Day 167

So...today we were attacked...by our townhouse...again...
As you may...or may not recall...During Hurricane Gustav...the house threw a mirror at me...that I detected with my SpiderSense and cat-like reaction speed....only to catch it and bring it safely to terra firma...unbroken...
Well, today...Janet wasn't so lucky...
Today, the townhouse attepted to crush poor Janet by throwing the refrigerator door at her...
Thankfully...she was wearing her Wonder Woman Bracelet thingies...and merely threw the door...full of ketchup, BBQ sauce and mustard aside...
you can't get us...Stupid townhouse...We're smarter than you....you're just a townhouse....not even a real house...

This is another of their 'moments'...

Day 162

Simply amazing...

Before Thursday... I'd say... that I maybe had seen 5 hummingbirds in my life... maybe...

Our friend puts out 3 hummingird feeders every day...and apparently there is an entire tribe of them living in the trees in their backyard...

I promise...there were no fewer than 50 birds attacking that red juice...

Day 161

Daniel celebrated his second hurricane birthday in his first 5 years...

Hurricane Frances in 2004 and Gustav in 2008...

As you can see...he's no worse for the wear...and we got to stay at a friend's house with electricity...so he had a little private party on his birthday...

Day 160

Church, Work, Football, Rest...
and I officially hate The New England Patriots...stupid Tom Brady and my fantasy football debacle...

We went to Walmart yesterday....to restock our shelves before IKE heads this way...and this was the line to get into the store...

Day 159

Today my younger brother Nick and I put up some tarps and visqueen on my parent's house...They had some leekage in several rooms...and with Hurricane Ike looking to be on it's way here...We don't think it will be reroofed before then...

Keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers...she's having some health 'issues' right now...and I'm sure she'd appreciate it...

Days 157 and 158

So we finished up the Parish-wide damage assessment yesterday...and today the FEMA folks are coming down to see the damage...
It is pretty much widespread around the entire Parish...and with IKE looming out there preparing to head into the Gulf shortly...it's not looking too good...
We got power back Thursday night around 5:00 pm...so...we were without for about 84 hours...There are still areas of the Parish that are predicted to be without power for upwards of 2-3 more weeks...
My parent's house is leaking...so...we are heading over there this morning to help put up a blue tarp on their roof....then it's over to another friend's house to help him cut up some of the (6) 36" oaks down in his yard...

Day 156

I'm tired...These 12 hour days that start at 6:30 are just absolutely killing me...
so...the mirror story...
During the hurricane...I was going through some boxes that we moved here...trying to figure out if there was just junk in it...or actually some good stuff...so...I found a box of slides from college that I wanted to look at..While walking to the kitchen area...so I could hold the slides up to the window to see...I was passing through the living room....
For whatever reason...I glanced up at the fireplace mantle...and I realized that the mirror mounted on the wall was falling...towards the earth...
I dropped the slides and miraculously caught the mirror.....all the while Janet is sitting on the couch....mouth wide open...not believing what was happening...
We just couldn't fathom the remarkable coincidence of the whole event...
It was just bizarre...

Day 155 part 2....the cooler hours...

So...the Family of 5 has relocated to a friend's house...his entire house is running off of a Natural gas generator...we were able to salvage some of our refrigerator goods...The dogs are in the guest house in their crate...with AC and a ceiling fan...so Boudreaux is nice and happy...
Janet is going to set up her home office here for the time being and the boys will be able to play with their 3 sons (all teenagers....but it looks like they are enjoying the younger generation...for now at least...)
The area is pretty dinged up...They are evacuating the hospitals due to the duration that we might be without power...Everyone is starting to freak out...because people, generally, only prepare for 2-3 days of food and water...and if it extends to 7-14 days....this entire region is going to be in some serious trouble...

The photo is of 'the house'...The one we haven't bought yet...but are trying to....the only real damage to speak of is the fence in the backyard...and the ceiling fans on the porch lost their blades...I didn't look inside...but from the street it looked Okie Dokie...

Day 155

We lost power at about 9:45...
We are in the heat...and dark...
I went into work today to start damage assessment...and it it a pretty broad brush of damage across the whole area...
The current speculation is it could be 2 to 4 weeks before power is completely restored...100% of the area is without power...
We are going to try to relocate to a friends house who has a natural gas generator...so...we'll see...
Overall, we fared well...Remind me to tell you the mirror story...

Day 154 - 9 am

All's well...
We are getting sustained winds around 40-50 miles and hour...and some stronger gusts...
Rainfall is generally not as heavy as we were expecting...Power is still on...and the wind just got so loud that we had to turn the volume up on the TV...

Day 153

Today...we started the hunkering down process...Usually...that's just what I call it when I take my shirt off and dance...(Get it...hunk-ering down...get it? nevermind)
Dean helped me load some sand bags up at the local firestation today...we blocked up our 3 exterior doors...and we are officially bunkered in for the time being...
We are getting some bands now...it's 9:40ish...word on the street is that our neighborhood doesn't flood....we'll see...I guess...
Depending on our power situation tomorrow...I'll update the blog regularly from STORM CENTRAL...
Gustav is nearing the homestead...keep your fingers crossed for us...
Oh...and for those of you that aren't sure where we live...exactly...
According to the google earth hurricane tracking software...we are approximately 65 miles northwest of where it is projected to make landfall...

Days 151, 152

If only there was something exciting to talk about...
Justin Isham came down to visit us Wednesday thru Saturday... and... well...he brought some 'weather' with him...
He took a trip down to New Orleans Harrah's casino on Thursday....we hung out here on Friday and played some golf...then we braved the New Orleans hurricane evacuators...and went back to Harrah's Saturday...then to the airport...
When the casino closed early we went to eat al a local diner...and then spent 2 hours in traffic driving 16 miles to the airport...
We went to a place called 'Mothers'...Their famous Poboy is called the Ferdi Special...it has ham, roastbeef and an additional topping called Debris...not sure what it is...but...you get alot of gravy au jous type of stuff that make your bread all soggy and mighty tasty...

Day 149

California, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia...
I see you....You're checkin me out...

Are you here because you're lost? Do I know you? What's going on?
Are you waiting for th eFall TV season to get my reviews of Heroes, Lost, 24, American Idol...and all the other junky shows I can't stop watching?

What's going on in these rogue states...that aren't Louisiana and Florida...Feel free to leave a comment...to let me know you stopped by to take a read...

Oh...and got some news on the house front today...
We were told...by an agent...that she spoke to someone at the bank...and she said...that they said...that they have submitted our offer for acceptance...Meaning...we could be closing on the house in 2 weeks or so...Just in time to have Gustav blow it away...