Sweet Friday: After the Storm

At the start of this week, I never thought that we'd make it to Friday.  Shawn was in
the hospital, Hurricane Isaac was slowly making his way to Louisiana, and Isabelle
caught scabies.  Yes, SCABIES.  There has been a huge outbreak of this highly contagious
skin rash in our area and my poor girl fell prey.  Off to the pediatrician we went where we
were given a cream that the whole family was instructed to apply from head to toe.  We
then had to wash all of our linens, towels, pillows, and teddy bears.  To say that I went
on a disinfecting rampage would be an understatement.  I put my stress and anxiety to
good use, taking all of my energy out on my vacuum cleaner.  By Tuesday, the entire
house was sparkling and Isabelle's skin was healthy and itch-free.

During the great skin mite debacle, I was simultaneously stocking up on key
hurricane preparedness supplies: candles, batteries for our flashlights, bottled water,
and nonperishable food items.  I filled up the gas cans for our generator in case we lost
power, secured all the patio furniture, brought in my container plants and herbs.  The
girls helped me set out the board games and we made "Welcome home" cards for Daddy.
I visited as many of my patients as possible, making sure they were as prepared as we
were, filling up their medicines and directing them to shelters as needed.  From Monday
to Wednesday, I think I slept a total of 6 hours.

But then Shawn came home and Isabelle started feeling better and I looked around
and realized that everything was done.  All that was left was to sit back and let the ball
roll where it may.  After work on Wednesday, my mama came over and we cooked shrimp
stir fry for dinner.  We watched the Weather Channel and tracked the storm between cups
of tea and good conversation.  The work was done and it was pure joy to sit around with
my family, to be together and healthy, riding out the storm.  

Our parish was lucky: the storm blew right by us with only a few inches of rain and
heavy winds.  We have branches to clean up in our yard but the trees stood firm,
relatively unscathed.  Our home is solid and undamaged, our family together again.
Other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi were not so lucky and our prayers are with those
still fighting through the storm.  When people ask me why I chose to live in a place
that regularly sustains such extreme natural disasters, my answer is simple: because it is
home.  There is no place in the world that could ever replace my Louisiana, no place
could ever compare.  My heart and soul belong here, tied so deeply to this place, my roots
and my culture.  We made it through another week, another storm.  Long live Louisiana!!