Are you two ok???

Got my power on a few minutes ago and am in heaven. So tired of being hot, sweaty, washing clothes by hand, listening to battery powered radio and eating pure junk. Oh, the land of the living again!!! I thought I would never eat chocolate again in my life, but "phase H" really kicked in. I was able to finally get a salad today when a restaurant here opened up. All I want to do is go stock up on vegs and eat them till I explode. I never want to see a pop tart again (hey, I didn't even like them when I DID eat junk before SB)

It took 6 weeks to get my power back after Katrina, so I should really be greatful it's only been 6 days this time (of course it seems like an eternity)

Lots of trees and limbs down, but no major damage to my house. A house in the next block took a huge oak tree down the middle, but family is ok.

Yippee, another chick back in the nest. Welcome back.

Now we only have Mandy to worry about.

If Mandy is back, she may still be without power. It is coming back slowly but surely. There is a lot of line damage, trees down etc. I am really lucky that I came up so quick this time. I was the last street after Katrina, so I think I deserve it, right? She should be up soon. They just got downtown up last night, so I am really blessed.

Not only has it been unbearably hot, it is so humid that when I mopped my floors they stayed wet all day..it's been pretty disgusting. Grocery stores started opening yesterday, but I had no power to store anything fresh. I am hitting that store with a vengence tomorrow morning after I get some real sleep!

My only real hurricane experience was during a vacation in Hawaii to visit my sister. It hit two days after we arrived and blew every blossom off the island. Friends of my sister felt so bad that they gave us pictures they had taken so we could see what the area looked like without the hurricane damage. The electric came back on the night we were packing to go home.

It really was the most memorable Thanksgiving I ever had; we roasted everything she had in the freezer on their grill trying to use it up. We even made pumpkin pie, was offered $50.00 for it.

I am glad you are safe! Welcome back!

Hey, Cat. We got power back fairly quickly - we're on a hospital grid and the power company grid. It only took about 30 hours.

Glad to hear that you're ok and that there was no major damage.

Was the entire town at that one restaurant that opened? It was the same way here.....I felt like I hadn't had a hot meal in an eternity!

Mandy may still be evacuated, there are still a lot of people out. I don't know how long she had her reservations until, but she is in Arkansas - by the Tenn. border. She may be staying until she gets power back....I certainly would not want to leave air conditioning to come back to none!

Phase H kicked in around here as well - it seemed like all we did was eat. Whether we were playing cards with a bag of popcorn/pretzels or reading books with a chocolate bar in hand.....all the time.

Whew! Another Southern Chickie has checked in. Now we wait for Mandy. I had forgotten she had moved north.

I'm relieved to see you back, Cat! And I'm happy that you didn't have any major damage.

Glad you are ok. Been thinking about you.

welcome back.... glad you are ok....

the only major damage I had was milky ways, twix, snickers and pop tarts...

thanks everyone! It is so strange to feel "normal" again.

Zeff, so happy you got your power back so fast. I almost feel guilty because so many are still without it. I called everyone I knew who was still out to invite them to spend the night, but all had generators. I may invest in one of those things one day. One friend is coming over tomorrow to wash clothes and sheets.

I must admit - being without power would be so much better without young kids. DS wanted to watch cartoons so badly and couldn't understand why he couldn't.....also, there was no "adult time"...if you catch my drift.

I've heard that Slemco only has 11% of their customers still out and should have those connected again by next week. Cleco has about the same. I'm not sure which power company is available down there.

Hopefully we hear from Mandy soon.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah......pina coladas....virgin of course, but still ever so satisfying.

Cat I'm so glad you are safe! Prayers for Mandy to be home safe too!
Zeff Enjoy your Virgin Colada

Glad to see you back Cat. Get some good sleep tonight!

Boy am I glad I have SBD snack bars and my lightly salted dry roased peanuts. If my power goes out from Hanna I'm all set.