8/31 Our life in Quincy

is good. We're planning a family picnic today at Jan and Tim's. We're going to swim in the afternoon (including Gus) and then eat. It will be so much fun because we always have fun when we're together.

Yet, I received two emails from national Red Cross asking for me to go to the Gulf Coast to help with disaster mental health. Do I want to go? Hell, yes. Can I go? No, damn it.

My job is still too new to allow me to be gone for two to three weeks. I would go without pay (like I did with Katrina/Rita/Wilma in 2005), but it's the newness which makes it impossible. Plus I'm still down three staff and we're all doing extra duty.

Yeah, my back is an issue too. Can't really see me living in a shelter at the moment (unless I absolutely had to).

But I can't get the people out of my mind. Although the news is focusing on New Orleans, I know the same thing is happening in Mississippi. My friends are staffing shelters, even though there's a mandatory evacuation. They'll be there until the end. And they'll be working up to 20 hours a day.

Yeah, I'll definitely have fun today--but the Mississippi Gulf Coast won't be far from my thoughts.

8/29 Three years

Three years ago today Katrina hit. And people are still trying to rebuild their lives.

Now Gustav is on the way. Let's keep the Gulf Coast residents in our prayers.

8/28 Busy

Time is just flying by. The class at QU went well again last night. And work is extremely busy, but I love it. Just wish I felt better. Next Tuesday will go to St. Louis to the neurosurgeon. Hope to hear something that will help.

Gotta run. Gussie needs me.

Okay, I'm back. Talked to Genia in Biloxi. She's in charge of the Harrison County evacuation shelter. And the coast has a mandatory evacuation coming up tomorrow or the next day. Sure wish I could be there helping. They are definitely in my thoughts and prayers. They don't need a repeat of 2005.

We do have our own drama and adrenaline-producing stuff going on in my current job too. Guess that's why I like it so much.

1/31 I can talk about it now

Due to an abrupt and unexpected funding cut, my program has been terminated here in Mississippi. Most of our staff received their RIF (Reduction in Force) letters today. They received two months notice so will be laid off after March 31. There are five us staying on until the end of June in order to finish out the necessary administrative tasks.

I closed on my house April 13 of last year. I should have known that Friday the 13th would not bode well.

This program termination isn't the fault of anyone in our company. It's purely a funding issue. So I can't feel bad about all the good work we've done. But I can feel bad about all the work left to do. Luckily there are other agencies rooted here in Mississippi who will continue the work.

We really want to stay here to finish, but it's not to be. My company came here from Texas for what we knew would be a limited time, but we certainly didn't expect the abruptness of this. It is gratifying to know that we did what we could and that other good companies will stay until it's done.

So, like many others here, I'm job hunting. And will chronicle the travails of doing so. Also, I have to look at selling my house because the three jobs I'm looking at are all in different places. Gosh, I really love it here, but I know I can be happy wherever I end up. God is so good to me, and always has been.

So tonight I'm thinking of our clients, still struggling to put their lives together; I'm thinking of our staff, and all the energy and passion they've continually put into their jobs; and finally I'm thinking of me and wondering what life will give me next.

Please pray for all of us.

12/31 What a year

Of course this is the time for reflection. My life has changed so much in the past year.

Toward the end of 2006 I quit a job I loved in order to do disaster work. Because the pay was low, Rob and Beata offered me a place to stay. So temporarily I went to NC and stayed with them while I did disaster mental health work for the Red Cross.

At the beginning of 2007, that's where I was. My "stuff" was still in storage in Milwaukee, but my body and heart were in NC. A friend recommended I apply for a job as the state director for disaster services for Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response in Mississippi.

Mississippi? I couldn't imagine myself living there. Mississippi? A horrible literacy rate, horrible poverty rate, horrible history of race relations. Mississippi?

But the job description intrigued me. So I applied.

In January they flew me to Austin to meet with the vice-presidents. Then they flew me to New Orleans and Biloxi to meet with the director of Lousiana and the guy who was leaving the Mississippi job.

In February I was working for the Red Cross at the Ground Hog Day Tornadoes in Florida, when I got the call offering me the job. By then I'd decided I wanted it, so I said yes.

March 1 I began by flying to Austin for orientation. The next weekend I drove from NC to Biloxi, MS. My home for the first week was an extended stay hotel, then for the next month I stayed in an RV. I bought a house immediately and closed on Friday the 13th of April.

