marathoner452

1.  Evacuation makes for a great diet plan if you're too stressed out to eat.  I managed to lose 10 pounds in 5 days, not that I needed it.
2.  I love coffee, especially when driving 5 1/2 hours in the middle of the night on 3 hours of sleep.
3.  Taking the cat to the hospital the day the storm hits is far healthier than watching the news all day.  (The cat is fine, just needed Valium to chill out and some IV fluids.)
4.  Random conversations with strangers at Target may lead to a free dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, at least in Birmingham.
5.  Two people + three cats + one dog make for a very crowded hotel room.
6.  I am capable of driving and parking my roommate's large truck, but I'd much rather drive (and park) my little car any day.

Birmingham was nothing but good to me and I want to go back and visit when I'm not evacuated, but there's nothing sweeter than home sweet home.

Just so you all know, I am safe in Birmingham for the duration.  I have the animals and D. has promised me her soul in exchange for evacuating her life.  If all goes very wrong, and I hate to imagine this, then I meet her in Philly and make it somehow back to Maryland. 

For now, I'm sharing a hotel room with a fellow teacher from Esperanza.  We go back to work Thursday at the earliest.

The Chipotle here won't let you get your margarita to go, even if you're from New Orleans.  So I shall have to rely on the stash I brought with me until I can pull sympathy points (which I still sincerely hope will not be possible).

As I was leaving New Orleans I saw a pair of angel wings on the door of a shotgun house.  That about sums up our situation in New Orleans.  We need guardian angels and all the prayers we can get.

Just in time for the three-year anniversary, here comes another hurricane.  So since D. will be out of town this weekend, I've made reservations for 3 nights in Birmingham, taking notes on everything I'd have to get ready, and keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the current track as posted on the National Hurricane Center website is very very wrong.  Right now we're in the 5-day cone and the track is pointed directly at New Orleans.

List of things to do, just in case:
Nail plywood over front and back windows.
Secure anything that might blow around, most of which we did last weekend for Fay.
Load up truck with all the plastic bins in the evacuation center and secure bins with mesh webbing.
Pack as much of my life as fits in a couple of duffel bags.
Stuff cats into cat carriers, load cat carriers and dog into truck.
Leave my car here because it's all but dead anyway.
Head for my hotel room in Birmingham and wait.

I should have known that living in New Orleans could come to this.