A Day's Work

Did you know that Spike TV has about 6 hours of Star Trek on every weekday? Yup. The babies love it.

Yesterday, we were out of milk. Well, cow's milk. I have literally an entire freezer full of stored breast milk. I said to Andrew we were out, and then jokingly said "well, we do have lots of breast milk....." We both laughed "tempting, huh?"

Not really. It would be a little creepy/gross. But it was a funny moment.

I've asked other people who breastfed if they tasted their breastmilk, and they said "no." Well I think they lied, and I'll admit to trying some. I was curious! It tastes like very thin skim milk that's been sweetened. Anyway. It would make a heck of a latte. Starbucks is missing out on a potential market. :)

This is not goodbye

I am still going to write in this blog, and it will be interesting, witty commentary on the universe. Lately, the babies have been both easier & more time consuming. They're smiling, playing, and can be left to their own entertainment for a few minutes.

I've thought of dozens of things to write, but usually, it's as I'm lying down, ready to sleep after a long day of baby entertaining. And I think-- maybe tomorrow I'll have some time.

Andrew has, for the last two days, taken the babies for a jog. We have a double jog stroller. Yesterday it worked great, hopefully today will be the same. That means I have had time to think of you blog friends, who I've undoubtedly chased away in legion.

But my main plan for this 30 minutes or so of baby free time is a cozy nap, without having to listen for the baby monitor. So this is it, man. Napsville here I come!!

In the immortal words of CA governor, "I'll be back."

Whew!!!

Well...I made it through yet another Hurricane! The little metal box I live in stood up pretty good although I did think I was going to go flying through the air like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz a couple of times. I did manage to locate many, many leaks in the trailer.

My old "Home" on the West Bank in Gretna, LA did not fare quite as well. Damage that had just begun to be repaired was ripped away by Rita and to a few of the units more damage was done. My old apartment had not even had any repairs begun so the already extensive damage was made worse by this storm.

One of my co-workers at the hotel I work at here in Baton Rouge told us on Friday that this storm had a talk with hurricane Katrina...she told Katrina "Hold my earrings, bitch, I'm gonna show you how it's done!!", well, thank the powers that be that the damage was not as bad as it could have been. A direct hit on Houston and the oil rig rich waters off the coast of Texas would have devastated us even more! I suppose we can look forward to $5 gallons of gasoline in our futures. But...if I tried to tell one of the residents of any of the hardest hit parishes in Louisiana that it wasn't so bad they would shoot or skin me! In Erath, a little bitty town in LA where my first marriage was performed by a JP, the water from the Vermillion River made it to the South part of town, about 18 miles from where the river usually is. Then if you go to places like Cameron, Calcasieu, Iberia...damage there was bad. These parts of the state are home to much of our sugar cane and rice crops. We will probably see a rise in those prices as well. Of course, Florida also produces a good portion of sugar cane grown in the USA.

Then you look to the counties in Texas that were hit. The towns that will never be the same again. Port Arthur, TX houses some of our major oil refineries...Orange, TX is home to several historic sites that we may never see the same way again. Then there is Galveston. What can you say about Galveston. The beaches were not what I was used to having lived in Florida for so long and enjoying the sugar white beaches that are there but...it was a major historic place. When I interviewed for a job there last year I read some of the history about it. Prior to the hurricane that hit in the early 1900's and wiped out most of it, it was a prosperous area that was fighting to be the "Hub" of the south. Many of the areas that were not wiped out by that un-named storm were hugely impacted by this one.

My daughter had little damage to her home. I was very glad to hear of that since it was just over a year ago that her home in Florida was totally wiped out by Hurricane Ivan. The guy I have been seeing...his home is in extreme East Texas...many trees...no power...I initially thought it was in the path of the potential flooding that the damage to the dam at Lake Livingston was going to do because of damage...but no...it lies above the dam...WHEW!

I am "Storm Weary". I pray that no more storms come anywhere NEAR us again! I can't wait until the end of the season this year. The things that never, ever bothered me before now cause me to weep openly. I find that when the power flickers I worry...a flashlight now lives by my bed, my couch, in my bathroom...even in my car! The paranoia about the weather has me obsessively checking the NOAA web site for any potential developing storms...Maybe the cold of Illinois was not so bad....oh, who am I kidding. I'd rather endure a bad, horrible, powerful hurricane season than endure even one day of 30 below weather and ice and snow and slush!

