South Mississippi needs your help

Posted on Wed, Aug. 31, 2005 - www.sunherald.com

The coastal communities of South Mississippi are desperately in need of an unprecedented relief effort. We understand that New Orleans also was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but surely this nation has the resources to rescue both that metropolitan and ours.

Whatever plans that were in place to deal with such a natural disaster have proven inadequate. Perhaps destruction on this scale could not have been adequately prepared for.

But now that it has taken place, no effort should be spared to mitigate the hurricane's impact.

The essentials -- ice, gasoline, medicine -- simply are not getting here fast enough.

We are not calling on the nation and the state to make life more comfortable in South Mississippi, we are calling on the nation and the state to make life here possible.

We would bolster our argument with the number of Katrina casualties confirmed thus far, but if there is such a confirmed number, no one is releasing it to the public. This lack of faith in the publics' ability to handle the truth is not sparing anyone's feelings, it is instead fueling terrifying rumors.

While the flow of information is frustratingly difficult, our reporters have yet to find evidence of a coordinated approach to relieve pain and hunger or to secure property and maintain order.

People are hurting and people are being vandalized.

Yet where is the National Guard, why hasn't every able-bodied member of the armed forces in South Mississippi been pressed into service?

On Wednesday reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel playing basketball and performing calisthenics.

Playing basketball and performing calisthenics!

When asked why these young men were not being used to help in the recovery effort, our reporters were told that it would be pointless to send military personnel down to the beach to pick up debris.

Litter is the least of our problems. We need the president to back up his declaration of a disaster with a declaration of every man and woman under his command will do whatever is necessary to deal with that disaster.

We need the governor to provide whatever assistance is at his command.

We certainly need our own county and city officials to come together and identify the most pressing needs of their constituents and then allocate resources to meet those needs. We appreciate the stress that theses elected and appointed officials have been under since the weekend but they must do a better job restoring public confidence in their ability to meet this challenge.



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This editorial represents the view of the Sun-Herald editorial board: President- Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris, and Associate Editor Tony Biffle.

Sun Herald Pictures

I found this photo collection online today from our local newspaper. www.sunherald.com - click on "aerial photos of biloxi"

it shows a good assortment of damage to local places.

Katrina smashes and grabs on Gulf Coast

Posted on Tue, Aug. 30, 2005 --- www.sunherald.com


Scott Dodd

Knight Ridder Newspapers

BILOXI – The Coast changed forever Monday. Signature landmarks, moneymaking casinos, pricey beach houses, ramshackle apartments and the bridges that link South Mississippi together – Katrina stole or smashed them all.
In their place, a mess of sand and debris coated everything in the wake of surging seawater that topped 30 feet in spots.

So much simply disappeared, leaving nothing but concrete slabs. And with the coastline reshaped by Katrina’s winds and waves, so much may never be recovered.

“It took 15 years to build,” said Hayes Bolton, looking over the concrete slab that was once his well-known Aaron’s Lighthouse Pawn shop on Beach Boulevard in Biloxi, “and now it’s down the toilet.”

Damage assessment teams came back with the same message over and over: It would be easier to list what still stood, rather than everything that had been damaged or destroyed.

Still, a catalogue – even a partial one, as any list of so much damage must be – starts to give a picture of how much the Coast suffered, and the overwhelming task that faces the people of South Mississippi as they struggle to clean up and rebuild.

First, though, an important survivor: the 600-year-old Friendship Oak, symbol of Long Beach, made it through.

It lost only one branch and a bunch of leaves, and now stands as a symbol of the community’s determination to recover from Katrina, as well.

Also standing: The Biloxi Lighthouse, and the signature guitar of the Hard Rock Café Casino, said to be the world’s largest. The new casino itself, scheduled to open in September, was half gutted.

Now, some of what’s gone:

--The Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge and Bay St. Louis Bridge, two of the community’s main connectors. Along much of the spans, only pylons remain.

--The historic Grass Lawn building in Gulfport, a reception hall that dates back to the 1830s. Only its foundation survived.

--Much of downtown Moss Point. Twenty feet of water flooded most of the city. Police and power crews still couldn’t get in late Tuesday to assess the full damage.

--The Coliseum Pier across from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Pelicans lined its remains.

--The Mississippi State Port at Gulfport. It lost its lifting facilities and cranes, and the waves deposited cargo containers as far as a block north of U.S. 90.

