Off and Out

Well, I have been home for two days.  I took off yesterday and today just so I could get some things caught up at home, and today all I did was sleep! Yesterday I did get my living room cleaned, and I played with my dogs in the morning.  Then I went to Eler Beth's school to have lunch with her.  On the way I noticed I was seeing a lot of police cars.  Our subdivision is right outside the city limits, so we actually are serviced by the County Police, but I was seeing City, County and State police cars.  Some were behind me, I was meeting some, and some were parked near my daughter's school.  When I went to the front door of the school the doors were locked.  So I realized that something was going on and the school was on a lock down.  The receptionist came to open the door for me.  "We're not letting just anyone in or out, but you can come in," she said.  I asked, "Just who exactly are we not letting in?"  "Bank robbers!" she said.  "Well, I'm glad to hear it!" said I.

Seems that the Main Source bank less than a mile from our house and about 1/4 mile from my son's high school was robbed at gun point about 30 minutes earlier.  Since my daughter's school was within a mile of the bank also, they were also under lock down.  I haven't heard anything more about it today.  I don't know if they caught the guy yet or not.

I ran some errands after I had lunch with Eler Beth, then I went through summer and outgrown fall and winter clothes and bagged them up for Goodwill.  Today I was going to continue cleaning and working in my yard since the weather here is gorgeous!  Mid-to-upper 80's during the day and 60's at night!  Wonderful!

But after the kids left for school I lay back down thinking I'd just get another hour's sleep, and when I woke up it was 2:15 in the afternoon!  I guess I must have needed it.

I took the kids over to some friends' house to play this evening and Thomas and I had a little quality time to ourselves.  Now I am at my computer, catching up on alerts.  I guess maybe tomorrow I'll try to do some more housework.  I definitely will not sleep all day -- can't waste a good Fall day.  Tomorrow is the first day of bow season, but Thomas is working, and besides it's not quite as cool as he likes it to be for deer hunting.  But if he weren't working he'd be out there!

Well, more later.

Epsom Salts and What They Can Do!

A lot has been happening around here, and yet not really much of anything.  Two of the puppies have gone to their new homes.  The one with a lot of orange that I called Pumpkin has now been re-christened Rosco by his new owner.  It's an older gentleman, a friend of our friend Bob, who has been a widower for years and whose dog recently died.  His daughter lives with him, and they both fell in love with Pumpkin/Rosco.  He'll have a really good home there.  That was yesterday, and the day before Thomas' nephew and his family came by and took the little black female.   Eler Beth had been calling her Mera, but they'll re-name her, I'm sure.  She'll have a good home, too.  Andrew is keeping the brown one (that I call Traveler), so that leaves 5 pups to find homes for.

They are eight weeks old today.  They have been de-wormed and had their first shots, but on Wednesday one of them was sick.  He is a big boy, but we call him Tiny.  He has such a sweet nature.  Well, they all do, but there's just something about him.  He's like a big, sweet, teddy-bear of a boy, if you know what I mean.  Well, his belly seemed very large and he was whining.  I thought he'd either eaten too much and/or was constipated, or he had a parasite infestation that was making him sick.  I try to keep my dogs de-wormed and keep their yard clean, but you almost can't keep puppies from having worms of some kind.  They were due for their 8 week de-worming today anyway, so that day I just went ahead and gave him his dose early.  Apparently the de-wormer tastes pretty good to them because they drink it down really well from the syringe.  About an hour after I'd given it to him he had stopped whining, but was sleeping, and limp as a wet noodle. 

I've had pups and kittens that have, for whatever reason, not made it, and I usually can tell right away by the way they look and act if there's no hope.  I didn't think Tiny had that look, but I was still worried.  His eyes when he'd been awake earlier and whining were clear, not clouded over.  His breathing was good, and his nose was cold and wet.  But because he was so limp and I couldn't nudge him awake enough to do more than just barely open his eyes I was worried.

I had toyed with the idea of giving him a laxative but wasn't exactly sure which kind or how much.  Thomas got  home and immediately suggested that I give him a dose of Epsom Salts (what we refer to in our house as "Nasty Stuff")!!  To Thomas Epsom Salts is the cure for everything, and I am not exaggerating!  He has a lot of stomach troubles and he can mix up some Epsom Salts in hot water, drink it, and he immediately feels better.  I tasted a little once, just for the heck of it, and I can honestly say that I'd have to be held down and have it forced down my throat or at least be so constipated that I was desperate!  Well, I had actually thought of giving the poor little thing Epsom Salts, so I let Thomas fix a weak mixture and I put one teaspoon in the syringe.

