camp.
We had severe storms overnight, and woke up to four feet of water in our yard. Thank God it is in the yard and not the house. We live two blocks from the Des Moines River in Johnston, below the Dam. We are counting our blessing.
More roads have been closed. Most of Downtown is under water. More storms moving in. The full impact will not hit until Sunday and we get all the rain from above. The Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Cedar Falls areas are also under water. Over half the State is considered a disaster area.
We tried to buy water yesterday and everybody was sold out. We do keep stocked up on drinking water so we will be okay there.
When we flooded in 1993 we learned so much. We now have a generator, back up sumps that can be put implemented in a minutes notice, and two big pumps. I keep asking my husband if I can put another pump off of ebay just in case. I think he is so stressed that he can't process anything wright now.
We are on Septic, so you know what's floating in our back yard.
I am in oxygen all the time, and my husband noticed that the oxygen company came and filled my liquid yesterday and dropped off back-up tanks. We didn't even know they had been here. I usually sleep on a electrical concentrator, but I have enough liquid to last two weeks. I made a trip to the pharmacy to stock up on a months worth of prescriptions.
My daughter-in-law is coming over to video the entire house tonight. I collect P.Buckley Moss artwork, and Hummells, so we want to make sure everything is documented in case the levy break, at which time my house will be swept down river.
Please continue the prayers for our State, and those around us that are going through the same thing.
It is so good for me to have a place to come vent. I am trying to stay strong for my family and community. When I heard about the Scouts last night, I just couldn't stop crying.
I was crying also about the camp, I cant believe it's all gone. My only hope is they will learn and build bigger and better with a storm shelter, because there really isnt a good one out there. My heart sunk even more, they have the ages of the deceased at 3 13 yr olds and 1 14 yr old. I still cant get a hold of my h.s. teacher, with him being Scout Staff, I dont know if he raced out there or what.
I told my little brothers what had happened, and they are in shock (they are 10 and 12 right now).
I pray that things work out for you and the surrounding area.
Those kids, and we are talking teenagers, were doing their own triage. It took hours with men and chainsaws just to get to them. Can you even imagine how scared they were pulling bodies out of the rubble.
We are still pumping out. There is now one road open leaving out of our City, and the water is at the bridge on that one. We expect it to be closed anytime now.
There is, or I should say was, a homeless camp down on Beaver Creek which runs through Johnston. You should have seen these people coming out carrying what little belongings they had. They are all now staying under the I 80 bridge.
We are going to try to get some dry clothes and blankets up to them when we get a break, and some canned goods so they can get something to eat. We are always good about taking food to them, but now they are going to need more than food.
I got my delivery from GBS today. The UPS driver said that I was lucky because they won't be able to get in and out of here for the next week.
Keeping busy with my cakes in between pumping is the only thing keeping me sane.
The storm sirens are going off again. It seems that there is no end sight. This all makes me wonder if we shouldn't pay a little more attention to what we are doing to our atmosphere, and a little less attention in what other countries are doing.
We are in for another long night.
I was watching fox news earlier, and one of the younger boys had made a comment that he was kind of glad it happened it to them, and not somewhere else where they werent trained what to do and to help each other. I started crying again.
I finally got a hold of my teacher, he went out to the camp, and was helping with what he could. His wife is a nurse at Creighton, and some of the boys were taken there, so she went in to help. He also said that in all the years he's been in the area, or that he knows about, that a tornado had never hit near there. I cant imagine what it'd be like if no one had been at the camp except the park master and his family. They are a really sweet couple, their house was destroyed as well. Some of the scouts went to their house, and helped them get out.
I'm praying for you guys, it's been a tough year, I hope things are okay for you in the end.
Thanks for the kind words. It was so nice to get up this morning and know new rain!
We still have two of the three pumps running all the time, but it's better than losing my home.
Johnston now has only one way to get out, Merle Hay Road, which will be closing soon. The water over Beaver Creek is right under the bridge. Once that closes, we are stuck. We at least have access to a grocery store, but who knows how long they will be stocked. We made sure that all the gast tanks are full to run generators, the grill has gas so we can cook, and lots of bottles of water.
They are saying that this is the worst flooding we have had in over 500 years. It is so sad to see people being evacuated from their homes, taking what little they can carry.
I will keep your family, as well as the Scouting families in my prayers. Those young people showed so much courage during this very difficult time.
We have talked about how high the price of sugar, flour, eggs, and other groceries have become, think how much higher prices are going to go with the farm land that has been destroyed by these floods. We are surrounded be corn fileds on two sides of us, which are under water. The price of meat, Ethanol, corn, and soybeans will now skyrocket.
Yesterday we ran to Menards to get another pump. We saw about 50 deer standing off the interstate that have been flooded out of their habitat. It's little things like that we don't think about. These poor deer wer surrounded by water with no place to go.
We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers.
My brother in law had to go out to Red Oak for some appts, and the usual exits he takes were closed, so he had to find another way, and he said that there were all kinds of lake animals on the roads (turtles and such). He said they were huge, and that either side of the road was a big lake, it was awful.
Deetmar -- wanting to let you know that I am praying for you and your neighbors as well.
But I am also glad that you have your decorating to keep your mind busy with something besides worry.
Hopefully the rains will end soon and the water will flow away!
Suze
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