The week prior to moving into my new home I drove back to NC to pick up my new puppy. Quincy is a full-blooded yellow lab and absolutely beautiful. I'd been able to pick her out when she was 10 days old prior to leaving NC. She stayed with me in my RV before moving into the house.

In August, I took Quincy to the Humane Society and let her pick out our next puppy--a chocolate lab mix named Cookie. It was so cool letting Q pick out her sister.

So many changes in such a short time--WI, NC, MS, Red Cross, LSSDR, hotel, RV, new home, puppy, puppy.

Surprisingly I absolutely love the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The view is absolutely breathtaking and the people are lovely and warm. It's so different from what I imagined.

The job is as well. I know how to do disaster work. I know how to manage a not-for-profit. But I think I was ill-prepared for this job. Tomorrow it will be 10 months since I began. After a lot of rocky places--some self-inflicted, some caused by others--I'm comfortable with the job. I finally understand more about the construction end of things, and I'm more familiar with how case management runs in long term recovery. There are four different boards of directors that I sit on, and this keeps me well-informed about what's happening locally and state wide. But I have so much to learn, and this job keeps dosing out humility in huge bunches.

Working for a faith-based organization is good in so many ways. We can pray anytime we want, and we often do before meetings. That's helpful because we deal with so many difficult situations. It's not just the lives of our clients that I'm talking about, although that is so very important. After all, it's been 2 1/2 years since Katrina and thousands of folks are still in the formaldehyde-infested FEMA trailers. Others live in unsafe homes that has mold everywhere. Still more are homeless--entire families who were barely scraping by prior to the storm are now without shelter. It's so sad, and there's so much work to do. It's especially hard because most of the US thinks that the Gulf Coast is recovered from the storm.

But I'm also talking about our staff members, many of them storm survivors too. They not only deal with their own issues of lives irrevocably changed but they help others as well. That takes such incredible strength.

The heartening news is that, even though many DROs (Disaster Relief Organizations) are gone because of diminished funding, there are still many organizations working to repair the damage. Nothing will ever be the same, but we're striving for the "new normal."

I live in hope. Hope that the remaining funds will be well spent for low to moderate income people, those without insurance or with cowardly insurance companies that refused to pay for wind and flood damage. Hope that current DROs will be able to remain beyond when the federal funding for case management stops on March 31. Hope that our dedicated and impassioned staff members take good care of themselves in preparation for more hard work. Hope that politics--both governmental and religious--doesn't get in the way of us providing good service to those in need. Hope that another hurricane season will come and go without event. Hope that courageous people, like those in the Steps Coalition, continue to stand up to injustice and hypocrisy. Hope that God answers our prayers.

11/29 More pictures

Some of the live oaks that died were sculpted beautifully by an artist with a chain saw. (Yes, they are really called "live oaks.")





















My beautiful kids.

11/1 Hooray for the bridge!

The Biloxi Bay bridge is open, meaning it will take me five minutes to cross. Currently it takes 15-20 to go around. Believe me, I am thrilled. I haven't crossed on it yet because the celebration was on the bridge all day. Tomorrow, though, I'm on it.

I have to go to the Red Cross office in Biloxi tomorrow and will take the bridge for the first time. It will be thrilling.

Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but it's been down for 2 1/2 years (drat that pesky Katrina). This is huge!

9/22 The storm didn't come--yet

We're very grateful that the tropical depression did not turn into a tropical storm. I still have the 10 AM conference call--I guess there might be something else brewing for next week. I'll find out.

Here are some pictures from young Paisley's birthday party last week.















I tried to post some pictures from the dumpster diving episode yesterday but they were sent bitmap for some reason and I can't change them to jpg or gif, so they won't post. I'll try to figure out something else.

9/21 It always changes

The caseworkers can't move today because their new offices aren't finished. So we have utter chaos here in the old state office. The only constant here is that things keep changing. :)

Because of the approaching tropical storm we are extra busy today. I'm sneaking a few minutes while munching on a sandwich. This will be my first tropical storm since moving here. I'm so grateful it's not a hurricane. So many people haven't recovered from Katrina. There are thousands of folks still living in FEMA trailers--much of the country doesn't realize that.

I'll be so happy to stay home with my pups tonight. I have flashlights and batteries and a radio that you can crank up, so I'm prepared for some power outage. I don't really expect much of anything to happen where I live, but we all know it's better to be prepared. The advisories call for 40-50 mph winds and some coastal flooding. I'm eight miles from the coast, so I have my fingers crossed on that.

