Saturday, October 1st

A new month in limbo! 5 weeks of hotel/motel living! This is really getting old fast. I have to admit some envy of our New Orleans friends who returned home yesterday to stay. Now that we have electricity to our homes it makes it that much more difficult to know we're stuck here in Memphis because of our jobs. I guess it wouldn't be quite so bad if at least we enjoyed what we're doing here, but unfortunately that's not the case. Everything is disorganized, decisions are made based on everything but the reality of the situation.

We used to go to the Grand Casino in Gulfport about once a month, on a Saturday, to enjoy their buffet (TWO flowing chocolate fountains!), but we won't be doing that again anytime soon, as these pictures will attest http://community.webshots.com/album/464938589ZoqqNs. It was a nice way to have some family fun and drive along the Gulf Coast and enjoy the weather and scenery. I miss it. I miss the kids.

Don't get me wrong, Memphis and the surrounding countryside is really beautiful. We drive past forest and rolling cotton fields every day on the way to work. The cotton has just ripened and we've been watching the cotton picking machines at work. They look kind of like a street sweeper. The weather has been incredible this past 3 weeks, with almost no rain. Hot, yes in deed, but lately it's been mid 40's - 50's in the morning and 80's in the afternoon. Don't know how cold the winter will be, but it looks like we're going to find out.

The COGIC conference begins today. Haven't seen much activity regarding it yet, but it's supposed to be a really big deal here every year.

Getting ready to go get breakfast and do some errands that we put off during the week because of work. Guess this will have to do. For now I wish you all the best, and may the Lord continue to bless you and keep you close to Him, and may our Mother Mary, Queen of the Universe continue to smile on us and bring us ever closer to her Son.

Dean