As for the commenter that asked about Kim and the family...all are wonderful! The babies are the absolute most adorable things on the Earth! They have the personalities of their respective parent...Sean is soooo much like his dad...even down to the little scowl he gets when he's paying very close attention to you...Maia is a bit more laid back...like her mom...she watches but she is also pretty easy going. Kim says that she is much like me in her sleep habits...I can sleep ANYWHERE and not a thing will wake me or bother me if I don't want it to! She also keeps to her own schedule...always messing with mom's idea as to when to eat, sleep, play...just to be stubborn! (Kim's contribution to her!) The family is so busy just trying to adjust to the addition of the two little ones and the things that they had going on before the birth of the little angels that there is little time for the two of them! Of course, being the good parents, they also know that it's important to FIND time for each other.

So...while I know you miss Kim and her skill and wit and all that jazz...be content with the fact that she has these precious little babies that she needs to focus on. She WILL be back! When she returns, for good, I know that she will have MUCH to say! Even as we all sit here, reading, mulling, living our lives, she is coming up with stories that she has to share...things that she has to "Throw Out There" because that's what she does! Hang in there! She'll be Back!!!

A Double Whammy????

The way it looks right now.....New Orleans and most of the Louisiana coast will miss this new storm, we hope! I have been watching the storm since it began to develop out there.....New Orleans could NOT take another hit. It would just absolutely DESTROY what was left.

I made my way to New Orleans, or rather, to Gretna, the area that I lived in, over the weekend just passed. It didn't look much better than when I went there the week following when the storm first hit. The power had been restored to the complex my apartment was in so.......dodged a little bit of the stench.....the freezer full of food that included fish, shrimp and 10 pounds of chicken, re-frooze so it wasn't quite as bad as it could have been but....bad enough! I had almost a full bottle of Jagermeister in the freezer (which I don't drink) and since it's pretty much nasty stuff anyway, I figured it was probably okay.....one of the maintenence guys there begged me for it. I gave it to him. Poor little devil, he's going to have to deal with replacing 204 refrigerators, at least 1/3rd of them needing to be taken up about three flights of stairs! I felt sorry for him!

Anyway.....please......all of you folks that read Kim Procrastinates.........please, please, PLEASE say a collective prayer, mantra, whatever to keep this flipping storm away from there! There are still too many people there that, for whatever reason, will not or can not leave. I don't want to see anyone else go away! Also, if the storm decides to go there, even too close to it, the levees on the mainland of New Orleans will fail and the levees that are still not complete on the Westbank will also fail. The Westbank......that's where my former little corner of the world is.

Trailer life isn't so bad. I guess. At least I have a home, of sorts. Thanks!

Writing, DVDs, and A Word From Our Sponsor

I keep thinking: "Soon, I'll be able to write real, literary stuff in the blog." Then days & days go by and I just don't have the time to think of literary stuff. I wrote a speech a few years ago about what it takes to be a woman writer, and much of it was thinking about the differences between men & women with the leisure to write, to spend so much solitary, somewhat selfish time writing and thinking. I've heard of some women who say that having kids around helps with the writing. I've heard some say that they simply cannot think around the kids and they hinder the writing.

For me, I believe that when things settle down, Maia & Sean will provide things to write about other than the obligatory "ooh, look at what cute thing he/she said did pooped ate crawled smiled today"... but for now, that's really all I've got for you. Not a lot of literary stuff going on in my head. I read a paragraph or so of a book I've been reading for about a month every time I get a chance... but that's not so often.

On that note, things are going great.