I picked Tiny up and he was so limp that I had to support his head like he was a little baby.  I put the tip of the syringe in the corner of his mouth and pushed the plunger just a bit.  His eyes flew open and he started struggling in my hand, trying to turn his head away from that nasty taste!  He wasn't limp anymore!  I gave him most of the teaspoon, lay him back down in their house and waited.  Not even a half hour later Eler Beth ran inside the house yelling, "Tiny just ran out to meet me!"  I checked, and sure enough he seemed fine.  I'm keeping a close eye on him, but so far he's been normal.  So maybe he was constipated, I don't know.  But I know this -- no one will ever be able to successfully argue against the efficacious properties of Epsom Salts!  Not to Thomas, anyway!

Last Day of Summer

Tonight during dinner --

Andrew:  "Hey, tomorrow's the first day of Fall."

Eler Beth:  "Fall!  I'm not done with Summer yet!"         

Talk Like A Pirate

Monday, September 19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  A friend of my son's told him this yesterday, and I was fascinated with the idea.  I may have to do something for it Monday at work.  I checked on the net and lo and behold I found the site for it:

I found a lot of interesting facts and fun things to do.  I found out what my pirate name would be:

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

My pirate name is: Dirty Mary Flint 

 You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr! 

http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate/

What's yours?

Other Things..........

Thomas is home, I've poured out my woes, and I feel better now!

I have done three loads of laundry today.  Still not caught up, but at least I've made a start!  I think I will go work with Scout for a while this afternoon.   Scout is the pup I kept for myself out of Fancy's litter this Spring.  He is five months old now.  He's such a well-mannered, smart little thing.  I need to work him on his leash a little.  The weather is beautiful today -- in the mid 70s I think.  The kids settled down before Thomas got  home, so they are free now to do their thing -- chores are done! 

Thomas is peeling and cutting up pears for pear wine.  He made some last year and it was DELICIOUS!  Neither of us really drinks.  We both hate beer and hard liquor (during a very bad cold we might have a hot toddy or a little brandy), but once in awhile I like a nice glass of wine.  I like my wine dry and Thomas likes it sweet and fruity.  Well where he works there is an old pear tree on some of the company property that is left over from some old homestead; I mean the tree is obviously old!  It produces the best old fashioned pears you have ever tasted.  They are nothing like what you buy in the stores!  We made several quarts of pear preserves last year and Thomas tried his hand at wine-making for the first time.  It turned out great!  It is as dry as I like it, with just a light pear flavor, and if he wants his to be sweeter all he has to do is add more sugar.  We gave away most of it, but we kept a few bottles to enjoy ourselves or serve when we have guests.  Anyway, the pears are ready now, so he and the kids went to pick some last week.  Now we have buckets of pears sitting everywhere!

 

A Mild Rant and Other Things.........

I don't complain much in here.  I don't like to complain, and who out there really wants to hear it?  But boy, am I frustrated today!  Sometimes I swear I feel so used, abused and worthless!  Thomas is working this morning, but I didn't have to.  The kids started out the morning just fine because they were busy watching TV or playing video games or whatever.  I gave them the morning off.  They didn't have to do any chores until the afternoon. 

Eler Beth had a little friend from down the street spending the night and this is one of those best-friends-love-hate-relationships.  They get along fine, then the bickering starts or this little girl (who doesn't have the happiest of family lives) starts getting jealous of my daughter and starts acting out.  She also has a little crush on Andrew, so sometimes Eler Beth starts getting jealous and possessive of her big brother if Andrew pays any attention to her friend.

Well the bickering started and Eler Beth threw a little temper hissy fit, and now I've sent the friend home and told the kids to get their chores done.  I don't know what Andrew's problem is, but now he's got an attitude and instead of ignoring Eler Beth's taunts he's reacting which is making it worse. 

