and don’t let the time-vault door hit ya’s on the ass. Now git!
Good old ’08 has been one major struggle after another in the lives of Betts and me. Started the year screaming for our contractors to get the repairs done and screaming at Road Home concerning our Elevation grant. Didn’t help that my body was slowly coming up with more problems that I really didn’t have time nor energy for. These things would wind up coloring my whole year.
In February our beloved Siamese, Opal, passed away peacefully in her sleep lying between us. She actually rolled on her back as Betts rubbed her and then did the same for me. She left five minutes later. I was a mess, but the memory of adopting her when she was 10 and giving her a good life, and some adventures, for the next 11 years did cheer me up a little. (Giving Betty a large heart-shaped box of dark chocolates for Valentines perked her up a little)
Missed all of Mardi Gras last year. I was starting to get some very strange feelings in the old body but kept pushing on (behind Betts) in order to finally get our grant and get the lousy contractors to do their J.O.B. . This latter poop would color the rest of the year.
In early April NOLA Blogger great and a friend, Ashley Morris died suddenly. To say that we local Bloggers took this hard would suffice if spread very thinly. Some set up a fund for his family and together they helped to have a good funeral and give Ashmo a good Second Line to see him along his way. He would have loved the Wake we held later at Bulldogs.
May was much the same with the contractors and my physical probs. Same goes for June except for showing up for Pride in a driving rain. July was a wash.
In August we worked on getting our final Elevation grant only to keep hearing the program might start up in the Fall. We finally got our Occupancy Cert. Rising Tide III was going down at the end of the month, but between packing the dumpster we lived in, getting the power on and my illness, we missed the entire thing. We moved into our home 3 years and 1 day from the day we evacuated due to Katrina.
The next day Gustav hit. I stayed online all night and then lost power the next morning as Baton Rouge was getting the storm. Our home stood like a rock, but the next five days is was hotter than Hell without power to cool the place down. We took most of our 3 freezers of food and either cooked or brought it raw to the Starlight since they were feeding all and sundry. From then until early November Betts and I crashed and burned as so much of the pain, sorrow and strees of the last 3 years somewhat flowed out of us.
November was eventful in that the damn elections were over and Obama won the Presidency and the Dems took strong control of Congress. Later in the month we cooked up a T-Day dinner for 12 to 14 only to have one person show up. I was really getting ill so I decided to bite the bullet and make an appointment with the only Doc I have left at the V.A.. I planned to not have to be in a hospital for the Holidays, but what would be would be.
December found me fretting over the medical stuffs and doing what I did most of the last year- fall into the bed at any time and just sleep. My ‘puter died for a while there and Betts got me a new one. Then she got the call that the mitigation grant folks wanted our paperwork a month earlier than previously. Betts ran it down and later they said we would be getting it, put probably in January.
My visit with the Doc went well. Tests to do, meds to help with the sinitus/tinnitus/ loss of balance and dizziness and an appointment for next month to set up various scans to find out what is happening inside of me. At least he said a brain tumor was pretty far out of the equation. *rolls eyes*
Christmas Week we had an old friend down We hadn’t seen each other for over 5 years. She had only seen pics of the house from when we bought it. We did things during the week- Eve dinner at La Cote Brasserie, quiet Day dinner at home and visited with our friends. It was nice having her visit. Was just like old times.
So tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and we shall do Rueban PoBoys, drink and then watch the Time-Vault door smack old Mr. 2008 in the tush as the Fleur De Lis falls. (And watch “Things To Come”, H.G. Wells) The next morning starts a new cycle and I have a little one named 2009 to become friends with.
Happy New Year Gentle Readers!