--The Isle of Capri casino barge. There was no sign of it.

--Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis home in Biloxi. The bottom floor of the library and the home itself were gutted. A Confederate flag, though, still draped over the arm of Davis’ statue in the library.

--Fun Time USA in Gulfport. The bumper boats, pool and go-cart track were the only things left.

--The President Casino barge in Biloxi, now sitting on a nearby hotel.

--Pass Christian Harbor and the community’s entire beachfront.

--Grand Casino Pier, also in Biloxi. Its two barges broke in half. One plowed across the yacht club north of U.S. 90. The other landed in the middle of the highway.

--The Treasure Bay Pirate Ship casino barge in Biloxi. It was grounded on the beach, with the bottom half blown out.

--The old Harrison County Courthouse building, which now houses other county offices. The roof was sitting on nearby railroad tracks.

--The Palace Casino barge in Biloxi, sunk in place.

--The Armed Forces Retirement Home water tower. It collapsed as waves surged beneath it.

--Several blocks of stores and restaurants along U.S. 90 in Biloxi between Rodenberg Avenue and Treasure Bay casino.

--Sharkshead Souvenir City, a Biloxi landmark. The pink shell that topped it sat in the yard of a home more than half a mile away.

--U.S. 90 through Long Beach. Chunks remained, like the aftermath of an earthquake.

--The stately homes and apartment complexes that lined the shore of Long Beach. The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast campus was pretty much the only structure still standing.

--The Edgewater Village strip shopping center in Biloxi. Buildings were gutted.

--The popular El Maguey Mexican restaurant in Gulfport, managed by Mercedes Carranza, a local landmark himself.

--Six blocks of Market Street through Pascagoula.

--The Diamondhead yacht club, and the roof of the Diamondhead Country Club, as well as the community’s business district, including the supermarket. More than half of the community’s huge pine trees also snapped in two.

--Alberti’s Italian Restaurant on the Biloxi strip.

--The steeple of historic Hansboro Presbyterian Church.

--Luckie’s Furniture and Appliance store on Pass Road. It was washed out, the walls gone, but the roof was still standing.

--Waters Edge III apartments in Biloxi.

--The restaurants

--The old neon McDonald’s sign on Pass Road.

SUN HERALD AND KNIGHT RIDDER STAFFERS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

Email from today

Hello All.

I've talked with a friend today who didn't evacuate. She was able to get back to my work/home. the buildings are still there. first floor flooded, but the roof & walls of the second floor (my apartment) are intact. She couldn't get to my apt., but she said the other 1/2 of the 2nd floor looked okay. She thinks a few of my windows may have busted through.

The grounds & other buildings are all covered in mud - 2-3 inches inside and surrounded outside. the playgrounds are all destroyed, and the trees of the property are now part of the playground. a house that sat near our property is now in the road NEXT to our property.

my boss carols' condo complex was completely destroyed.

So, far, everyone I know is fine. We're still waiting to find out if some of our co-workers who stayed are still fine. hopefully that word will come in the next few days as communication improves.

It's completely surreal to be watching & hearing of such devastation coming from my own neighborhood & from my friends. It's almost unfathomable. I feel the desire to cry, but hold it back because I don't know that I could stop. I feel really lucky that my house didn't collapse, but feel horrible that Carol's did. Why did mine get spared?

Folks are asking me what they can do to help - I don't have anything specific at this point, without knowing what damage (if any) was actually done to my apartment & contents. I'll send word as I'm able to get it. As for rebuilding/restoring Moore, it'll be a while before we can get in to clean. My friend Amanda said it looks like the atomic bomb went off. Most of the roads are destroyed or gone. Rumor has it that the entire town of Bay St. Louis is gone.

How do you rebuild your life after it's been destroyed?

Feeling grateful and horrified,

Becky

Here are some pictures from Biloxi. These are of the casino damage, because that's easily identifiable for the newscameras.
The first is of the President Casino. This formerly resided in the gulf, and now smashed a Holiday Inn across Hwy 90.

The second is of the yet-to-be-opened Hard Rock Cafe Casino. The white building to the left of the now demolished casino barge is the hotel - the parking garage is on the right. The guitar in front is still standing.

The bridge remains are of Hwy 90 going to Ocean Springs. This bridge crosses the Bay of Biloxi, and survived Hurricane Camille. I crossed it Friday afternoon when I went to my friend/boss carol's to spend the afternoon at her pool/Condo unit. her entire complex is now gone.