Will have another conference call tomorrow with a guy from the National Weather Service. He was most helpful this morning.

Keep your fingers crossed.

9/13 Another busy day

Got lots done, although half of my day was spent at a meeting in Hancock County, well at least in traveling there and back. It takes almost an hour each way.

After I picked up the dogs and got home it started to rain--bad! Remnants of Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Humberto. Glad it didn't hit us. But the rain is welcome--except that my dogs like mud too much. So I watched them closely tonight, and I didn't get any mud in the house. Hooray!

Jill and the kids called tonight and I got to see them on webcam. Kayla hadn't seen Cookie yet, so she wanted to see her, and she fell in love.

9/2 Hurricanes, etc.

Am getting ready for church and looked at the Hurricane Center of NOAA online. I hadn't even heard of Hurricane Felix and it's already at Cat 2. Looks like it's heading for Mexico and turning north for Texas. Of course, the path can change drastically. I'm keeping my colleagues in south Texas in my prayers. Sure hope this one dies out before it hits land in Mexico. But there's slim chance of that.

And there's a tropical storm off Baja California, plus another one in the Atlantic. Things are heating up. So far everything looks good for us here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But you never know....

My pups are having fun playing with their toys. But I have to wash my bedspread a LOT because that's their favorite playground. This is just like having two toddlers. Except they can't really talk. Except Quincy reminds me of Lassie. She does communicate. She'll bark and go to the door, so I know she needs to go out. She'll bark and put her nose in the empty water bowl, so I know to fill it up. She'll bark when her toy goes under furniture and I'll know I have to get it out for her.

The cool thing is that she'll come to wherever I am, bark and wait for me to follow her. Of course I often say, "What is it girl? Is Timmy in the well?" Aren't I original?

Gotta run. (Oh, the pups slept until 6:38 today. It felt like I was sleeping in.)

8/29 Early early day

Got up at 4 AM, picked up Heather and Mark at 5:15 at their hotel in Gulfport and we made our way to the Gulfside Assembly in Waveland. The church itself is completely gone, but God made a perfect cathedral for us. The sun rose over the eastern part of the Gulf as we gathered together, to commemorate the second anniversary of Katrina. Most religions were represented--many Christian denominations as well as Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist. The service was inspiring and I felt such solidarity with everyone there. It was so worth getting up that early.

Afterward we went to the Waffle House for breakfast. It's the only restaurant open in that whole area. And it was absolutely delicious. Following that we had a staff meeting in Long Beach, and had lunch there with the case managers. Then 30 miles to Ocean Springs for our last meeting at Camp Victor before the hospitality portion moves to another not-for-profit. Got a lot accomplished.

Left there at 4:50 PM and I was knackered to the bone. Stopped at the grocery store, since it's a ton easier to do without dogs. :) Can't wait to pick them up tomorrow evening and bring them home. I really miss Quincy, and am dying to get to know Cookie.

8/28 Cookie

Yep, that's her name. She is absolutely adorable! Such a sweetheart and so loving. Or maybe that was the anesthetic. :)

She and Quincy had a great time in the back of the SUV though, and I think they'll be great friends--sisters even.

Unfortunately neither one of them are home with me. I worked until just a little while ago. My boss is in town and we had lots of meetings. So Q is spending two nights at Doggy Day Care, and Cookie is staying at the vet's. She's got to be kept quiet for 7-10 days, and Doggy Day Care would definitely rip out her stitches. She'll get to go there during the day beginning next week.

For now, I'm beat. I have another long day tomorrow. Have to get up at 4 because we're going to a sunrise service in in Waveland, MS. Tomorrow is the second anniversary of Katrina. And Waveland is the first place Katrina hit in Mississippi. Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian are still virtually leveled in many spots. It could have happened yesterday by the looks of things. So sad. So much to be done. I'll report back on the service.

8/19 Busy

Took Q to the kennel today because I have to leave town before it opens in the morning. I miss her, but it's kind of fun to be able to fold laundry without a dog "helping" me.

Spent five hours in the office today. Got a lot done, but there's still tons to do before I meet with my boss and her boss on Tuesday. Hope to get stuff done in the hotel tomorrow evening.

Hurricane Dean looks like it's headed for south Texas. They sure don't need more rain. But we sure don't need another hurricane in Mississippi either.