I've decided to throw myself a little pity party.  Do I work 40+ hours every week outside of the home?  Yes!  Do I provide tasty meals every day, send the kids off to school each day fed, clean, healthy, in clean clothes (that I've washed, dried and put away), with homework that I've checked and sometimes stayed up way past my bedtime to help with?  Yes!  Do I feed and water their animals in the mornings on school days so that they don't have that extra responsibility in the mornings?  Yes!  Do I drive them to school functions, practices, friends houses, loan them a few extra dollars when their allowance savings is just short of the purchase price of whatever it is that they just have to have, drive them to the store to make the purchase in the first place?  Yes!  Do I require minimal (when compared to total household chores) work from them weekly?  Yes!  Do I deserve a Saturday where I can escape for a few hours into whatever pasttime takes my fancy, whether it be reading, journaling, watching a movie?  Yes!  Have they let me have that peace today?  No! 

I see unhappy, grounded kids for the rest of the weekend if attitudes, tones and facial expressions don't improve!  They have a certain amount of time today to get their rooms cleaned, Saturday chores done and attitudes straightened up.   And when dad gets home I'm so going to enjoy pouring out my woes into his ear.  (He always makes me feel better!) 

Well, this was a pitiful little rant, wasn't it?  But I do feel better, so I'm going for now.  I'm looking for a certain book on eBay, so I'm going to go do that right now.

FOUND!

My friend at work let us know yesterday that her cousins and their grandmother had been located in a shelter in Arkansas.  She had no further details at that time, but her aunt was on her way down to get them.  Thank you to all who contacted me.

Looking for John and Chris Mutz

Correction!

I Misspelled the last name in my entry below.  My friend is looking for her relatives with the last name of Mutz (pronounced "Mewtz"), NOT Mupz.

If anyone has information, please contact me.

September Challenge

Well, Jae from  My Life In A "Nut" Shell   has issued another 30-day challenge for anyone interested.  Last time it was crunches and walking.  I didn't do too badly;  I walked as much as I could every day, unless the weather was bad, and then I did crunches.  I only missed a few days.

This month I didn't start until Monday, Sept. 5.  My mind was on Katrina the first few days of the month, and I forgot about the challenge, but that's okay.  Jae started late herself!

My challenge (or challenges) to myself this month are to: 1) drink less coffee, particularly less sweetened  coffee; 2) drink  more water, and: 3) increase my physical activity via walking and doing crunches.

I have been drinking a lot of coffee at work lately.  I like my coffee sweetened with sugar, but I also like it black.  I do NOT like artificial sweeteners.  So last week I limited myself to one cup of sweetened coffee first thing in the morning at work.  I made myself use a little less sugar than usual, and if I absolutely had to have more coffee throughout the day, then I drank it black.

For every cup of coffee I had I also had the same amount of water!  That increased my water each day.  I also tried to be more conscious of drinking water throughout the day, regardless of how much coffee I had.  This week I'm going to make a point of drinking at least 24 oz. of water at work.

Each day last week I walked up and down seven flights of stairs at work, at least once a day.  I also parked all the way across the parking lot.  This week I will also get out the Ab Lounge and do some crunches a few times a week, and I'll try to walk in the evenings.  That will be hard.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know how I do.

I have weighed and measured my waist, bust and thighs.  At the end of 30 days I'm going to see if I've lost anything!               

I'm sending this hug out to his 1 desire at Just One Girls Head Noise .  She's been keeping all her readers informed about her battle with lung cancer.  If you aren't already reading this journal, you should!  She's funny, brave and very, very inspiring.  She has two weeks before her next chemo treatment, and what does she do but go and get a flu virus!  That's why she needs the hug!  So stop by if you can and give her a hug.  She'll appreciate it!

Looking for Cousins in New Orleans...........

CHRIS or JOHN MUTZ

In our staff meeting yesterday one of our team members who is originally from Mississippi, shared with us that her family in Mississippi are okay, but their houses will be have to be razed and re-built; some of her family in New Orleans got out before the hurricane hit; but she has two cousins who are still missing.  She has checked with Red Cross and other agencies, but I wanted to put it out there in J-Land as well.

If anyone has any knowledge of CHRIS or JOHN MUTZ, please contact me through this journal. 

Again the last name is MUTZ. 

I believe it is pronounced "Mewtz." 

If anyone sees those names on any list, in any interview, if you run into them at a shelter, etc., please get me word, or leave word with  The Red Cross because their relatives in Mississippi and Kentucky are looking for them.

Thanks so much!

