Weary Wednesday

I have been so tired today!! I think it's from being so lazy last week. 3 of my schools finally got power back today, so those kids will hopefully go back on Friday. I've heard there is mold starting to grow in the schools, so I hope things will be ok to go back. I've been going to my other school every day and don't really have much to do there. I had 2 other groups scheduled to start this week, but with the "hurricane holidays" as one of my students called it, we didn't get to do it.
My next door neighbors (the very nice but overly involved in our lives ones) once again crossed the line yesterday. They have their very obnoxious, demanding 7 year old great niece and her mother staying with them until their power returns in Baton Rouge. I told them when we first put the pool up that the little girl was welcome to use the pool anytime, as long as someone was watching her, and she has used the pool several times over the summer (but nobody is ever out there watching her). Then, a few weeks ago we had to drain part of the pool to fix a leaking valve and when we filled the pool back up, the water was green and we've been working to get the chemicals right again. Then we had rain for 2 weeks, then a hurricane, so we're still getting the pool right. When we first put the pool up, it took several days of pouring bleach and pool chemicals in the pool and then it turned a pretty blue and all was good, so we began that process again. I told the neighbor and her niece not to let the little girl go in the pool because the chemicals were not right and we've been putting some strong things in it. So, I come home from work yesterday and see my neighbor who says, "the kids are in the pool having a great time!" I'm like, "kids?" She said her little niece had a friend over, and they were in the pool. I said, "the chemicals are not right in the pool and we've been pouring straight bleach in it everyday." She said, "oh I told my niece that, but she said it was ok!" Me, "hmmm, really?" So I go inside and look in the back yard and sure enough there are 2 little girls in the pool with no adult in sight. And they're doing the 2 things I've asked them not to do (which might lead to a LEAKY VALVE) which are sitting on the rim of the pool (it's a $300 Walmart pool!) and jumping off the ladder. So, I yelled out the back door, "y'all shouldn't be in the pool! It isn't ready for people to get in it!" The 7 year old yells back at me, "well my mom said we could!!!" I yell back, "OHHHHHH well then I guess you can!!" About that time they both got out and ran to tell on me, but never came back so i'm guessing someone realized it's actually MY pool and told them to stay out. So, this morning, I took the ladder out! I'm sure someone is going to fuss at me about that!

The water finally went down in the river and we can see our dock again, and talk about NASTY!!!! There is a foot of stinky mud stuck to everything and we've been told to get it off now or it hardens and becomes impossible to get off. Walter & I went and scrubbed and hosed it off last night and will go back out tonight and do it again. Apparently, the plants that decompose in the water after a storm like this take the oxygen out of the water and all of the fish are at the top of the water gasping for air! It's the saddest thing i've ever seen! Before long there will be dead fish EVERYWHERE and it will smell terrible. We are probably going to have to cancel Walter's party on the 20th, but we are going to wait until this weekend and decide how bad it's going to be. I remember after Hurricane Katrina how awful the smell was for weeks. I also heard from a neighbor today that a tornado hit at the condos where we lived during Katrina right before Hurricane Gustav, which would explain why all the chimneys were ripped off the building. The scary thing is that the condos are only a mile from where we live now! How scary is that! My friend said she saw the tornado and was so scared that she got her husband and dog in the car to try to out run it, but that the funnel cloud went the other way and then dissapated.


I went to Walmart after work today and picked up some things, including a DiGiornos pizza for dinner. I thought we were going to dinner with Cathy & Brent tonight because Brent will be leaving in the morning to go out of town, but Cathy said she'll just go with Walter & I tomorrow night for steak night. So, my point was, I didn't have anything in mind for dinner tonight, so I took the easy way out!