The baptism went really well; it was great seeing family; they were perfect angels all weekend.* They are laughing like crazy now, and they adore it when you blow a raspberry at them and are trying to figure out how to do it themselves. They stick their tongues out, and know that it has something to do with moving the tongue, but haven't quite got the mechanisms down. They are almost sleeping through the night-- down at about 9:30 till about 4 or 5, then a feeding that lasts them till 8 or 9. Then one more feeding where they'll sleep for a couple of hours till they're "up for the day." It's heavenly to sleep most of the night, although I still have to get up and "pump"-- milk myself or else have trouble. The cool thing? I produce so much milk I'm actually donating it to a milk bank that sends it to preemie &/or sick babies. I donated 230 ounces last week, and I still have a nice supply of my own for my own needs. The freezer is full, and I get more every day (about 70 ounces a day sometimes. And they eat about 30 ounces each, so you see the surplus I have right now).

I've been listening to/watching these great DVDs** put out by HBO. If you have babies/toddlers, I highly recommend them. I think that the whole cause/effect thing about babies watching classical music and it making them smarter is not really there-- I think people who spend the time & energy to have their kids watch classical (and or any kind of good) music are probably more educated & smarter in the first place so their kids are smarter as a result of good genes. But these DVDs are too cool anyway. I really love the Cow singing a Puccini song to the Taurus constellation on the "Music" version, and the one where artists & paintings "Paint" each other, morphing sort of into each new painting, which starts off with Frida Kahlo.

One can't and shouldn't let the TV be a babysitter. But sometimes it sure helps to have something that will keep them happy for the three minutes it takes you to walk to the bathroom, do your business, and get back to entertain them. And these cool DVDs do that and then some. If you get them, play with the baby with them, and learn something yourself by putting the version on that has the informational label/popups. The music they choose is very soothing, and I can listen to it for a while without getting crazy. And I'm sure I'm going to have to!!


*I'll leave the dangling modifier because both subjects of the sentence were angels. :)


**Robotnik once asked me "what's with the "ads" on your blog; do you get a commission or something?" And in a sense, yes, I do. The links I put up are through my academic/book reviews website associate ID number. If someone buys a product clicking on that link, I do get a small referral fee. On the website, it barely pays for the hosting fees, so I don't feel too bad about it. On this blog it's a matter of cool factor plus laziness. It would take much too much effort for me to get a picture of the DVDs and create a non-referral type link to it. I figure you'll live if I but you with an occasional product link since I also pay money to not have the Blogger bar and blogger ads on my blog. So, there you go. :)

Lakehouse weekend

Sunday, we baptize the babies. For this momentous event, my sister, who lives in Gulfport & has to deal with the stress of my niece's apartment being trashed, jobs gone, the hospital where the neice was supposed to deliver her baby boy in a month (ish) pretty much a war zone, is here. We have full run of the family's great lake house. The babies just ate, Sean is napping happily on the floor & Maia is chillin' with the Aunt she hadn't met before last night, and we're all happy. The weather is great, Bobby Flay is on the TV cooking something incredible, I'm having a cajun roast beef sandwich, and OTHER PEOPLE are holding my babies... and they're happy with it and I'm glad to have a little break.

Life is sweet. I'll try to write a real, literary post this weekend. But maybe not. :) I might just relax, swing in the hammock out there, and enjoy a vacation from everyday.

New Orleans........

Well.....yesterday was a very busy day. I actually made my way back to Gretna......the Westbank of New Orleans......it was not a pleasant event.

It took 2 1/2 hours to get there because we had to travel back roads the whole way and the bridge to the Westbank is not being used by anyone other than emergency people and the trucks and crews trying to repair electric lines, phone lines and etc. I took I-10 to LA 22 to LA 70 to LA 1 to LA 90 and then finally after being directed by a policeman, made my way to my apartment. Fortunately the person I was traveling with had a pretty good idea where we were going and how to get there.....also......since he works on the Westbank, we were able to get his company vehicle and use it to put as much of my belongings in it as we could along with filling up my little car!

We got into my apartment and found that although some of the windows were compromised the damage was not as bad as some places. The cathedral ceiling and the wall in the dining room/living room area was falling in......insulation everywhere........the tall window was blown.....the windows in the bedroom were pulling away from the wall on the outside.....mold and mildew everywhere......it was quite a mess but at least I was able to get the vast majority of my stuff! I lost a few things.....pots and pans that had begun to rust because of the humidty......leather shoes and handbags that had begun to grow......some clothing that had gotten wet and begun to mildew already.......I checked on the apartment of one of my friends that lived in the apartment below me and had to evacuate to the hospital that she works at and found that it was in pretty good shape. I had not heard from her since we evacuated.....fortunately one of our other friends took her little doggy 'cause she couldn't take it to the hospital with her. I finally got a call from her. She is safe and sound and in Oklahoma.......she didn't get out of the Westbank until Wednesday! Her little dog is in Texas but at least she is safe!