"Going to California"

When I was a child my family played a game called "Going to California".  I have asked around all my life and have never found anyone anywhere who has ever heard of this game.  So, maybe it was made up by my Mom's family?  I don't know.  It was a very fun game, especially on a rainy or cold day when you couldn't go outside.  It's really fun for kids, but adults can have fun with it, too.  It's fun to play with a bunch of kids, because they have so much fun.  If anyone out there has ever heard of it, I would appreciate someone contacting me.  In a comment recently another J-lander asked how it was played, so I am going to try to explain it here today.   Actually, I will give an example. 

It is a "round"-type of game, if that makes sense.  It is most fun when played with three or more people, because there are more variables.  Below I will give an example of our family playing it.  The line in bold print is what each person will say before giving his/her own choice.  So in your mind, say the line in bold each time.  Here goes:

Part one:  I'm going to California, and I'm going to take --

   Me:  A tomato plant.                                          

   Thomas: My fishing poles.

   Eler Beth: Coloring books.

   Andrew:  My Game Cube.

*Notice that each of us took something that had no similarity to what the person(s) before us took.  The further apart the better.

Part two:  When I get to California, I'm going to --

   Me:  Plant my tomato plant and watch it grow and when there are tomatoes on it I'll make a nice tomato sandwich.

   Thomas: Plant my fishing poles and watch them grow and when there are tomatoes on them I'll make a nice tomato sandwich.

   Eler Beth: Plant my coloring books, (repeat rest of line).

   Andrew:  Plant my Game Cube, (repeat rest of line).

Now, the second person in the game would start part two.  For example.

When I get to California, I'm going to --

   Thomas:  Take my fishing poles out on the nearest lake, bait them up and catch a mess of fish for dinner.

   Eler Beth:  Take my coloring books out on the nearest lake, bait them up and catch a mess of fish for dinner.

   Andrew:  Take my Game Cube...(repeat rest of line).

   Me:  Take my tomato plant...(repeat rest of line).

Then Eler Beth would start part two, and she'd probably say something like "find me a quiet, shady spot in the yard and spend all afternoon coloring in my coloring books"  Andrew would "color in his Game Cube", I'd "color in my tomato plants", and Thomas would "color in his fishing poles."  Then Andrew would start; he'd hook up his Game Cube to the nearest TV and play video games all afternoon, and each of us in turn would hook our object up to the nearest TV and play video games.

Then depending on how long you want to play you start over, with the second person beginning with part one, and choosing what they're going to "take to California."

The trick to making it really funny, besides picking things that aren't similar in any way, is to make your statement as detailed and colorful as you can, because everyone else has to repeat what you say exactly, merely inserting their item.  My sisters and parents were always masters at coming up with the most unlikely things to "take to California" and doing the most detailed and interesting things with them.

I hope this made sense and you get an idea of how funny it can be.  We've played with as many as 12 people before, but usually it was around six.  As I was typing this Eler Beth walked by, caught a glimpse of her name, and when I told her what I was writing about she said, "Oh I LOVE that game.  When can we play it again?"  It's a good one for when you have a house full of bored kids on a rainy day.

Oh, the lure of those sparkly earrings.........

Thursday night my daughter surprised me with, "Saturday I'm getting my ears pierced!"  It has been a long journey, but she did it.  Got them peirced Saturday, two beautiful cubic zirconia studs in 14 kt. white gold in her pretty little ears.

I know most people nowadays, for the past two decades, really, get their daughters' ears pierced when they are babies. (Sometimes their sons' ears, too!) And I realize why they do this, I think.  I guess it's pretty easy for mom to take care of the ears, and it's cute, and fun.  But I've always had a problem with it.  I was thirteen before I even wanted to get my ears pierced, and I remember how excited I was and what an adventure it was to go to the local pharmacy with one of my best friends and pick out earrings and get our ears pierced.  And my older sisters bought me two of my first pairs!  I still have those earrings!  I wanted my daughter to be excited about it, too.  I wanted it to be an adventure, something she'd remember and talk about.  So I'm glad I saved that for her to do.  Not to mention the fact that they're her ears, and what if she never wanted to have them pierce!  It had to be her decision.

Well, she thought she'd made that decision two years ago, but changed her mind when we got to the mall.  I didn't push.  Then Thursday she told me we were doing it Saturday.  "Why?" I asked.  "Well," she said, thoughtfully.  "I think it's time." (she's nine years old, by the way.) "And," she continued, "I keep seeing these really cute earrings that I just have to have!  And besides, Brianna thinks she's so great because she has these really cute dolphin earrings!"  Ah-hah!!