8/17 It never stops

Yesterday and today I presented workshops. Yesterday's went extremely well. Today's not so much....the air conditioning went off and the venue was steaming. Plus for a brief time it seemed like Hurricane Dean was turning northward, so I ended early.

Back at the state office we had a hurricane preparedness meeting and went over our hurricane response plan. So much work still to be done, but we've done a lot already. Of course we're hoping that Dean dissipates and doesn't hit anywhere else, but we're certain we don't want him here.

Tonight a bunch of friends went to Caroline's for dinner. She has a lovely old home near the beach in Gulfport. It was spared major structural damage. What damage was done has been repaired, and the place is beautiful.

I'm exhausted though and came home early. Q was good while I was gone--no damage, no accidents. Life is good.

5/16 A woman

She's a manager at a family-run Italian restaurant. Someone messed up my order, so she stopped to apologize and offer a free gelato for dessert. She asked about my job. When she found out what I did, she told me her story.

I'll skip the details, but this young woman lost absolutely everything. Everything. When she described the loss of her home and possessions, she was stoic. But the tears came when she spoke of her three dogs.

That was the piece she concentrated on, and cried about--her beloved pets. She detailed the personalities of each of them: one shy, one overprotective, one playful. After 20 months of living in a FEMA trailer, she cried about those dogs.

I went home and hugged Quincy.

5/9 Well worth it

Even though I was away from the office for two full days, it was well worth it. I made so many contacts--great people involved in disaster work. Plus I learned so much. The EOC is awesome and it's good to know we'll be in good hands should another disaster strike.

In a real emergency I wouldn't be at the EOC in Jackson...I'd be implementing our own Hurricane Response Plan in Biloxi. We'd have to evacuate all our volunteers first, then staff who aren't "mission critical." Other staff would be deployed with our trucks and other vehicles to a staging area further north. Additional folks would "batten down the hatches" in Biloxi and Ocean Springs, doing the best we could to ensure our property would remain safe. It's very serious business, but I'm so confident with the great staff we have that we will do the best we can.

I'd be the last to go. And because of that, I'll make sure everyone else gets the hell out of Dodge, so I could leave too. (Of course, this is only in case of a severe hurricane.)

There is one very small cool thing about all of this: I get to use a satellite phone. Oh, sure, I'm immature, but can any of you say that you wouldn't love to use a satellite phone. C'mon now. Be honest. (Not you, Rob. You get to use them all the time.)

5/8 Emergency Operations Center

Wow. This place rivals the American Red Cross DOC in Washington, DC. Walls are lined with HUGE screens full of weather reports and breaking news. We are running a hurricane drill--Hurricane Zora--hitting the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And it's so very realistic. Since we're below ground we can't tell what the weather is really like outside.

The room is full of MEMA personnel (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) and people from FEMA, Red Cross, Salvation Army, police, firefighters, private agencies (like mine), and many government agencies like Department of Mental Health and Department of Education.

It's quite an interesting experience. I'm learning so much, and am looking forward to tomorrow.

5/7 Not about Quincy

I forgot to write that Friday night I went to Backwater with Jane and Jan, and some of their colleagues. When the manager found out that I was a comic, she asked me if I wanted to introduce the second comic and said I could do a few jokes. Of course I said yes. The first joke didn't go over well, but the second one killed. That felt good.

She doesn't like to emcee, so I'm sure the next time I go home I can get a gig being the emcee there.

It was fun.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be in Pearl, MS at the EOC (Emergency Operations Center). I've heard it's underground and is ultracool. Can't wait. We're doing a hurricane preparedness exercise. A huge fake hurricane will hit and we'll direct the response from the EOC. Since it's 3 1/2 hours away, I'll have to stay overnight, which is why Q is staying at Pampered Pets. Then Friday I have to go to New Orleans for the day, so I won't pick her up until Friday night. I'll sure miss her, but she was so happy to see that she could e with a bunch of other puppies. They are all in the same room and spoiled rotten. It made me smile to see her cavorting. She didn't even notice that I left.

I'll report about the EOC later this week.

4/4 Working from home

I've already accomplished so much and have a trash bag full of "stuff." Also, on a personal note the moving company will deliver my furniture April 13 or 14. This is great because originally it was supposed to be the next week and I'll be in New Mexico then. The best news is that it's only going to cost $388 more than it would have cost to ship it to Quincy; 750 miles for that price. Not bad, huh?