It is really eerie and weird to be in the city now. This is a place where there is always activity and people moving around. It was so quiet! All you see and hear is the helicopters....the military vehicles are all over the place! There are quite a few people that are staying on the Westbank. They don't want to leave their homes, that's all they have left now. But the entire area looks like a war zone! Sounds like one too......in the distance you can hear gunshots.......sirens......the 'copters.....and every so often you will hear the grief-stricken voice of a person that has lost their home.....the screams and the tears.......it just breaks my heart! So many people that have lost everything! No job, no home, no car and worries about when they might be able to replace those things!

Well.....I just wanted to let everyone know that I was able to get most of my things (I couldn't fit all my books!) and let everyone know I was okay. I am looking forward to seeing my family when the babies are christened next week! It will be so great to just hold on to those precious little things and just let their warm baby smiles and the sweet baby breath warm and rejuvenate me! Thanks to all for the words of encouragement!

A New Beginning!

I suppose I should change my name here......I am no longer homeless! I am now the ?proud? Tenant of a trailer, mobile home, manufactured housing! At least I have a home now! It looks like we will be able to go into the area tomorrow. The State Troopers that are being housed at the facility that the guy I date works at says we can go in as long as we have business on the Westbank. He has to go and survey the damage at the offices and compound there on the Harvey Tunnel. The office that he used to work out of was right on the water......it probably won't be good but.....while we're there we plan to go to my apartment and remove my things. Today he is going offshore to begin surveying damage done to the oil rigs that he works on. Preliminary reports are not good.......we will see how it goes. The bosses tell him they need to get these rigs up and running soon.....of course, we all know how true that is! Once the oil rigs are back on line and they are able to refine oil here again the prices should begin to drop some.

That takes me to these thoughts.......so much of my life has changed in just one short week. This time last week I was sitting here, in a hotel room in Denham Springs Louisiana, waiting for the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.....not even expecting the fury that was about to evolve.....not thinking about the possibility of becoming homeless.......not worried that the whole topography of New Orleans......hell......the Gulf Coast was going to be forever changed by this monster storm! I count myself among the fortunate in this whole ordeal......I have a job. I have a place to live, now, I did not lose everything I had ever owned. When I left Pensacola I took very few things with me........when I lived in San Antonio with Kim and Andrew I had very little and what I had was just possessions.........those things I took with me to New Orleans.....many of them I left behind. When I moved into my apartment on the Westbank I had a canvas camp chair, a little round table and an air mattress that D bought for me. I slept on that mattress for many months......it really was comfortable! Slowly I bought things......tables.......chairs......I got a futon for my birthday.......got a bed from my friend Cori......things from many of my friends on the Westbank......the same people that now have no home to go to......many of them lost things that are very dear to them.......I am so lucky......first to have known many of these people and second to have only possibly lost "Things" in this. I took pictures that meant something to me when I left.......the wonderful book that Kim made one year for all of us.......that came with me.....in my briefcase......I could NOT leave that behind!

So now........I am "Trailer Park Trash" as D says.......Kim, you need to find that T-Shirt that you bought last year to annoy someone.......the runner up for Queen? I may want to borrow it for a while.......I told D I would bring Trailer Living to a whole new level! It remains to be seen just what level I bring it to!

It All Happens For a Reason...

Since yesterday, credible news has begun to filter out of the area that I lived at....my area is called the Westbank of New Orleans.....any of you that are familiar with that area know that it is a series of small communities.....mostly true cajuns that were born and raised there for generations......with generations of them living within a few miles of each other. I learned that my apartment complex was damaged by wind but not by flooding. Of course, now the worry to all of us that lived East of the Harvey Tunnel is that there is lawlessness and looting and robbing there.....everything West of the tunnel is secure so those of you that lived in Marrero, Westwego, Bridge City, those areas, the places are secure for the most part. Armed guards are turning anyone back from the tunnel that does not belong on the West end. I wish they had my area secure.....my little place was in Gretna.....that area and Harvey, Algiers, and those places East are not secure at this time. The word from our people there is that it is very, very dangerous at this time.