So we've been disinfecting and turning earrings twice a day for three days now.  Her ears look fine, and she was very brave!  There was a girl on each side, to do both ears at the same time.  I stood just in front of her and she held and squeezed both my hands.  Then we went to the Chic-fil-et just across from the Piercing Pagoda and had lunch.  She can't wait to get to school tomorrow to show everyone.

And she wants us to wear matching earrings when she's able to change them, so I guess I'd better start getting used to wearing earrings again.  I don't very often anymore.  I quit when my kids were babies, because both of them liked to grab them, and now if I try to wear them they feel so heavy and just really bother me a lot.  But I'll do it for my girl!  I have a feeling we're going to be getting some "really cute dolphin ones!"

"You can see the wind in a hurricane...."

Well, my hair is done, but I'm not in bed yet.  I think all the sleep is catching up with me now.  And I have to get up in 4 and a half hours. 

I purposely avoided most news this weekend (when I was awake), because I didn't think I could handle any more Katrina news right now.  But I was just now glancing through the local paper and there is a story of a couple who, with their 2-year-old daughter, 9-week-old son and 6-year-old cocker spaniel, barely escaped out of Metarie, LA to the home of the wife's family here in Jeffersonville.  They had left early enough to get out of Metarie, but their car broke down in Mississippi, and had to turn back.  They ended up riding out the hurricane with the husband's family in Abita Springs, LA.  The woman, Angela, is the daughter of our City Council President.   After the storm had passed Angela and her husband, Jerrod, who had borrowed a truck from his father, headed toward Indiana on a half tank of gas.  In Mississippi the truck's low fuel light came on; the next town was 38 miles away.  They ended up in a line at a Wal-Mart gas station.  Every line was 15 to 20 cars deep.  They ran out of gas waiting.  While waiting in line, for the first time in days he was able to get a signal on his cell phone and call Angela's mom here in Jeffersonville.

Angela's brother, who is a police officer in our town, and their uncle left Indiana to try to meet up with them to make sure they made it here okay.  Just North of Birmingham they came face-to-face with her brother and uncle.  They had water, food, and 25 gallons of gas.  So Wednesday evening they arrived at their family's home here in town.  Angela's husband, who is from LA said that he completely misunderstood Katrina.  No one thought it was going to be as bad as it was.  He is worried about his family down there.  He and Angela will stay here and look for work, because they don't have anything to go to.

What really sticks in my had after reading this article is what Angela said about the hurricane, itself:  "The wind sounded like jet engines, and it went on for hours and hours and hours," she said.  "I didn't even know you can see wind.  You can see the wind in a hurricane."

It still blows my mind how devasting this is and how these people are suffering.  I see a long, long road ahead for them.

A Change of Plans..........

Well, my plans for this holiday weekend included not going anywhere special, not doing anything I didn't have to do, getting lots of rest and relaxation, catching up on some essential, neglected housework, reading and writing.  I think I slept 80% of this whole weekend!

I didn't go anywhere I didn't want to go, or do anything I didn't want to do, and I did rest!  And rest!  And rest!  I think I was coming down with something.  I had felt bad most of last week, and Friday I sneezed all day long.  Then I was so tired Saturday, slept late and basically dragged around, trying to get some things done, but not even really feeling up to reading or writing.  Then Sunday morning I got up with that stiff neck/shoulders/back thing.  I ended up sleeping all Sunday afternoon, getting up around 7 p.m., going back to bed at midnight and sleeping off and on all day today!  I've been awake now since 8 p.m., and I am ready to go back to bed, but.....one of the things I had planned to do this weekend was put a color-rinse on my hair.  I just remembered about a half hour ago, so I'm waiting to rinse it out now.  (Preference by Loriel, 9-1/2 A, Extra Light Ash Blonde)  I'll be in bed my midnight, and up at 4:30 in the morning, ready for work!  Hopefully I'll be feeling more like normal tomorrow and not get sleepy during work.  The good news is my stiffness is mostly all gone and I haven't been sneezing.  Andrew is feeling better and Thomas and Eler Beth had a great time fishing all weekend, and caught some monster Blue Cats (catfish), not U of K Cats, who, by the way, really did a great job yesterday in the football game against U of L.  I was surprised they did as well as they did. (I'm not much of a football fan, but I am a UK Basketball fan!)

