L'Acadie Inn & RV Park's Fan Box

Monday, February 02, 2009

Mardi Gras in the Area

Some people are looking for more to do for Mardi Gras, or weren't able to get a reservation with us. In that case, I came across a nice website that might help out. Arn Burkhoff has put together a nice, but not extensive site that may help. Also, the following may help as well:

Finally, if you're looking for pictures from last year or need ideas for your costume, Dr. Simpson at LSUE has loads of images from 2008 and many years before that.

Last, but not least, if you are in the Eunice area and can't get some of Kelly's homemade king cake on the Friday before Mardi Gras, go to Champagne's grocery on Maple Street for the best king cake.

Sorry the post is so short, but so is life and I need to get on with it!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

No pictures yet, maybe later

Okay, so I've been busy. We had only minor damage from Hurricane Ike, mostly more roof damage and debris everywhere. The power went off for only a couple of hours. By the time Lance got the generator hooked back up, the power came back on.

And, yes, once again, we are full with evacuees- lots of children too. This time, they are from Hackberry, Crystal Beach, Vinton and etc. I wish I could help them like we did for the previous storms, but I'm all worn out- my doctor followed me out the door telling me to rest.

The children are catching up with school work and getting back into a routine, but they seem tired too. My dad is back in the hospital- I'm not even sure where to begin with that one, but it doesn't look good. Enough bad....

Lance and the older kids went to an LSU game last Saturday. Lance said they spent steak house dollars on burger joint food, and then wanted to stop on the way home because they were hungry! Does FEMA give out grants for bottomless pits?

We've started back working on symphony music (oh wait, I said enough bad- ha ha!). Our first practice is Monday. The children are in second strings, and I'm doing guitar for some of the Beatles tunes. I'm sure it will be good with more practice. We're also supposed to be performing at the Rice Festival with the rest of the group, but that's only a maybe since I'm eyeing possible vacation time.

My quilting is coming along slowly. I have a batik "storm at sea" (how appropriate) wall hanging I'm wrapping up for the fall festival at our church. Lance says I won't be able to go to the auction, because it will break my heart. I'm trying to learn "sacrifice" and "letting go". It seems to be a theme in my life!

We have a new "drop off" pair. This is where people "drop off" unwanted animals at our house. We adopted the last kitten, who now pays us back with attacking our legs and ankles as we walk by. He actually leaps out from behind a piece of furniture and clings to the highest point possible on your leg. It's rather alarming sometimes. His name is Junior. Heidi puts him down for a nap every afternoon and he sleeps in her arms for at least an hour. Our new pair is a white calico kitten and a blue heeler female puppy. They sleep together on the back porch at night and terrorize the chickens by day. I'm hoping to find good homes soon before they get too attached to each other and the children get too attached to them. Heidi and Matthew are already riding the puppy around in the basket of the bike!

Thanks for reading my ramblings. May God bless all those who are tired and heartbroken. May He give them the strength to carry on, and to find solace in Him. May God bless you! Kelly

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Minimal damage, everyone safe

We were able to sleep in our house last night since the power returned yesterday afternoon. All the children except Nickel did fine. Nickel seems to have come down with a sinus infection and is not too happy with it. I'm sure the heat didn't help. The experience is not one I want to repeat again. I think everything would have been fine without five anxious children and no electricity. Here's what happened.

We moved into the hotel rooms on Sunday since we weren't sure exactly when Gustav was going to hit land and what kind of weather we might be facing. The children were all excited with an adventure. Everything was pretty calm with a decent wind coming off the prairie, but nothing too harsh.

Monday morning the wind had picked up, and by noon things were starting to get a little hairy. We stood in the corridor and watched as sheets of rain came by horizontally. The wind threw debris everywhere and howled and moaned like some invisible monster. By about 4 pm, Monday afternoon, the transformer blew and the power went out. Occasionally, we heard a crack from trees going down. As we listened to the radio, we realized that the eye passed to the east of us, so we didn't get the worst part of the storm. Winds were in the range of 80-90 mph for us. Things began calming down by about 8 pm which was a huge relief. No one wants to be in a hurricane at night. At least during the day, you can see what is happening. I came to a big realization. The reporters you see fighting wind and rain and drama on tv are only in the 30-40 mph winds before the main part hits. The wind was so strong, it looked like it would pick up the vehicles at any moment and put them in the soybean field across the street.

We started getting reports that Opelousas to Baton Rouge got hit pretty hard. Lance's little brother is in B.R. and so were two of my sisters. They will probably be without power for two weeks or so. Monday night, after the eye passed was when the tornadoes came through about 2:30-3:30 am. We didn't get any more damage, just more limbs. The lightning and thunder were pretty fierce for a while. What is amazing to me is that the people who evacuated to the North-- Alexandria up to Monroe got quite a bit of damage and no power too. My sister said that her high school in Opelousas lost their roof and some of the walls were collapsing from rain water. Her school will be closed indefinitely along with a couple of others in Opelousas, Leonville and Arnaudville. As we talk to more people in Eunice, it seems most, like us, only have limbs, roof & fence damage, along with power outages. There are downed trees throughout our area and curfews are still in effect. We have a friend who sent his wife and kids to evacuate. He ended up with a tree through his house. He says he's not staying next time either and wished he hadn't this time.

Hotel rooms are currently scarce to non-existent. Traffic is horrendous on the main thoroughfares with people trying to get back home. Gas and groceries are just starting to be more available as opposed to an 1 1/2 hour wait. Everyone is definitely relieved to see how well things are moving. I'll try to post some pictures and video in the next few days. Lance refuses to take down the plywood until we know more about Ike. I don't blame him. We've started the clean-up. It's a debate on whether or not to file insurance claims. Lance says our insurance rates are going up regardless. And it's definitely disappointing not to be able to watch the Tigers play this weekend, but I guess we understand. Hopefully, we'll be able to see them play next weekend.

My mom and dad are still without power. It seems the stress was a little too much for Dad. He had to go to the emergency room. The doctor thinks it's atrial fibrilation, but they can't seem to get a cardiologist. At least he's somewhat comfortable in the hospital since they have power and he's getting regular meals and hydration.

Thank you all for your prayers! They worked!

Go Away Ike!

Kelly

Monday, September 01, 2008

Winds picking up, but so far okay!

We're sitting out in the parking lot eating boudin and cracklins so you know everyone is doing well. Nickel is inside watching tractors and playing Thomas trains. The hurricane has made landfall in Houma and dropped down to a Cat. 2. Lance says it's still going to be worse than Rita. We're eyeing a couple of trees that may not make it. The worst of the storm for us will be later this evening. We've boarded up, taken down, put up and secured everything in sight. The margaritas & beer are in the fridge (unfortunately, no xanax here!). We took down the slides. Lance is pretty worried about the playground. When we built it, we joked a lot about taking shelter there, but I think that may be overstated. The kids are set up in their room with movies, laptop & PS3. They all cheered when we said the hurricane had dropped in level. It seems service personnel are ready to move, they all want reservations for Tuesday afternoon, including a Fema guy. Thanks again for all the prayers, messages and email! Kelly