I hate to see this. It breaks my heart that the bad people there are giving the good folks of the area such a shitty name and that the people from the outside world are seeing such a bad side of New Orleans. It is NOT always like this! Sure there are some a**holes out there but the vast majority of the people are good, warm, caring folks.....just like you and me.....then you have the idiots!

I may actually have found a new place to live......I won't have anything in it except me and the few things I managed to bring with me but......I will have a place to call "Home" again! (I hope, anyway!) Think good thoughts for me!

To Kim: I am going to try to make it to San Antonio next weekend.....I think I'll be okay with the other things....might need a tiny bit of help.....what I will probably need for you to do for me is talk to everyone over there and see if they have any of the necessities like pots and pans, dishes, silver that they no longer need, old stuff that is just sitting in a bos or in a drawer somewhere.....pillows, sheets, towels, that kind of thing.....I hope to make it to Pensacola this weekend to get some clothes that friends and loved ones there have for me......I just have to figure out HOW to get there! So many roads are not open or are not passable!

To Mom: Why is Dot and the kids back in Pensacola? Is everything okay? How was Gulfport? I'll try to see you guys this weekend.

To Sara: Thank you, Baby Girl! If I can't find a home here, even though I have a job, I may be forced to relocate! Houston, San Antonio, SOMEWHERE! I always know I have a home with you!

To Bubba: Keep your family safe my boy! I was glad to hear from you yesterday....even if it was a text message! I'll try to see you guys this weekend too

To Everyone Else Out There: Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers from all of you! As well as the offers of a place to "Squat" at during this really crappy time! I may take you up on them at some point!

We are now forced to wear armbands that identify us as either employees of our hotel or guests of the hotel in order to get in.....Armed Guards at EVERY entrance.........

Potential

There is so much hope, so much potential, in a sleeping baby's face. They lie there, their legs sprawled with abandon, kicking off blankets, arms wide like they're ready to hug the world. Their little mouths wide open, a teeny bit of sweet baby spit dribbling down one cheek. They twitch, and dream, and their tired eyes open a crack. They see you watching them, feel safe, and snuggle back down to sleep.

The thing is, even the assholes who are currently running rampant in New Orleans (and parts thereof) were once someone's sweet baby. It's really sad to see people turn into animals, when they were once potential for good. I realize that some people never have safe homes, never have parents who hold them gently and take good care of them. Those babies lie for hours alone, crying for no one to come to them. And they turn into mean (at the least) people. It breaks my heart. Seeing how good Maia & Sean are already becoming because they feel safe and protected and knowing that all it takes is some hard work (and damn yes, it is hard!).

As for my religion post of an earlier day, I believe basically that, for whatever reason (God, the force, whatever) we are put here on this planet to make it a better place. And I firmly believe that raising good kids, making them into good people, is one small step in that direction. I remember a smug co-worker, years ago, telling me that raising his kids was "the most important job in the world." I felt like that co-worker was invalidating everything in my life up till then merely because I had not yet had kids. I was a little put off. Now I see what he meant... but I don't want to make those who aren't part of my little "baby cult" feel bad.... your own life is as important as having babies, and you won't do a good job with said babies till you get your own life in order first.

Sitting on the floor pallet (yes, Robotnik, we have floor babies now too) with them, turning on Baby Einstein so they can learn to have receptive ears to multiple languages (phonemes, baby) seeing them turn their heads to follow mommy's progress about the room.... it's overwhelming sometimes. But in a good way. Sometimes you have to hand the baby to someone else, walk away, and just go lie on a bed staring blankly at the ceiling. But then you get up. You always get up, and move on, and they smile at you and turn their bright eyes your way. Potential. We have to live up to it in our kids.

Still Homeless but Looking.....

