Ok, y'all, I'm back.

I was gone for longer than I expected because I've been sick this week. A sinus infection decided to move into my head Tuesday and I'm only beginning to feel somewhat human today. I was at home for two days taking Nyquil and Mucinex round the clock with a few of ABB's pseudofeds - complete with real fed - mixed in for luck.

Life is still busy around the house. M and Megs are still with us. D got to come in for the weekend. M was so happy to spend some time with him as they hadn't really seen each other since the day before the storm. Megs has started school locally. M is having to go back next week because Jefferson Parish is starting up their schools. This means that Megs is probably going to stay with us for another couple of months, possibly through January. It'll be interesting being a surrogate mom to a 16 year old. Megs is a great kid, though, so she'll be no trouble.

Keith is doing well. He's been staying at our house along with Nero, his pug. It took a Cat 5 hurricane to finally make us clean out the extra bedroom so Keith could stay there. How sad that it took us nearly a year to finish unpacking all the boxes!

Keith is in New Orleans today and will be bringing his car home. He was able to spend several hours in the city last week. Their house is fine. He emptied out the refrigerator and checked on the garden. He checked on the car and found it was fine. The military and FEMA are using that parking garage to park some of their equipment so it's being guarded round the clock. He was also able to make it back into the paper's downtown office and retrieve all the things he'd had to leave behind. He is a member of the vestry at his church and was able to get in to check on it. He found that the church is in perfect condition. He said it smelled of incense as if they'd had mass just that morning. It was wonderful to see my brother so excited to know that his little corner of the world had not suffered. It has given him hope that the city may not be lost afterall.

E has had two job interviews in the past two days. He also has a business opportunity that he is just thrilled about. He's got a guy willing to put up the capital for an outdoor lighting company. E was involved in such a company when he lived in California and he's been dying to get one going here. Looks like that's getting off the ground quickly. He'll have to work a regular job for a year or so until the business can support him but it looks like a great opportunity. The sparkle in his eyes when he talks about it is priceless.

We're looking forward to a quiet weekend. I'm planning to spend most of it in the pool if the weather cooperates. :-D