So you might be aware that Southern California got it’s first Hurricane/Tropical Storm in several decades this weekend. Your MoM couldn’t help but think about the “Rise Up!!” tag line as I watched the water rising toward the doors of our house. The streets turned into rivers and my backyard became a small lake. We prepped the best that we could. We got sand bags from the city and we placed them in strategic locations. But still, for all our planning, there were problems. Water didn’t come in the back and side door of my friend’s business, but it did find the front door and wound up flooding it. Several people lost vehicles as they tried to drive through flooded streets.

The nice thing about a storm is that you get some warning. You know, to a certain extent, that something is coming. Yet life has a way of superseding expectations. Even as you prepare and plan, things can go south.

This morning, my house is fine, but I am planning to assess leaks in my mother’s roof and go shovel mud and gook out of my friend’s laundromat. The water went down, but it’s time for my to…

–Rise Up!!