2/29 Wow, busy, busy

Didn't blog yesterday because I spent the night at the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort. Was on the planning committee, and also a presenter, for a conference we held today. And they ended up having an extra pre-paid hotel room from someone that didn't show up. So Genia and I took it. What a fancy, schmancy hotel. I loved it. The bathroom had a huge shower surrounded by clear glass. And also a gigantic soaker tub. It was great.

Today the conference went so very well. My presentation seemed to be well-received. Genia was awesome in hers. So we felt pretty darn good. About 300 people were there. Nice group full of committed disaster workers.

Tonight Genia had a party at her place. We played Cranium and I laughed so hard I snorted.

Just got home. Tomorrow morning I pick up my dogs. Sure miss them. Lots to do this weekend.

6/27 The smell was overpowering

In my dream I smelled dog poop. It was cloying and overpowering; I looked for it, couldn't find it. Slowly I awoke to find it wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare. Diarrhea all over my bedroom floor--and the icing on the poop cake was a big pile of pee as well. Q sat there looking sad. It was diarrhea so I couldn't even yell.

6:15 AM and I cleaned up poop and pee for more than 20 minutes. Turned on the news as I started to get ready for work. Local news wasn't on. I was confused. Then I looked at my watch again. Instead of 6:45 it was 3:45. Sweet reprieve. I put her on the bed with me to stop any future ideas she might have and slept for a few more hours.

I'm not in the office the next three days. Am at the Imperial Palace Resort Casino for a Hurricane Conference, sponsored by MEMA (the Mississippi version of FEMA). Should be interesting.

Q is staying at Doggy Day Care overnight because after the conference there's a board meeting I need to attend from 6:30 until whenever. I thought she'd have a better time at Doggy Day Care instead of being alone all night.

6/24 Ice

The best entertainment for Quincy in the house is a piece of ice. She pushes it along the linoleum and it moves fast, far, and randomly. Then chases it to begin the game again. It is so cute to watch. Plus it gives me a few minutes to do something else, like fix my breakfast which I'm going to do in a few minutes.

Then we're going to the beach to play in the water. I hope we have as much fun as we did last Sunday. It's going to be another hot day and it's usually cooler on the water.

I love Biloxi. Besides the obvious attraction of the Gulf of Mexico, the casinos themselves are beautiful (if you like gambling, and I do), the homes and architecture (left from the storm) is lovely, and I could go on...but the most fascinating thing about the Mississippi Gulf Coast is the population. I know I've said it before, but the people on the Coast are the friendliest I've met anywhere. Having lived in many places and traveled to even more, I've seen the gamut of "welcome-ness," and the Mississippi Gulf Coast wins hands down.

You can converse with prince or pauper and you'll get the same sense of welcome. In a million years I would have never chosen to live in Mississippi. Now I can't imagine living anywhere else. (Okay, that last sentence was hyperbole for effect. I can imagine living elsewhere. It's just that right now, I don't want to.)