Oy, with the hurricanes, already!

This is the one time of year when I'm grateful to be tucked safely in the middle of the country. Other times of the year, I long to live in a cute little cottage along the shore in Maine, or own a cozy beachfront property along the gulf. I picture long days of collecting shells and sea glass, lounging and reading to the sound of waves breaking against the rocky shore.

But not this time of year. I may not have access to a beach or fresh seafood but I can be pretty sure that I don't have to worry about 25 foot waves crashing into my living room. For any of you who live on the east coast, I'm praying for your protection. And if you're reading this and don't believe in prayer, well then I can't help you, you're on your own.

I really wish they'd give up with naming the hurricanes with people names. I have a niece named Katrina. I don't imagine there are very many girls with that name now. Poor kid, from now on her name will immediately be associated with the most devastating hurricane in our country's history. I don't imagine she'll have it easy if she ever wants to get a job in New Orleans.

So I'm sitting here wondering ( because I have dishes to do and am stalling) WHO EXACTLY gets to name the hurricanes? I think I'll google it....BRB.

Oh how I love to Google. Look what I just learned...

There are actually six lists of names in use for storms in the Atlantic. These lists rotate, one each year; the list of this year's names will not be reused for six years. The names get recycled each time the list comes up, with one exception: storms so devastating that reusing the name is inappropriate. In this case, the name is taken off the list and another name is used to replace it; there will not be another Hurricane Andrew, because Andrew has been replace by Alex on the list.

Without further ado, here is the list of hurricane names for 2008:


Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred



Wow! Cool! I did not know that! Best of luck to all of you with those names. May your name not become a historically, devastating hurricane. I think I'm safe with my name- Lennea. UNLESS, the hurricane namer is a frequent reader of this blog~ then I'm screwed. But since I stronly suspect that I'm the only one who reads this blog, I think my name will be ok although still unpronouncable my 99.9% of the general public.

O.K., let me just cut to the chase. I want to be the person that names hurricanes. AND I'll do it for FREE!

So, here's MY proposed list for 2009:

Amen!
Bam!
Crud!
Duuude!
Evildoer!
Fudge!
Gobsmacker!
Homewrecker!
Insurgent!
Jeesh!
Killmenow!
Liverspot!
MyGoodness!
Nutcraker!
OhNo!
Pestilence!
QueenBee!
Really??!
ShutUp!
Twister!
UhOh!
Vandal!
Whoa!

I mean, wouldn't you just love to hear Katie Couric say " and now more devastating news about Hurricane DUUDE..."