Home Sweet Home

We are home! After 3 weeks living as Hurricane Rita-refugees/evacuees, we are safely and thankfully home. Last night was our first night to sleep in our beds within our house. Nice just doesn't say enough.

It has been my wish for the past year to spend one summer vacation traveling to all the beautiful state parks here in Louisiana. Seems we were given a head-start on our plans. After living two weeks at Lake Claiborne State Park, my husband came and moved us and the travel camper to Lake Chicot State Park (pronounced chee-ko) so we would be closer to home. The mosquitoes were terrible!

Once my brother received electricity at his house, my husband came and retrieved us again and moved us there. We had full hook-up, electricity, and laundry. My parents stayed in his house.

Seems everyone learned a valuable lesson with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Our legal system and all officials have been remarkable in their dictation and energy in getting Calcasieu Parish up and running. The wonderful crew of Entergy (nationwide) had our electricity up on Monday night. The children and I spent yesterday cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and painting the laundry room and pantry.

We already hired someone to come in and cut up the trees and move the debris off our property. The kids have raked and hauled branches and limbs into their uncle's side lot in preparation for a huge Halloween bonfire. The property is approximately 85% clean-up.

My carport looks like an army camp. Mark and Corey have basically lived under it the past 3 weeks. Now, with the exception of the carport, my house is spic-n-span. My kitchen is airy and uncluttered. The only thing on my kitchen table are the pumpkins that Corey bought his two little sisters when the first harvest of pumpkins came in after the storm. To get this open effect, we had to place boxes of cased water and MRE's down the hallway. But the homelike effect you get when walking into this spacious kitchen is worth having my hallway cluttered.

There is still lots of work to be done...