Bayou Backyard

This is the view from my back deck on Fort Bayou. We have 6 acres that sit out on the bayou. We are surrounded by water. I never get tired of this view. It changes every day. I took this picture last week when the sky was overcast. I kept trying to get a picture when the sun would pop out from behind the clouds. But it happened to fast. The sun was gone before I could get outside. I love the reflection in the water. Who needs the sun!

Today the sun was non stop. I took this picture as the sun was low in the sky and casting a wonderful shadow. The pictures are almost identical yet they give such different moods. The elements do that, don't they? The light, the water... the same yet different.

I remember listening to the song Blue Bayou by Linda Ronstadt as a kid. Coming from Massachusetts I didn't quite understand what a bayou was really. But all the movies I saw made me think it was kinda dark and creepy with alligators and other dangerous things. It wasn't til I moved here that I realized what she was talking about... the blue bayou. Oh yes, after a good rain it gets really brown and muddy. After Katrina I knew intimately what makes up the bayou, mud, mud, mud. But I never blamed the bayou for the destruction. It went right back to its peaceful existence lending us hope as we rebuilt and every day since.

Disasters Abound

I love my blog, I really do. It gives me a sense of order in my chaotic life. But today I can not even get excited about blogging. I just want to sleep. I look around this house and there is so much to do. Its overwhelms me and makes me feel very inadequate to not be able to keep up.

I did manage to get the children's bathroom scrubbed this morning. That was pretty gross. Unsupervised children are pigs. But there is one room in this house that is cleaner than the others.

Maybe if I make a list I can at least declutter my head.
Here is what is filling me head. As I said these are neglected things... way past needing to be done:

1. Laundry, laundry laundry... tons of laundry
2. Floors need sweeping, vacuuming and washing
3. Baseboards are full of dust and dirt
4. Kitchen sink keeps backing up - clean out pipes or call plumber?
5. Make guess room bed that got dismantled when cranberry juice was spilled all over our bed
6. Put away Little Green Machine that cleaned up cranberry juice from our comforter
7. Put away folded clothes
8. Laundry, laundry, laundry
   
9. Give youngest child a bath
10. Clean up children's toys all over the floors
11. Folding door fell off computer closet door frame - wood putty hole in door
12. Sweep dog poop off front porch
13. Hang blinds in hobby room
14. Clean up both computer desks
15. Clean pantry floor
16. Clean toys and dust out from under beds, sofas, dressers
17. Empty car of junk and get it detailed
18. Clean up trash around the yard
19. Wash floor in storage room where kitty litter has gotten attached to floor
    
20. Laundry and more laundry
    

And to top it off, I was cleaning up the floor in my children's just cleaned bathroom. My daughter can not take a bath without creating a huge puddle. So I was moving some shelves to clean up underneath them and the pottery on top came crashing down and made a huge hole in my brand new pedestal sink. I have no idea how to fix something like this or even if it can be fixed. And I can only be mad at myself for being so lazy. I should have moved that piece of pottery. But really who knew you could actually blow a hole into a sink.

And from every thing I have read on the internet this sink will have to be discarded. Its brand new as it was a replacement from the Katrina destruction. The idea of having to track down a plumber who will come and replace my sink is so nauseating to me. But I guess he could look at the kitchen sink as well. Two birds with one stone... why don't I just feel uplifted by the idea?

2 years ago today!

I can not believe that Connor came into our lives 2 years ago today.

It was a different world then. Katrina had hit us 3 months earlier. The first floor of our house was destroyed as well as the attic place blown in by the wind so we lost out master bedroom too. Out of 3300 square feet we probably had 800 liveable space but no water or electricity.

We had been living at Edward's parents since the storm. It was stressful. I hadn't slept in the same bed with Edward in 3 months. We split the kids up between 2 rooms. I was very uncomfortable, or course. The work at the house was never ending but I could hardly do anything because of the health risks. The phone calls between contractors, insurance companies, FEMA and the adjustors tied me in knots. We waited and waited for money from the insurance companies. Just creating a list of everything we had lost was overwhelming. I think it came to 25 typed pages in Word. Yes, 25 typed pages!

We were actively looking for another place to live since it looked like we wouldn't be getting back into our house for a long while. Houses were scarce due to the loss of housing from storm damage. Whole apartment complexes were damage to the point that residents needed to move. I looked at one rental home that was less than I would ever have settled for. I thought maybe it would be an answer to getting back our privacy and giving my in-laws their privacy back too. They wanted $3,600 a month for rent. What? And we still had to pay our mortgage too. Well that was out.

Edward and I decided that we just had to make a move before Connor was born. He was due at the end of November. And when it seemed we would never find a rental home or get a trailer from FEMA due to living so close to the bayou so we made the decision to move home. The guest room was still livable as was Avery's room. We had emergency heat at least and I got the water running. We had to get the well working again and the water heaters replaced since they were both under water. Volunteers from our church came out to help me move furniture so we could actually utilize the guest bedroom. And the love bugs were in every nook and cranny of the second floor.

Monday morning, the 7th rolled around. School started back up at the beginning of November, I believe, so I was driving the kids to Oceans Springs from Gautier every morning and back again right after lunch. All I wanted to do was rest but in that body it was hard. I was helping get breakfast for the kids with my mother in law when my water broke in the middle of the kitchen floor. This was 3 weeks before Connor's due date. My other two kids had been induced so this was the first time I had experienced my water breaking. What a very strange feeling. I finally had to put a towel between my legs to catch the fluid. And off we went to the hospital leaving poor Evelyn with the 2 older kids. Connor was born at 4:30 in the afternoon. I know he would have come sooner but the doctor orchestrated the medicine I was given to correspond with his work schedule. No need to inconvenience the obstetrician, right?

We took Connor home to grandmommy and Papa Roy's house and moved back into our house by that weekend. We lived with emergency heat and it still was freezing at night. I would swaddle Connor in a winter bunting to sleep in his bassinet. Cullen's twin bed was at the foot of our bed and Connor's bassinet by the bedroom door. We slept like that for months. Avery was the only one who retained her room. The stairway to the first floor was covered with heavy plastic and tape. Then every available blanket and comforter was laid over it to keep the cold from coming up from the first floor which was gutted. My mom arrived 2 days after we moved back home and what a lifesaver. It is so true that when mom is around everything seems less hard. I was so happy to have her there with us. She slept in the a twin bed we set up in the dining room. So strange to think of it now. Her sleeping in the middle of our great room. That is my mom holding Connor. Wasn't he just so tiny? Gosh I could just eat him up... still could. But he says "Enough!" when I try. haha

And now 2 years later we have our home back. We haven't had a storm head towards us since Katrina and the property has for the most part gone unflooded. And Connor turned 2! Lots to celebrate.