The sunken casino is the Palace - about 1/2 mile from my house - it sits right on the Bay of Biloxi.

The last picture is of the Grand Casino. the building sitting at an odd angle is the casino barge - where Max & I were on Friday night. You can see the remains of the hotels & walking catwalks crossing hwy 90. In the distance is Beau Rivage, which appears to have major parking garage and casino damage.

All of these casinos are in "my end" of town - less than a mile from my house. I saw on CNN that a neighborhood very near mine has had great destruction, as have many other neighborhoods.

I'll post more local/people pictures as I find them online.

If you want to keep up with local news, here are the news pages:

www.sunherald.com - Biloxi news
www.clarionledger.com - Jackson, MS newspaper

This is from Lameuse street - about 3/4 mile from my house.

The buildings on the right are the public library.

the price of gambling

Just found out that the casino (Grand Casino, Biloxi) that Max & I went to on Friday night (we even won $20) is now sitting on Hwy 90. The Treasure Bay Pirate Ship (which houses the casino) is also beached. Hard Rock Cafe, which was set to open (with much excitement from the locals) on Sept. 9th, is now 50% destroyed. The world's largest signature Hard Rock guitar which stood on Hwy 90, is still standing. Go figure.

contacting me

since the cell phone towers are down, the best way to contact me is through max's phone. 205-960-9800. i'll wait out the next days here until it's safe to go home. when i find out WHAT i'm going home to, I'll post here, too.

thanks to everyone for their thoughts, phone call attempts & prayers.

Becky

words aren't enough

Posted on Mon, Aug. 29, 2005 www.sunherald.com



Familiar landmarks destroyed



These reports were sent by City Editor Kate Magandy:
At DeBuys Road at U.S. 90., the Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants were obliterated.

In Biloxi at Edgewater Village, most of that shopping strip mall was devastated. The McDonald's is gone, the Village Sports Pub is gone.

The Hard Rock Casino on Casino Row in Biloxi, which was scheduled to open next week, will have to be rebuilt. The superstructure was severely damaged.

There have been reports that there are several casino barges that were pulled out of water and onto land.


Elvis Gates, a State Farm insurance agent in Long Beach, went to downtown to survey damage. He found nothing left. ``Everything south of Second Street is gone. The harbor is gone.''


St. Thomas the Apostlic Catholic Church, which sits on U.S. 90, celebrated its 100th anniversary in August. It is now gone.


When Camille hit in 1969, Long Beach residents were able to hold Mass in St. Thomas School gym. There is nothing left of that but the superstructure.

First Baptist Chruch in Long Beach has been leveled. Other reports indicate that everything south of the tracks received catastrophic damage. Part of U.S. 90 collapsed in front of Edgewater Village.


There have been reports of looters, and police will arrest people who are driving around, Biloxi Police Bruce Dunigan said.

Hurricane

Well, folks - if you HAVEN'T been watching the news since Friday afternoon, my beloved home is in the path of Katrina, the newest hurricane to confront the gulf coast. Incidentally - only the 4th Cat. 5 to be recorded to hit the US. So, i'm a little panicked.

A LOT panicked.

After a day of denying that Katrina was gulf-bound, I spent Saturday watching Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel broadcast live from Biloxi Beach. (for those of you who haven't experienced the continual monitoring of hurricanes, Jim Cantore ALWAYS goes to where the worst part is/will be. So when I awoke Saturday to see his smiling face in front of Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi, I was not pleased.

Saturday was spent watching Max's favorite - football (a local AL team was featured on ESPN) and my current obsession - Hurricane Central on Weather Channel. After finally rousing ourselves & detaching the remote from my ever-tightening grip, we headed out to still-sunny Gulfport to attempt to do some shopping and eating. While en-route to such endeavors, I was approached via my handy-dandy cell phone by 3 of my co-workers, all with concerns for my safety and offers of joining them on their escape routes/plans. It wasn't until AFTER these phone calls that I started thinking about actually leaving. =)

Somewhere between the chicken fingers and fried mushrooms at Zaxby's, I decided to make the long-dreaded decision to head to Birmingham for the duration of the onslaught. Dreaded not because I dread being at Max's - not at all. Dreaded for the 5 hour time spent driving. Dreaded for the combining of my cats with Max's cats - not a fun situation for anyone. Dreaded for the sheer fact that I resented the reality that katrina was coming, and she wouldn't be bringing a cake and balloons.

