Wednesday, a kind of wasted day

Or maybe it was a bit of relaxation.

Chris tried to drive back to our house to remove the moldy walls. But between horrendous traffic, and what appeared to be several accidents or breakdowns, he never made it. He spent 6 hours in the car, and still had a minimum of 2 hours to go (a distance that normally would take about 30 or 40 minutes). There was a curfew and he would be expected to leave again once it started to get dark. He made the decision to turn around. Why drive 8 hours, to work for 2, and then turn around and drive back 4 or 5 hours.

He dropped his help off back in Baton Rouge and returned to the farmhouse. We just rested and napped when we could.

I'd finally had contact with my work, and with my Dad and sister. I knew that they were safe, and that everyone from my office was safe. I also knew that I would continue to be paid at least through the end of September even if we were unable to return to work. I also heard from the insurance company and they were sending us a check for displacement/loss of use on our house because of the storm and the mandatory evacuation. That was a relief.

I also started contemplating Disneyworld. I was out of work and could not go back until the parish let us back in. The kids were out of school. We had money from the insurance company to pay for a hotel and food - does it really matter if that hotel is in Florida or in Louisiana (as if anyone could find a hotel anywhere in the state of Louisiana)??? Why not take this opportunity to take the kids as we'd promised, and do it when there would be few crowds and the kids would not have to miss school.

At the same time, I think I was getting on my mom's nerves and she was getting on my nerves. We both had a tendency to snap at each other. The close quarters, the fear of what was waiting at home, the uncertainty of it all ... all took their toll on our relationship. We just needed space.

She made arrangements to go up to Arkansas, having found an apartment in the HUD apartments that are ADA compliant and fairly new, just north of the town of Lewisville, where my mom grew up. She called friends up there and things started to happen rather fast. They were lining up furniture for her. But she needed some things from her condo before she could go.

Thursday was the last day that we would be allowed back into the city for cleaning/assessing. We were told that we could come in, clean up, get what we need, and leave for probably a month. We made the decision to all go in on Thursday, and to leave the kids with my sister-in-law/brother-in-law (Gene and Blanche) who live just to the east of Baton Rouge. Then I would take mom to her condo and get her set up there, so she could go through some things and I would go to the house with Chris who would work on removing sheetrock. My job would be to pack up what we might need in the next month. We tried to get an early night's sleep, but you know how that goes. I was exhausted but worked up.