Here are some pics of the chicks when we first got them. They’re a lot bigger than this now, of course. They have combs and jowels. I bet it’s cool go grow a comb. At any rate, they’ve been fun-if stinky-office mates and now they’re almost ready for the big wide outside world.

“If you see some pants walking around without anyone in them, run away!”

Just in case anyone else can benefit from the advice too…

are laugh out loud funny! We got to go see I and N in July and I’m just now getting to the pictures. And I just have to say, have you ever seen a more crazy, beautiful baby? Seriously, I’m laughing out loud at all her different faces. Isaac loved this pic and made me print it out and hung it on our wall. He thinks he’s going to marry T, so I guess he’s starting a shrine or something:) Anyway, I miss you guys!

Oct 15th is Blog Action Day. It’s an initiative to do something on this day to help eradicate poverty. Yes, it sounds like an answer to a beauty pageant question, but I think it’s a great idea to nudge people like me into doing something new. That and it’s originator is a client of mine and I promised to do something. So today I went to a microlending website called Kiva and put down my $25. Not much, but something.

Microlending is this great idea where people give small loans to entrepreneurs who use the money to build their businesses and pay back the loans. Meaning that once you put your money toward a loan and they pay it back, you can choose to turn it back around and put it toward a loan for someone else. I’ve known about microlending since college. In fact some of my friends have been instrumental in making the concept a reality on a large scale across the world. But I’ve never done anything personally until today.

So I sat one of my munchkins down on my lap and we went to the Kiva site together and read the stories of all the different people, where they live, and looked at the pictures. It was hard to choose, but we went with a group of 5 women in Senegal who needed a couple hundred dollars to buy dyes to make clothing to sell. It was such a great feeling that I’ve decided that for every client I have, I’m going to do it again in their name so they can follow the people and be part of the success of these individuals. I’m also really excited about having this money perpetually circulating in microloans.

Ways to join in: (It’s late here today, but these things will all work tomorrow too!)

• Join Kiva’s Blog Action Day Group 100% of your money goes to the individual.
• Leave a comment here and $1 will be donated to Heifer International.
• Leave a comment here and $1 will be donated to Kiva.
• Digg the Blog Action Day site to increase its exposure.
• Spread the word: writing a blog post, email people, Twitter, Facebook, whatever!

We have raccoons everywhere, including (especially) in our yard. Every night I can hear the neighbor’s dog attacking one and sometimes you can hear them squeal when they get treed. One Sunday morning before church, we saw one who had run up the pole for the cable wires. The neighbor’s dog was going crazy, but that raccoon wasn’t going anywhere. There wasn’t much space up there, so he parked his keester on the wire itself. Whew! Bet he’s still waliking funny!

Miss Yvonne already…

We’re advised to have food and supplies for 3 days, but what do people in hospitals and nursing homes do? In the largest city in Louisiana, a lot of people are supposed to get power back on Monday, which will be 7 days. But many areas will be out for 2-4 WEEKS. And I bet a lot of the people who left the mandatory evacuation area in New Orleans went where? Baton Rouge.

I knew it must be getting bad, but didn’t realize the full extent until I read this from an article on the Poynter media site about the lack of media coverage: http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=150002. Looks like gas and natural gas, water, and sewage are all issues. The Amite River is peaking at 6 feet over flood level.

A quote:

Look at The Advocate’s front page. They have an emergency there. (See photos)

Close to a million people have been without power. As of Thursday afternoon, the local power company is saying it will be at least Sept. 17 before it will be up to 90 percent that have electricity.

One medical center in Baton Rouge had to send all its patients away because there is no electricity. A second hospital had to transfer 29 patients.

In some places, residents are being warned it may be four weeks before power is restored.

Here’s hoping Ike doesn’t come this way. But hey, great news for school kids: in Amite, my parents’ town, they’re starting school on Monday. The Advocate says they’re not sure if all the schools will have power (90 percent of the parish is still out of power as of today), but things are good enough for them to go back.

This summer, we had a treat when my college roommate and good friend, Yvonne, came to visit for her birthday. We had a wonderful time. The kids fell in love with her and she’s become Aunt Yvonne. She schooled us in Jamaican cooking and showed us a great time. We went hiking and visited the temple here. I have more pictures I’ll post as soon as I can get them edited.