Ivan has come and gone and I am still here. It wasn't as bad in Tuscaloosa as most people expected. For the first time ever, I got out of work for a hurricane day. People were going crazy around here. There were near riots at Wal-Mart over water and bread. Batteries were gone as soon as the boxes were open. Aisles of packaged food had been ravaged by soon to be Survivor contestants. We lost power about 9 AM Thursday morning due to downed power lines and it rained what seemed like forever. During the course of the downpour, we developed some small leakage in our roof. That was a little worrisome, but once the rain lightened, it wasn't a problem. By 5, everything was back to normal. There was a light breeze and some drizzle but the worst of it had been over for some time. Having no power and feeling stir crazy, we headed out to see what we could find for dinner. There were a couple restaurants open, so we enjoyed lights and a hot meal. We still had no power when we arrived home, but it was back on within a half hour. With all the time available, I managed to finish my lesson plans for next week and *trumpet fanfare* finished unpacking!!!! Finally we have a home. The office is all set except for a few posters. Erika will get a virtual tour together once we get furniture which should be early next week.

There was only one casualty over the course of the last two days. The laptop LCD backlight bit the bullet. I've transferred my files over to my minidisk but I need to grab my copy of Dreamweaver from work Monday. So, once again, updates to the web site have been postponed. The verdict is still out on whether I will replace the screen or the whole laptop. I may let it sit for awhile and ask for a laptop for Christmas. Doubt I'll get it, but it might not hurt to try. I'll be visiting a liquidation center tomorrow and searching for a nearby computer show to see what I can scoop up. Donations will be greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow marks the two-week mark of moving to Tuscaloosa. It's been very hectic. The first day of class was this past Tuesday. It was an absolute nightmare. I got bounced around from room to room like a pinball. Thankfully, everything is on track and I have 3 days to recuperate (from class at least, game night is another story). I still haven't gotten everything in order here. The office is slowly progressing, but the living room is still a mess with empty boxes. We have to get that cleaned up this weekend so that we are ready for our new furniture. Yep, that's right. I said new furniture. I've taken a closer step to becoming an adult. The fact that 30 is knocking on the door doesn't make me happy either, but I can't stop that.

As a result of the chaos the past two weeks, I obviously haven't had the opportunity to update the site. I still have movie reviews and updates to all of the sections on the web site. I'll catch up eventually. Until then, ROLL TIDE!