Back in bidness - sort of

3 days of bedlum and mayhem down, countless weeks of ramifications to come.

I'm back, baby! Kind of. Wilma was a stupid whore and we'll be cleaning up and repairing her messes for quite some time, but the important part is that the man is OK, I'm OK, Duke's OK.

This is my first day back at work and my plate is overflowing with projects, so this has to be short. But, I wanted to update you guys and let you know that all the finger crossing, good vibes, and candle lighting worked. We're alright. We made it through the worst of it.

Quick rundown of the damage:

• Window ripped off back of house
  
• Rest of 100 yr. old tree gone (Katrina left a little, but not much left now)
  
• 60-70% of shingles blew off roof (now when you stick your head up into the attic you see tiny spots of daylight - eek!)
  
• Carport all jacked up
  
• Paint damage to the man's car from the carport fiasco
  
• Front gate at driveway blown in
  
• No electricity since Monday morning at 7
  
• Everything in fridge and freezer has to be thrown out

That all sucks donkey balls, but there were some bright spots. A lack of electricity will force all sorts of great innovations. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and it seems that's true. With no electricity and rapidly spoiling food, we had to figure out how to cook some of it or else it would all go to waste and we'd be stuck with cranberry sauce and pickles for who knows how long. Besides, we were dying for some coffee.

The man got 4 cinder blocks and made a square with them on the back patio. He stacked up some dead wood he gathered from the yard (erm, the wasteland formerly known as the yard) in the center and put a shelf from the oven over the top - there you go... homemade campfire pit complete with grill and "stove top"! We boiled water and made coffee in the french press, browned the ground beef we had in the freezer and added a chopped tomato and a jar of salsa con queso for some wonderful cheesy beefy tomato-y burritos and fried up some potatoes for some yummy fries. It was quite a campfire feast. Then last night I made pancakes for dinner. Thank goodness for Aunt Jemima mix that only requires water.

We got lucky and the power flickered back on last night, only to go out again in 5 minutes, but then come back again 20 minutes later. So we popped popcorn in the microwave and ate it watching the last innings of the baseball game. It was fantastic! I was able to take a hot shower this morning, but I just got a call from the man saying that the electricity had gone out again half an hour ago and not to use my phone much... can't charge it at home now. Not sure what we'll do for dinner tonight. The good thing is that we could both stand a little diet anyway.

For now I stay at work, earning a much needed paycheck, only to go home to a cold house (which is a welcome thing in my book - I love this Fall-like weather!!!) and probably a fire-pit dinner of beans & rice. Even if we have to resort to an hour & a 1/2 game of 20 Questions like last night we'll entertain ourselves somehow. I'll check back in when I can. Thanks for all the support everyone! It feels so great to be back in touch!

There's a lot more to tell about the Wilma hijinks, but for now I have to go. To come: jackass-o, Bad Boys II, musings on gun ownership, "is it a Liger?", snipped lip...