As I'm going through all this material, I'm re-reading the information about Katrina's impact. It's so much more meaningful to me since I now live here. Perhaps I'll post some of the statistics when I get a chance.

3/27 Whoops

Just checking in while I eat my lunch at my desk and noticed I didn't blog yesterday. That's unusual. But I'm staying pretty busy.

Besides lots of work in my office yesterday, I drove over to Camp Victor. It's about 15 or 16 miles from my office. It was a good visit and I got a lot accomplished. Had lunch there which was great. They almost always have a vegetarian entree, and always have a neat salad bar. Spoke to the site director, the assistant site director, a long-term volunteer who does a bit of everything, and a newspaper reporter. The reporter loved the tour and the building. I basically tagged along for the tour because I want to learn everything I can.

While in the warehouse I found two tables that I'll be able to use for my home office. That's great and will save me some money. Of course, they aren't mine, but will serve me well while I work for LSSDR--hopefully for a long, long time.

Today the management staff and I went over our hurricane response plan. Hurricane season starts in June, so we have lots of planning to do in a short period of time. But this is a great group of people and I know we'll get it accomplished. (No, I'm not just saying that because some of them might read this.)

Tonight there will be no working from home. Why? Because I'm a reality show junkie and American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are on tonight, that's why.

3/24 Saturday

I slept late--8 AM. This is the first morning I slept until it was light.

After my shower I went to Joy's for coffee and a bagel. Then down to the Gulf. I walked for 40 minutes then took a drive around the peninsula. Past all the many casinos, but through small, devastated neighborhoods too. The difference between the two is astounding.

Now I'm doing laundry and will soon start on my taxes. I won't finish them right away though because I'm going to PetSmart to buy some puppy "stuff." Then to a late lunch/early dinner.

Living less than a mile from the beach is AOK with me. Wow, what a blessing!

3/22 I love Mississippi! And I love The Joys of Coffee!

I'm not lying when I say I've never lived in a place where people are so friendly and gracious.

Lots of people are excited about the Starbucks that's coming in. (We currently don't have one.) I'm excited too, and but won't go there unless I'm with someone else who wants to go. Does this surprise you? I'm the gal who posted about stopping at Starbucks every morning in Milwaukee on my way to work. At the same time though, I frequented Alterra coffee which was a local coffeehouse, but only went there on the weekend because it was far from work.

Local businesses need to be supported. Every morning on the way to work I stop at The Joys of Coffee for my decaf Americano. After Katrina, Joy came right back in, cleaned up the place and started making coffee. That's a great story. And Joy is such a welcoming and friendly person. She, Matt, Sloan, and the young woman whose name I don't know do a great job there. And I'm greeted every morning with, "Good morning, Miss Jeri." How can you beat that?

They're closed on Sunday, so then I drive to Ocean Springs to Mocha Moose for a coffee. I sit on the porch and read or watch the world go by.

I love Mississippi. (We'll see what I say when summer comes.) But how can I not love a location where palm trees grow?

3/16 I'm glad it's the weekend

Even though I'm going to put in a few hours tomorrow I'm still glad it's the weekend. Today was just as busy as the others have been.

I took a tour through one of the heavily damaged neighborhoods. There are 200 houses in this neighborhood and we're going to rebuild 175 of them. It's a project that may take up to two years, but we're so excited about it.

Also, I went to Ocean Springs late this afternoon to see Miss Ruby's house. She's an elderly woman who uses a walker and sometimes a wheelchair. Her home was completely destroyed, so we built her a new one from the ground up. Tonight they're having a housewarming for her. I got a sneak preview of her home and it's adorable.

These things make me feel good about what we do.

3/15 Staying busy

Started with an 8 AM meeting with John and at 8:30 we left for a meeting with the Executive Director of IDTF (Interfaith Disaster Task Force). Guess I'm going to take John's place on the board. Then lunch with Mike from Lutheran Disaster Response in Chicago. (I'm getting a lot of free lunches out of this job.) Afterward I had a Managers' Meeting, which went well. But I wasn't able to cover half of what I needed too. Normally they only meet every two weeks, so I'm going to call some special meetings to get stuff done.

At 3 had a conference call with my boss in Austin and the other state directors from Louisiana and Texas. We worked on the the evacuation plans. Wow. So much to think about. I have 50 staff and usually around 400 volunteers, plus tons of vehicles and equipment. This is going to take a while to finish, but will be very valuable. Hurricane season starts again in June and lasts through November. Never know what Mother Nature has in store for us.

