Update

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick update on how things are going down here in Franklinton:

I started a new job last Friday at the school board office. I am the inventory clerk for the parish schools. We have 13. So far I really like the job and it's only 4 minutes from my house.

As a bonus, I get off at 4pm and I get state benefits. Including a week and 1/2 off for Christmas. I also can take up to 6 weeks off for maternity and I have retirement.

Johnny has been extremely busy. He has been going to school all week, working his labs on campus and then coming home to work on his contract jobs he is trying to finish up, grading papers and doing school work. The commute to Baton Rouge since Katrina has been killer on him too. It normally took him about an hour and 20 minutes to get home, but lately the average has been around 3 hours! We are praying that the traffic sitution will eventually straighten itself out as the refugees get use to Baton Rouge.

We have power, internet and direct tv, but still no home phones. Our cell phones work when they want to and not when we want them too.

Also, we just heard today that FEMA is about to shut down our gas stations. They want to conserve gas for the Rita Hurricane victims. Johnny and I both went and filled up today and we have 2- 5 gallon gas cans full. We just hope this doesn't last too long. There was already a gas line in Amite, LA (about 40 minutes from here) that was about an hour wait today.

Anyways, Johnny, me, Maggie and the baby are all fine. We hope to here from everyone so we will know what's going on with yall too.

P.S. If you get a chance, look at this blog from Johnny and the September 5th post titled "We're OK" to see the picture of the tree that fell in our yard.

Great Day

I had a doctors appointment today and I finally got to hear the heart beat. It was beating at 168 beats per minute! The doctor says that anything over 120 was good, but the high rate just meant that the baby was busy during the exam.

After the appointment we went to Target and got our baby bed. We are getting excited and starting to work on the nursery now that we are almost done cleaning up from the storm.

We have chosen our nursery theme to be barn yard. I have found an adorable set from Target that I am going to immiate. I picture of the bedding actually titled "farm yard" can be found here.

Of course, I am not going to pay 250 for 4 pieces of bedding so I have some ideas on how to make this myself and maybe enlist the help of some friends to get the same affect.

We Are Ok

Hey Everyone,

Johnny and I are ok. All of our families are too. We had extensive tree damage in our yard, but nothing hit the house. We have water and gas, but no electricity. We are in Baton Rouge today getting supplies and trying to get a generator that works.

We have purchased one already and it didn't work. Luckly we were able to return it. We have purchase another one this morning and it doesn't seem to work either. Right now Billy and Johnny are down at the store looking for another one and/or trying to get the people at the store to look at it and see why it's not working. It runs but when anything is plugged into it, the item plugged in doesn't work.

Last night we stayed in Baton Rouge with Billy and Lacy (Johnny's brother and our sister-in-law). They finally got power back yesterday, so we all had a good night's sleep in the air condition. Hopefully, we will find a generator and be able to go back to the house for a few days and get some of the mess cleaned up. When we need refuge, at least we can come to Billy and Lacy's and have power, internet and air condition.

Johnny is out of school until Tuesday. We will probably be staying with Billy and Lacy when he starts school back until we get power back on in Franklinton. They are expecting it to be several weeks last we heard. I will try and keep you updated as much I can when we come to Baton Rouge. Our cell phones work in Baton Rouge, but not in Franklinton.

Just to let you know how bad communication is: the police station is using teenagers on four wheelers delivering hand written notes to all the first response personal and other city officials.

- Tasha