Well......there are absolutely NO apartments available in Baton Rouge and surronding areas.....it is NOT looking good. The areas that I lived in were impacted although not as badly as New Orleans proper and the areas by the airport and in the 8th and 9th Wards. I may be able to go into Jefferson Parish and get my belongings sometime next week......clothes are kind of important.....furniture and all will keep, I hope!

As I sit here, in my office, writing this, my boss walked in to check and make sure that my wall to ceiling window was secure....apparently it is anarchy in Baton Rouge too! What the f.....!!! The damned animals are effing running the zoo! You can't even stop to pump gas into your car without the possibility of getting robbed! The stores are gouging the hell out of people....one service station right down from the hotel I'm at until Saturday is charging $3.59 for Regular Unleaded Gas! Right across the street it's only $2.59!

Everyone here is in shock.....not just the refugees from New Orleans and areas but the residents of Baton Rouge that have opened their hearts and doors to these people.....now what kind of black eye are they getting just because they extended their homes, shelters and whatever else they could.....

My heart is soooooo heavy. Not all New Orleans residents are like this. I am saddened at this. The people that I know are warm, compassionate.......hell......many of them are homeless! I am still among the fortunate few in that I at least still have an income! I'm pretty sure that part of this chaos and anarchy is from the fact that even if people have money, say, in the bank......they can't get to it! Many of the banks are still closed or just plain overwhelmed!

Well, anyway, I hope that all of the other people that read this blog and may have family, friends or themselves impacted are safe. I am getting word from many of the people that I have not seen or heard from since Saturday when it took me 7 hours to travel from New Orleans to Denham Springs, normally an hour and a half drive. Many of them are homeless with not even a board standing where there houses once were......many did NOT even take their insurance stuff with them!

I may STILL become a resident of San Antonio!

Hurricane Stuff

Non-family members will have to tolerate this interruption of bloggyness for some practical things. This is one of the few places some of my family members can get in touch and/or I can leave a message for them. My sisters both live in places that were hit by Katrina (one in New Orleans, on in Gulfport) so they are, even though it's not as bad as it could have been, smack dab in the middle of this crap. One is able to access the blog and email through her work account, which thankfully was in Baton Rouge and not New Orleans-- so she still has a job!!

For Judy: I don't know if you saw, but Nissa & Aaron offered you their guest bedroom if you need to come here. Andrew also said that we will pay for you & Dot's gas to get here for the Baptism (or for any other reason, of course!) We can wire you some cash, or we can figure out some other way to get it to you. I'm going to send you an invite to become a member of this blog so you can actually post to the blog itself if you'd like, instead of just the comments. Haloscan is notorious for going out when you really need it. Plus, other folks who read the blog might be interested in things you have to say.

For Dottie: I doubt you'll see this, but if you do, same goes for you. We want family to be here for the baptism, so we'll give you some cash to get here. It'll be a nice break from the crap you're all going through right now! And, if necessary, you guys can all stay here too! I know your place is liveable, but still.

Celina: If you or Richard talk to Dottie, tell her this stuff.

It's a logistical nightmare, folks. Not to mention the nightmare of people behaving like animals in New Orleans. Shame on the looters, shame on those people who are being violent and have caused the stoppage of rescue efforts! And those poor people sitting on their roofs will have no idea why no one is coming for them! I was telling Andrew that I can see why people would be looting food & stuff, because it's definitely in short supply in that area right now, and it's not like you can go in there and buy stuff. But clothes? DVD players? You know, you really won't need those things when you don't have POWER cause the authorities will not be able to get in there and fix things. And your clothes will not do you any good when you start to starve because people won't come in to bring new supplies because you're all behaving like animals and the relief workers are afraid to come in there.

And I can't even begin to think of how bad it's going to get when people's short term food supplies begin to run out.

Ugh. I definitely spoke way too soon on that post where I said NO had dodged the bullet. It all looked so hopeful at first-- the streets of the Quarter were on TV, looking no worse than after a day of Mardis Gras. But then the levees broke.

Anyway. Family members o' mine, know that you can come here. You know we don't have a lot of room, but we have a lot of friends and we have other resources that can be used.

No matter what happens, know that we love you guys and we're here for you. Don't stay someplace that gets unsafe, Dot. Get away, come here, go up to your son, drive out of town. I wish ya'll hadn't gone back already.