Well, we finally were able to wish Matt a happy birthday.  It was Thursday, but as previously mentioned, he was away in NM so we had to delay the celebration.  Since most of you couldn't be there, just imagine yourself around the cake and sing a verse of "Happy Birthday" for him!

Why aren't you singing?  He totally deserves it.  Not sure?  Well, I promise you, he really does.  He can catch a fly with chopsticks.  Don't believe me?  Check it out:

Boo-Ya!

Woo-hoo!  Mario and Jake are in New Mexico for the weekend, so I've got the house to myself.  What's a girl to do?  I've got a pile of books, a basket of knitting, and a few movies that I can't wait to attack.  Oh, and a case of Negra Modelo, my new favorite beer.  First things first, though.  Tonight I shall meet Lauren for margaritas.  At some point this weekend I have to go to Slidell and see what kind of Jack-O-Lantern my dad has carved.  He always does something crazy but totally awesome. 

So, what are YOU doing this weekend?

I took Meg to the airport Saturday morning so she could finally make it up to see Jeff.  Afterwards I decided to drive around and check out the city.  I went to the quarter and saw lots of taped up iceboxes on the curbs:

I found a parking space on Wilkinson, which I had never noticed before that morning.  I was planning on A- finding a cup of coffee and an egg sandwich or B- getting a six pack and going to sit by the river when I smelled something super yummy.  I found French Quarter Candles, a trendy little candle studio.  I bought a candle for myself and one for my mom, and before I could knew it I had a mimosa in one hand and s piece of praline krumble in the other.  THIS IS WHY I LIVE HERE!!  So I wandered on through the quarter and found a cigar shop that was open and bought my dad a nice cigar from an old Dominican - "Screw the Cubans!!" 

There wasn't much going on at the French Market

so I decided to drive out to Lake View.  Oh, is it bad.  I went out to Bywater, Marigny, Chalmette...sooooooo bad. 

I drove down Hwy 90, towards Ft. Pike, and guess what I saw:

The Castle is okay!! It looks like it has some damage to the lower left side, but otherwise it came out alright!! 

Edit:  I saw the other side of the castle this past weekend, and it doesn't look so well.  The front half of the first floor is gone, with the interior exposed.  I couldn't get a decent picture, but I'm hoping it can all be repaired.  That castle has been there for as long as I can remember, and it would be a shame to lose it. 10/24/05

 Some other homes along Hwy 90 and Hwy 11 didn't fare so well:

But, some happy memories were made in the wake of all this crap.  Matt's mom got married!! 

Isn't Ms. Gay so pretty?  And look at Mr. Joey, so charming!!

The wedding was supposed to take place October 1st, was canceled, delayed, then thrown together in three days.  Matt and his brother played at the reception.

Good Times!!!

Okay, I've unloaded enough pictures for now.  Some projects are on the verge of being finished, so we'll get those up soon.  TTFN!

My dad got a schmancy new scanner for his birthday that scans in negatives and slides.  He sent me this little teaser, a shot of our 1987 YMCA Indian Guides Tribe.  We were the Ouachita:

I'm lower right corner, my dad is top right corner, my sister is in the middle, my friend Courtney is the girl with the cup directly above Sarah, and Courtney's sister Ashleye is just to her right.  Good Times.

I went into New Orleans yesterday with my grandparents to see there house for the first time since Katrina.  They were extremely lucky compared to what many of their neighbors and much of the city experienced.  If you are not from New Orleans, they live Uptown, if you are from New Orleans, they live in the College District on Nashville.  They received roof damage which resulted in water damage which resulted in lots of stinky mold and mildew.  The ceiling had collapsed in parts of the dining room, rear living room, kitchen, and an upstairs bedroom.  Their house is raised, and the water mark was right along the bottom of the house.  Soooooooooo lucky.  The garage, however, was flooded, but their car was in Slidell so it is okay. 

New Orleans, however, is a mess.  I know, I know, I'm the fucking "Queen of the Obvious" for pointing that one out.  It is just so weird to see all the grass and trees dead from being under water for so long.  Cars covered in silt.  The air kind of smells like the beach.  Piles outside of peoples homes that are just undiscernable mounds of crap and then you realize that--wait a minute--that stuff used to be all up in someone's house, in their home....that was their comfort. 