Anyway, time to go rinse out! 

A Stiff-shouldered Sunday..............

Well, I got up with a stiff back and neck this morning, so I didn't go anywhere.  I spent most of the morning bent over and crooked. The lower back straightened up a little, but I still can't turn my head too much in either direction, and my upper back is still very stiff.  I tried to go about my business here at the house, though, because it's usually better to move around as normally as you can.  If you just lie around it doesn't do any good -- just makes it worse!  I did take a muscle relaxant earlier, but all it did was make me sleepy.  So just now I took some aspirine, and that's all I'm taking.

Thomas, Eler Beth and our friend, Bob, went fishing on Bob's boat.  Andrew had a sinus infection, and is only just today starting to feel better.  But just now he asked if he could make pancakes!  I said, "Have at it!"  One of his classes this year is Wellness/Nutrition (in my day it was Home-Ec), and they made pancakes from scratch Friday, and he wanted to try the recipe here at home.  So, I guess we're having pancakes for dinner!  Okay by me.  I'm not too hungry yet, and I told him to make enough for Dad and Eler Beth, too, even though they'll be fishing until late, and I'll heat them up for them when they get in.  I also had him fix some bacon.  He's enjoying his pancakes right now.  I told him I'd eat later, but I did take a taste of one.  They were really very good!  The recipe called for souring the milk with vinegar and using all-purpose flour.  It was so cute seeing him being so very careful about his measurements.  He kept calling me in there to see if he was doing it right.

Well, my puppies are five weeks old now.  They are so cute; they run out to meet us when we go out to the dog-pen, smiling and wagging their little tails.  We have two placed now, and, need I say it -- Thomas is letting Andrew keep one!  We do NOT need another dog.  But he had promised Andrew a dog of his choice, and he wants one of these.  Some friends of Bob had a beagle that died recently, so Bob asked them if they'd like one of the pups.  They told us to pick out one of the males for them.  So Eler Beth and I agreed that the smallest male, a pretty little brown and white one, would be best for them.  Thomas and Bob took it over to them yesterday so they could see it, and they fell in love with it on the spot.  We'll let it stay with its mom for another week or so, until it's eating mostly solid food, and then we'll take him over to them.  They take very good care of their dogs.  It will live inside and outside, be fed expensive dog food that is bought at the vet's, and be pampered all of it's life!

One of Thomas' workmates wants a female.  We'll let him have his pick when they're ready to go.  Then with Andrew keeping the one I called Traveler (even before his eyes opened he was hard to keep up with), that will leave two males and three females to find homes for.  About a week ago they started crawling into their mom's food bowl to get at her food, so I started feeding them soaked puppy food.  But they are still nursing a lot, and Heidi, poor mommy, still has plenty of milk.  Her teats hang almost to the ground with the milk she has!

Well, I'm off to find something interesting to do.  The house is quiet and I'm going to take advantage of it.  As long I sit still and don't forget and move my head or shoulders too quickly I'm all right.  I may try out some new scrapbooking software that I got.  I'll be back later tonight, though, I'm sure.

Catching Up and Chilling Out........

Well, it's past midnight, and I really must get to bed.  I am so glad to have this three-day weekend.  I SO need it!  I don't want to go anywhere (who can afford the gas, anyway), or do anything that I don't want to do.  I have caught up on all my email, alerts, and cleaned out some files.  Now I can go comment in some journals and catch up in mine -- tomorrow.  I'm going to clean house, mow my yard and read this weekend.

I finally broke down this evening, watching coverage of those poor people in New Orleans.  I have listened and watched all week, getting more and more depressed each minute, but not letting myself actually see too many of the pictures or clips.  I knew it would be hard for me to take.  But tonight I watched it all, and I just sat and cried.  I feel so helpless.  I can send some money and prayers, but that's all I can do.  It's so very depressing.  That's one reason I need this weekend.  When there is only so much I can do I have to keep from getting so depressed that I don't take care of my own family.  I feel like all this week I have just been operating on adreneline, pushing myself just to get through the day.  I haven't felt well, I've been overwhelmed at work and at home, and then this Katrina thing.....

So, anyway, I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a nice entry.  I have a funny camping story that I want to tell.  And I want to re-vamp my other site.

So bye for now.