Nevertheless, I pushed past my resentment and packed clothes, cats, and cross-stitch for the trip.

So, here I am - 24 hours later, after a night of little sleep - cats reminding us and each other that they really weren't happy about seeing each other again - I'm STILL obsessing over the weather channel, and trying to reassure my mother that I really am fine. I made the mistake of sharing my fear with her this afternoon, which now gives her permission to try to comfort me at all times, even when the fear has past. It also then requires 2x daily phone calls to re-iterate everything she's seen on TV or heard on the radio. This does NOT help calm my nerves.

I have friends that are staying there. I pray for them, and I think about them.

My home is there. It is the 2nd floor of an old building on the Biloxi peninsula. It contains the few meaningful items I have collected (all debt to the contrary). The afghan my grandmother crocheted for me - the last grandaughter to receive such a gift before her death. The ring she left me - the only grandchild to share her birth month. The cross-stitches I have done - and kept. The picture Max gave me for my birthday. Max's grandmother's bed that I have since my queen bed wouldn't fit up the stairs. My scrapbook of college photos and memories. While I recognize that these are just things, I still think about being without them.

My work is there. My job - after being somewhat dormant for a year - has increased dramatically in recent months, and I have many papers and projects sitting on the first floor of two buildings - which, if the storm surge and flooding is as it is predicted, could be underwater within 24 hours. While I can re-create the work and re-think the thoughts, it gives me chills to think of what could be destroyed.

I LOVE THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. It has become, in a short 2 years, my city. In no other city have I felt as safe, nor have I enjoyed another city as much. New Orleans contains many memories, and I fear for what it will be like tomorrow.

For the gulf coast and the people who have stayed, and the people who will return home to a changed landscape, my thoughts & prayers are with you.

For those of you not experiencing this event, I encourage you to give as you are able to the Red Cross, or to the United Methodist Church - Committee on Relief, or to the Salvation Army. These groups have already established themselves (among others, I am sure) to be first responders, and are simply waiting until tomorrow and Tuesday to meet the needs that will be left when Katrina moves on. My neighbors - all those on the gulf coast - will be among those being served - remember us as you pray and as you go about your day.

Do not pray for a shift in wind - that simply sends the danger elsewhere. Pray that God's peace would be among those in fear, that God's people would rise up to comfort and to provide for those in need, and that recovery and renovation would go smoothly. Pray for the safety of those remaining in their homes, by choice or by lack of options. Pray that we will one day live to see a world where everyone can choose to remove themselves from harms' way - in whatever way that comes.

Me & my newest love

Me & Lucy Marie. We met on Friday night, August 12. We dined in the special care unit of the nursery. We bonded as I tickled her toes and tried to wake her up. We laughed about the nurses, her parents & her over-abundantly pink wardrobe. I assured her that though I live FAR away, I will ALWAYS be the best Aunt, and undoubtedly, the one who loves her the most. I promised to always take her side when she fights with her mother, and to spoil her rotten on her birthdays. I vowed to defend her against rogue boys and yet-to-come siblings, and to make the world a better place for her.

I amazed that something so little can capture so much of my heart. I thought for sure that Katie, Lauren, Julia & Andrew had taken all that I didn't need to survive.

Lucy Marie Geisler

She's here!!!

Born this morning at 6:50 am. 4 lbs, 13 oz. 18 1/4 inches long. Long, skinny feet just like her mother. In the special care unit of the nursery - making sure her lungs are developed enough.

Holly's doing fine - laughing & kidding about how "no one told her how much the contractions would ACTUALLY hurt."

The battle for favorite aunt has already begun between Michelle & I. I've been an aunt for 13 years, she's been one for about 4 hours - i'll give her her moment in glory.

9:00 pm: Lucy's breathing on her own without any oxygen tubes. She's staying in the incubator in the NICU for a day or two - not sure how much longer. She looks just like Holly!

YIPPEE!!!

My sister Holly is in labor - my newest niece will be born soon!!! A few weeks early - I guess she really wanted to make a grand entrance at her now-cancelled baby shower this weekend. For my praying friends, lift up a prayer for a speedy, safe & healthy labor & delivery for Holly & baby girl Geisler. Prayers for a calming support for brother in law Matt.

Will post news when i get it.

I've already got my plane ticket home - baby shower was supposed to be saturday, so I'll be going home on Friday! Wonderful - a weekend to love on my new love.

