Wish I had something to post about

Today was a beautiful day...it poured for hours!!! It was dreary and we were very thankful for it. Who knew you could get tired of sunny days on end? It looked like it was 50 degrees outside so I made homemade vegetable soup, simmered it in the crock pot all day and curled up with a blanket during T. Willie's nap while listening to the drone of the washer and dryer. Of course, it was in the 70's, but I used my imagination. The Big Man was home and it was a really nice day. MK had a project due, so I walked her into school in the pouring rain with a trash bag wrapped around it. She made a diorama of a Mayan village and used sugar cubes painted grey for a pyramid. I really didn't want them to melt and they didn't.

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip to the Pensacola Naval Air Station with MK's class. I've been before but MK hasn't. I've known about it for weeks and with the Big Man's family here, kind of took it for granted that they would be here to watch T. Willie. Well, the last of them just left on Saturday and the Big Man works tomorrow. I nearly had to back out, but my friend, Mary, came through for me. He will join her 4 boys for the day. We'll see how he does. I'm hoping he'll be his normal, pleasant self, but you never know.

The New Orleans crew is home now. They are dealing with their damage and even some new things from Rita. But they're safe and living in their own homes. We are really praying that we don't see anymore hurricanes this year.

So, I'll try not to let so much time go by before updating again. It's just been kind of quiet around here.

Oui

My actual knowledge of French is quite limited, but I have started a French theme in my kitchen. The Mrs.' parents are quite artistic so they made a sign based on one I had seen in a catalog. It is a not quite literal translation of live well, laugh often, love much. Anyway, the artiste's mari (www.freetranslation.com) hung it today and here is what it looks like. I am so happy with it! Thanks, Dennis and Kathy!

On the hurricane front...the brothers in law came back yesterday. The damage to their homes is reparable but worse than they expected. All of the evacuees at my in-law's house had water damage but in different degrees. There are pictures but I will have to download them first and I'll do it as soon as I can.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Happy Trails

The Grillmaster and his brother in law just left to survey their homes. They stopped here to get some water and our video camera. They've had some snippets of information but I know it will make them feel better to actually see it for themselves. So stay tuned and maybe we'll know something soon!

Fundraising

MK and Miss raised $26 for hurricane relief. Way to go, girls!!!!

Time

What a difference a few days can make!

We found a website with aerial views of the area where the family lives. They were able to zoom in close enough to tell that all of the houses are there and dry. We don't know if they had water in them at one time, but they look dry now. There is possibly a tree on the Grillmaster's roof, but it also may have been a shadow, since the zooming caused some distortion. But it was nice to at least see that the houses are there and didn't look too bad. We could see their roofs and yards. It was really amazing.

Things have been going well. We've eaten together and laughed and cried together. Today was the Big Man's birthday, so we went to his parents' house for dinner. Afterwards we watched the telethon and then MK and I went to Wal-Mart. We bought some ribbon and pins and sat around and made some ribbons. They're green, gold and purple, which are Mardi Gras colors. MK and Miss are going to set up a table in front of our house for donations and give the ribbons to those who donate. We live on a pretty visible corner, so I hope they're not disappointed. They made posters and are very excited to do their part.

Thanks so much to those of you who have asked about the family. They're doing well. Pap is a pastor and he and Granny have been able to get in touch with some people in the church. They are setting up an internet church until things can get back to normal....or at least to some normalcy. It may be months but they are feeling better than they were about things. They live outside of the actual city of New Orleans in Kenner and Metairie. The airport is in Kenner so you saw it if you saw any of the footage of Air Force One landing there today.

So, there's that.

Happy Birthday, Melissa of VA!