so today my dad, my uncle, and i went down to slidell to check out the house, remove the trees, cover the holes with tarps, and then rip up and remove the carpet in my breakfast room. that literally took all day, but along the way we were able to help my neighbor joe remove a tree from his roof. i had talked to him twice before today (i’ve lived in my house a year) and i couldn’t remember his name. anyway, its really frustrating to have to realize it may be thanksgiving before i get my house completely fixed. yes, that’s THREE MONTHS. i might have to move a lot of stuff out during this interim time. and here i was last week just looking forward to football season.

gas is really hard to come by right now for no reason other than people are just freaking out. its weird to drive on the interstate with everyone going the speed limit or under trying to save gas. gas stations are open 6 am to 6 pm, and when they are open, there are lines usually lasting at least 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes longer. and that’s in baton rouge, where there was relatively little storm damage. today when we got to my exit at about 6:30 or 7:00 am, the line was across the interstate overpass into the other shopping center parking lot. at least 100 cars. ONE HUNDRED CARS lined up for gasoline. its my reality right now.

anyway, as far as i know, all of my family is accounted for, except one great aunt. she evacuated, but we are not sure where to, and nobody’s been able to reach her yet. i have four friends who either lost their homes completely or had severe flood damage. three of them live on the MS gulf coast. and then i have to remember i have several friends from my old job who live on the MS gulf coast who are probably in worse shape than i am. and that still doesn’t include people from work i know who live in new orleans. its so weird, just this whole situation. i hope it gets better soon. i had 10 voice mails on my phone on the way back to baton rouge tonight. sorry if i can’t call everyone back in a timely manner. i’m trying. i do really appreciate the phone calls, the text messages, the emails, the blog comments, etc. its good to have friends. i’ll blog about that and more happy things next time.