Secrets

I've been through several situations in the past few months involving secrets.

Why are we compelled to keep them? Why do we choose to hide part of ourselves from the people we love? What is it about that person - or is it the secret? - that doesn't instill the trust and comfort we need to share our secret?

I've lived with someone else's secret for 4 years. The burden of that has caused an unbelievable amount of stress to me. Even when confronted with the fact that I had this knowledge, this person chose not to "come clean." Still to this day, said person lives in a certain amount of denial that there is anything to resolve. And, to this day, said relationship is tension-filled.

I've watched a friend tear herself up over the fear that her boyfriend is keeping secrets. Even to the point of following him after a cold dismissal on a Saturday night.

Why don't we trust the ones we love with our secrets? Or even just parts of our past that we choose not to share?

Can you really "let someone in" if there is something about yourself (the big stuff, folks) that they don't know? When it comes to building relationships - intimate or otherwise - how much does a "tell-all" policy matter?

I want to make a blanket statement, and see if those few who read this blog have any thoughts on it...

Do guys keep more secrets than women? Are women more willing to be vulnerable with her past - or present - than the typical guy? Is a man more likely to keep part of himself - a former life or even current behaviors in the current life - hidden?

When does "not telling" cross to the desire for privacy - and then cross the line to keeping secrets?

Are these "single-only" issues? For you marrieds out there - does any of this ring true after the I-Do's?

(In full disclosure - I cheated on a test once. I regularly speed while driving. I used to steal gumballs from the corner shop when I was little. In the 5th grade, I lost my favorite pen & stole my best friend's identical pen & claimed it was mine.)

This op-ed by Jim Wallis is reprinted from today's edition of The New York Times.

Having just heard Jim Wallis speak at the Children's Defense Fund Child Advocacy Training a few weeks ago, I was pleased to see this op-ed in the NY Times today.

The Message Thing

By JIM WALLIS

Since the 2004 election, there has been much soul-searching and hand-wringing, especially among Democrats, about how to "frame" political messages. The loss to George W. Bush was painful enough, but the Republicans' post-election claims of mandate, and their triumphal promises to relegate the Democrats to permanent minority status, left political liberals in a state of panic.

So the minority party has been searching, some would say desperately, for the right "narrative": the best story line, metaphors, even magic words to bring back electoral success. The operative term among Democratic politicians and strategists has become "framing." How to tell the story has become more important than the story itself. And that could be a bigger mistake for the Democrats than the ones they made during the election.

Language is clearly important in politics, but the message remains more important than the messaging. In the interests of full disclosure, let me note that I have been talking to the Democrats about both. But I believe that first, you must get your message straight. What are your best ideas, and what are you for - as opposed to what you're against in the other party's message? Only when you answer those questions can you figure out how to present your message to the American people.

Because the Republicans, with the help of the religious right, have captured the language of values and religion (narrowly conceived as only abortion and gay marriage), the Democrats have also been asking how to "take back the faith." But that means far more than throwing a few Bible verses into policy discussions, offering candidates some good lines from famous hymns, or teaching them how to clap at the right times in black churches. Democrats need to focus on the content of religious convictions and the values that underlie them.

The discussion that shapes our political future should be one about moral values, but the questions to ask are these: Whose values? Which values? And how broadly and deeply will our political values be defined? Democrats must offer new ideas and a fresh agenda, rather than linguistic strategies to sell an old set of ideologies and interest group demands.

To be specific, I offer five areas in which the Democrats should change their message and then their messaging.

First, somebody must lead on the issue of poverty, and right now neither party is doing so. The Democrats assume the poverty issue belongs to them, but with the exception of John Edwards in his 2004 campaign, they haven't mustered the gumption to oppose a government that habitually favors the wealthy over everyone else. Democrats need new policies to offer the 36 million Americans, including 13 million children, who live below the poverty line, as well as the 9.8 million families one recent study identified as "working hard but falling short."

In fact, the Democrats should draw a line in the sand when it comes to wartime tax cuts for the wealthy, rising deficits, and the slashing of programs for low-income families and children. They need proposals that combine to create a "living family income" for wage-earners, as well as a platform of "fair trade," as opposed to just free trade, in the global economy. Such proposals would cause a break with many of the Democrats' powerful corporate sponsors, but they would open the way for a truly progressive economic agenda. Many Americans, including religious voters who see poverty as a compelling issue of conscience, desire such a platform.

