Home At Last

I made it home Thursday, September 15, 2005!

Blessed Be! It's so good to be home. We have electricity, gas, good clean running water and even cable and internet.

House is a mess and pretty smelly. The cats had overfilled the litter boxes and pooped on the floor beside them. The fridge still smells from last week but at least its not gut wrenching like it was.
Looks like we only lost a few of the potted plants. That doggone gardenia was gonna be beautiful. New hose is missing, holder and all. I just hoped that it was taken out of need and not for syphoning. I watered the plants first thing but the gardenia doesn't appear to be forgiving :'(
Cleaned the fridge and kitchen next. Still had more in the cupboards to toss out.

I brought fresh meat, veggies and beer with me. Bob followed later. Pat and Robin popped in and we had a beer in celebration. Baakir and Lisa showed up with our hose. They had borrowed it to clean out their fridge. That's cool. They had their new baby last week. They are staying with family down the street.

We popped in to the Dry Dock for a coupla beers then to the "Thank the Troops" block party/BBQ. It was so great to see so many of our friends back already and safe!

NOPD (and volunteer cities), National Guard, Armed Servicemen and Fort Pelican:
Bless you and Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Out of the Point continued

Bob's boss sed he found us a room in Pensacola so we headed to I55 North to I12. Before we got to I12 we got another call that they had a co-worker that had an extra bed. So we headed to Ellisburg, Mississippi, just south of Laurel. We got in late and John and Skippy were very gracious hosts.
Called my sister Kim and her hubby, Joey, on Friday morning. They're back at their house but no electric. They have one small generator running a small AC and some lights and tv. Bob went to work in Gulfport area.
When I pulled off the exit ramp I thought I was being directed to a detour. It turned out to be a local church giving out water, food and more. They had me in tears with their compassion.
Bob worked till just before dusk. When he came in, he and Joey hooked up our generator. Bob also got the water pump and water heater hooked up to it. So while we are still roughing it somewhat, we have all the creature comforts. A neighbor brought another small window AC and we cleaned out the fridge.

Sharon Giles called and they are in Dallas, Tx at her son's house. Glad to hear her and Don are okay.
I finally talked to Ricky on the drive into Algiers Point. He sez he is back home and doing as best as can be expected under the circumstances. He sed he has some neighbors helping him out.
I got through to Priscilla's cell phone last night. She is in Baton Rouge. She will be coming to Mandeville to stay at her sister's house today sometime. She is gonna look for a job first thing.
Todd Loats called Friday morning. He decided to go visit family in Denver. He's sure we will be having a giant community party for Mardi Gras 2006. I agree with him.

So, until I post different, Bob, Beaudreaux and I are in Mandeville at Kim and Joey's. The cell phones are still a little iffy but better. Kim and Joey's house phone # is 985-809-9213 in case you can't get through to the cells.

Blessed Be!