It's raining, it's pouring, the old man... Oh, never mind. Actually it's drizzling and chilly out but not cold. A very fine mist of a drizzle, like it wants to snow, but it can't because it just isn't yet cold enough. This would be a great evening to cuddle in front of a nice fire, with a glass of wine, and a good book or movie. Did I mention how comfortable Maynard has gotten? I got up this AM at 4:15 for a nature call and found him crashed on the couch. He didn't even move as I crossed from the bedroom into the bathroom. This evening as we returned from supper we were greated by a dog without a collar on. Lo and behold, it was laying in the middle of the bed. Can you say, "Spoiled?" Sure... sure... I KNEW you could! There are almost no Louisiana license plates left in the hotel parking lot. I noticed that most have gone since the first of the month. I guess with the threat of the FEMA money running out people have begun to move on. It would be nice if we could, as well. Linda still has no idea what is happening with her job. Last month her command participated in a survey conducted by Senator Vitter's office. The results split the command at almost 50/50 as to who wanted to go back to New Orleans and who wanted to remain in Millington. Yesterday he (Vitter) was supposedly speaking with someone from the Chief of Naval Operations office about whether EPMAC (Linda's command) would return or not. So far no word. Today (Tuesday) I finally broke down and wrote a letter to Senator Vitter asking him to at least try to get some sort of communication established where Linda works. The big guns where I work have been very good about keeping us informed of any developments and situations that might impact our return. Since September they've tried to project our return and kept us informed in the process. Not so with Linda. Very frustrating, indeed.

It's now Thursday and I still haven't posted this blog entry. I didn't think anyone would notice until I received this comment to my last post: "You know, I could have sworn that this was an active blog. Hmmm, must have been thinking of somewhere else. hehe". That comment comes from my daughter-in-law, who NEVER (yeah, right!!) let's a day go by without posting on her own blog, Taunt Society (Warning!!: NOT for the faint of heart! Read at your own risk.).

So, anyway, I'm going to take her lead and try and finish this up (at work) and get this posted.

Tomorrow is the 56th anniversary of the day I took my first breath of air on my own. Perhaps I will have more to report then.

Christmas is close, and our thoughts and prayers are with you all… family, friends, fellow evacuees still displaced. May the joys of Christmas bring peace and contentment to the hearts and minds of all of us this season. God bless!! - Dean