My friend Brooke, who lives in Abbeville was spared by Rita, but her dad lost his truck while rescuing people from Pecan Island.  Lauren said that Kal's family in Erath lost everything, and that his sister had 3 cows in her living room.  I really, really hope they were alive, because yesterday I cleaned out an icebox and a deep freezer that had been without power since Katrina, and it was the nastiest thing I have ever done, but I think 3 dead cows would indeed top that.

Anyway, things are getting back to normal.  For the first few weeks back, every day was dedicated to getting food, water, and gas, all of which were strictly rationed.  Initially, only emergency vehicles could get gas, then you could only get $10, then $20, now you can get it but you have to wait.  The price isn't so bad because they are being hardcore about price gauging.  The water was a problem because you couldn't drink the tap water, and when you're working out in 95 degree heat with humidity, you need to drink a lot of water.  Now that we can drink tap water we're okay.  Grocery stores are starting to open again, most of them are open like 9-5 so it's difficult to get there with work and all.  We've been living on MREs and random stuff we had in the pantry.  There are 12 MREs is a box, but only 2 of them are vegetarian, so I have to raid the other ones for the side dishes and whatnot, which makes Matt pissed because he gets like, meatloaf but no mashed potatoes.  Oh well, I leave the M&Ms, so he should be happy with that, right? 

So, I'm back in school, back at work, got 5 inches of my hair cut off (pause and mourn my loss with me).  I haven't really had any time to do any fun stuff lately.  My yarn is starting to call to me.  I actually starting knitting with some police tape and sticks waiting in line for food and water one day.  Perhaps this will all settle down eventually and I will have some "me" time soon.  Riiiiiiight.

WTF?!?

First there was no electricity, no water, no gas, now you're taking away my Sonic Happy Hour?  My 1/2 price Cherry Limeaid?  This is a cruel, cruel world. 

Don't let anyone ever tell you that a pine tree's tap root is so deep that it will keep the tree from uprooting.  That tree on the bottom is a pine tree, and it is clearly uprooted.  I have plenty more pictures where that came from to prove that nice little theory wrong.  So there.

This is my dad and his new friend showing an oak tree who's boss:

Here's what a sweet gum did to another part of the fence:

We'll tackle the stumps and the roots another day:

Here's a picture my dad took of a C 130 refueling a helicopter for (I presume) rescue work.  They've been flying over head nonstop the past two weeks.

There is a lot of debris on the front (north) side of the house, but it is embeded into the paint, so it will be a while until we can take care of that.  I found pine cones driven into the ground today as well.  The winds were sustained at 175mph in Slidell, with gusts up to196 mph before the weather station was wiped out.

I went back to Slidell today.  Here are some pictures I took.  In order to imagine what it is like here, you must understand that these were not extreme examples that stood out from the rest.  These are simply familiar landmarks or places with no downed powerlines, standing water, or anything else that would have made the stop for a photo unsafe.  These pictures represent what can be seen everywhere in Slidell:

The gas station Robert @ Audubon

Cardinal Drive            

This is the Old Town Slidell Soda Shop, an old fashioned soda fountain where I worked in high school.  It wasn't the best job, but it was pretty cool.  Lots of tourists to meet and whatnot.  Anyway, that red line marks how high the water got.  That's a regular pay phone, too.  That pile of crap in the next phone is all the stuff that was ruined.  I used all of that stuff when I worked there.  It's like seeing your chances of immortality being thrown away.

The first building is the dry cleaners, the second is a random building on Front St.

This was the Farmers' Market.

Gas station on Thompson @ 190.

Sarah's tree is gone

I broke into my parents' house (I know, I know, I am so hard core

Don't worry, I totally swept!

There was water in the house, but it had all gone by the time I got there.  Just smelly damp carpet and rotten icebox to greet me.  Here are some pics from around the house.  None from inside because there was no light and digi cams don't do too well without a ton of light.  Mom, Dad, y'all can click on the photos to enlarge them to look for details.

Your babies are OK!

These are from around the neighborhood:

My parents' house is okay!!  There are some trees down, but for the most part it looks alright!!  My cousin managed to get into town and take this picture with his phone:

The plywood was ripped off of the window on the right, and the trees are definitely damaged, but we can in no way complain at our outcome.  How lucky we are to have such insignificant damage.  I'll be heading back in a few days.