Sorry for not answering sooner! Part of the reason is I'm not quite up/running on the computer...we finally got our electricity back 12 days post storm but the phone, which= DSL line, is STILL out close to 4 weeks later. So I only have internet access at work and haven't had a lot of time to keep up with OTH or my other favorite sites.

However, BellSouth is actually replacing 2 poles behind mine and our neighbor's houses so the temporary pain of no phone is outweighed by knowing the leaning poles (which have been in bad shape since hurricane Andrew 13+ years ago!) will be gone.

I did pretty well till the last day of our outage, when I hit the wall. The weather had warmed up and the humidity was also up so sleeping wasn't as easy (and the older I get the more I NEED a decent night's sleep). That morning I had to do 7 loads of laundry at the laundromat, then go to work and by that point I simply could not bear to deal with anyone who had their electricity. I just couldn't listen to another person express shock that we were still out, and/or offer to let me come to their place to shower/do laundry/relax. I wanted to scream "I want to take a shower in MY bathroom and do laundry in MY washer and relax in MY living room!!!". Blessedly, our extended family went out to dinner that night to celebrate a birthday, where I thoroughly enjoyed a good meal while sharing a nice bottle of wine with my BIL. As I've been joking to friends, I came home lit and hurray-the house was lit too :). The power had been restored while we were out.

So things are more or less back to normal. I'm hosting my family at our house for Thanksgiving and really looking forward to it. It will be wonderful to have the people I love together for a good meal, good conversation and a blessedly normal start to the holiday season.

At least unless there is a hurricane Gamma...cue theme from Jaws. I am OVER this storm season, that's for sure.

And thanks for asking!
Ann