Worked until around 6 and now I'm sitting here eating and typing. :)

3/13 Me in a jet!

This is me in a C21, commonly called a Lear Jet. John and I went to Keesler Air Force Base, just a few miles from our office. We met with Chaplain (Captain) Mike Howard and got the grand tour. We saw a huge flight simulator for the C130J. Amazing. Then to a hangar where we saw the C21. Even though the one I was in is a very tiny plane and the C130 is gigantic, they have exactly the same control panels. So they have pilots requalify in the smaller plane. Plus they use them to transport VIPs. I met some great guys there, including some other chaplains. The chief one is a priest and is retiring next month. What a nice guy. But I really liked Mike. As part of the tour we went by the base housing--more than 2/3 of the houses had been destroyed by Katrina. Only 600 are currently in use. More than 2/3 of ALL the buildings on base had been damaged also. But the post is coming back...one chaplain said you can hear kids playing now, and that's such a hopeful sign. Oh, and I kept getting introduced as a Special Forces Mom. :)

John and I stopped for lunch with his wife OkHee. She made a great salad in their RV. When they leave Sunday, I'm moving in. It's a new-ish one that is quite large. I think it will be nicer than my hotel room, so I'll stay there until I can get in my house. Plus I can have my puppy there when I pick her up.

After lunch I had a meeting with two of my senior staff members to discuss our Evacuation Plan. We have to refine it because hurricane season begins again in June. So there's lots to do. Thursday I have a conference call with Austin about it, and another meeting after that.

Tonight we had a dinner meeting with a married couple who travel all over the US teaching construction classes to volunteers and staff. They're here for a week to help us catch up with our estimations. So it was fun meeting them over a Chinese buffet.

Tomorrow I'm going to a luncheon with the mayor. So tons of other people will be there too, but I'll still have lunch with the mayor. After that it's time for the home inspection on my new place.

3/6 Survived the second day

So much to write about. First of all I got to work at 7:30 because I was awake and anxious to get started. At 9 there was a meeting with someone from Habitat for Humanity. We have several projects going on with them which are quite exciting. Then at 9:45 a meeting with the president of a neighborhood association where we are going to rebuild nearly 100 homes next year. Yep. And that's only one project. I'm amazed at the scope of work my organization does. (Yep, my organization. I'm already feeling like a full-fledged member.)

Later we went over to our camp in Ocean Springs for a tour. Again, I was amazed. This place houses 200 volunteers at one time, as well as a distribution center, kitchen, and dining room. Such a dedicated group of people. Many of them are from other states and are living here as staff members. Others are volunteers from all over the US. Even five people from other countries. We ate lunch there and it was amazing. They had veggie corn dogs too. And I ate two of them. Yum.

At one, my realtor picked me up and we looked at houses. No condos are available. Well, one is, but it's in a rough-looking neighborhood. I found two houses that I really liked. One is in Ocean Springs about 1/2 mile from the Gulf, and the other is in north Biloxi. We'll look at a few more tomorrow.

The devastation is still everywhere. Many people are working hard to rebuild, but others either don't have the resources or the inclination--or maybe both. My heart just hurts for all the damage and loss.

Now I'm tired. G'night.

3/4 In Biloxi

Yeah, I'm home. At least in my temporary home. When I arrived it was still too early to check in so I started exploring. I drove all along the coast from East Biloxi to Gulfport. Is it possible to feel both despair and hope at the same time? I think it is, because that's what I felt. Still so much devastation. Even though it was mostly commercial on Beach Drive, it's still so very sad. Yet, the signs of people cleaning up and rebuilding are everywhere. So many volunteers are here, and there are signs all over thanking them.

Then I drove through some residential neighborhoods and felt the same two emotions.

Finally was able to check into my hotel. The room is small but wonderful. A bed, two nightstands, TV, bureau, table, three chairs, kitchenette with stove, refrigerator, microwave, and a full-sized bathroom. I should be fine here for a month.

Spoke to John MacRae, the guy whose position I'm taking. He has strept throat plus has to have a root canal tomorrow. So I won't see him tomorrow morning. Am meeting with my deputy director and a few other staff. Then will meet my realtor at one. Finally, John set up a dinner for tomorrow night with a few of the managers. I'm looking forward to it.

Gotta run. Must go to the store to find "stuff" for dinner tonight. Love to all.