Similarly, a growing number of American Christians speak of the environment as a religious concern - one of stewardship of God's creation. The National Association of Evangelicals recently called global warming a faith issue. But Republicans consistently choose oil and gas interests over a cleaner world. The Democrats need to call for the reversal of these priorities. They must insist that private interests should never obstruct our country's path to a cleaner and more efficient energy future, let alone hold our foreign policy hostage to the dictates of repressive regimes in the Middle East.

On the issues that Republicans have turned into election-winning "wedges," Democrats will win back "values voters" only with fresh ideas. Abortion is one such case. Democrats need to think past catchphrases, like "a woman's right to choose," or the alternative, "safe, legal and rare." More than 1 million abortions are performed every year in this country. The Democrats should set forth proposals that aim to reduce that number by at least half. Such a campaign could emphasize adoption reform, health care, and child care; combating teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse; improving poor and working women's incomes; and supporting reasonable restrictions on abortion, like parental notification for minors (with necessary legal protections against parental abuse). Such a program could help create some much-needed common ground.

As for "family values," the Democrats can become the truly pro-family party by supporting parents in doing the most important and difficult job in America: raising children. They need to adopt serious pro-family policies, including some that defend children against Hollywood sleaze and Internet pornography. That's an issue that has come to be identified with the religious right. But when I say in public lectures that being a parent is now a countercultural activity, I've found that liberal and conservative parents agree. Rather than fighting over gay marriage, the Democrats must show that it is indeed possible to be "pro-family" and in favor of gay civil rights at the same time.

Finally, on national security, Democrats should argue that the safety of the United States depends on the credibility of its international leadership. We can secure that credibility in Iraq only when we renounce any claim to oil or future military bases - something Democrats should advocate as the first step toward bringing other countries to our side. While Republicans have argued that international institutions are too weak to be relied upon in the age of terrorism, Democrats should suggest reforming them, creating a real International Criminal Court with an enforcement body, for example, as well as an international force capable of intervening in places like Darfur. Stronger American leadership in reducing global poverty would also go a long way toward improving the country's image around the world.

Until Democrats are willing to be honest about the need for new social policy and compelling political vision, they will never get the message right. Find the vision first, and the language will follow.

Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners magazine, is the author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."

Reasons why I LOVE living alone

I know, I know - those who know me well will laugh at the irony of this post. Still, it's something I've come to appreciate more, ESPECIALLY given my current situation.

...and these are in no particular order. i'm not THAT organized.

1. I can leave female "unmentionables" scattered around my bathroom for weeks at a time.

2. There is no one else to annoy by my constant 90-minute long snoozing.

3. I get all of the pillows in my bed (currently 3) ALL TO MYSELF.

4. I get the remote.

5. I can eat dinner at 8:30 at night and not do the dishes for 3 days. No one sees, and no one knows.

6. I do not feel compelled to keep the house clean, tidy, picked up or sometimes, even straightened.

7. I can live in the clothing of my choice.

8. I can watch Sex & the City for as many hours as I want.

9. There is no one at home waiting for me to do anything, so I can work late, go to the gym & go shopping - all on MY time.

Yes, I admit these are completely self-absorbed and trivial. That's just the mood I'm in.

There are also reasons I HATE living by myself.

1. There is no one at home waiting for me to do anything.

2. I eat dinner alone. Regularly.

3. There is no one to cuddle with before i go to sleep.

4. There is no one to cuddle with while i'm snoozing for 90 minutes in the morning.

5. Talking to my cats gets depressing, and besides, they don't talk back. They just look at me and blink.

6. Sometimes, extrinsic motivation to clean is a good thing.

7. Weekends alone get boring - even on the coast.

8. Cooking for myself isn't nearly as fun as cooking for 2. Cooking for 2 isn't nearly as fun as cooking for 4 or 6.

9. There's no one around to help me find my keys when I lose them.

My "bubbs"

I admit, posting pictures of your pets on a blog is rather cheesy. But, I took this picture one day at Max's house - we had just come home from a wedding, and Fox & Shadow had taken claim of the sofa, and were sitting - just so - in the window. It was way too cute to not take a picture of them. Fox & Shadow stayed at Max's house post-hurricane threat and while I was in TN for a week. It wasn't the best week for anyone. They've slept for most of the past week - enjoying the fact that it's just the 3 of us again.