I knew it would happen sooner or later. My sister and her family have headed back to LA. My brother-in-law called late Tuesday last week to let my sister know the power was back on and it was okay for her and the kids to return home. They left on Thursday to make sure that Rita wasn't going to be a problem for them.

My sister had a rough ride home I guess. She stopped about 100 miles from home to get gas, and none was to be found. Every gas station she stopped at was out of gas. She finally stopped and asked a local where she might be able to find some and was able to fill up at a Mom and Pop store. Phew. I happened to call her as this was going on and thought she had made pretty good time considering.

She called later on to let me know she made it home okay, but said for whatever reason it took her an hour to get from the exit she gets off on to her house. Mind you this is only a matter of maybe five miles from the exit to her house, so this was a big deal. She said she wasn't sure what was going on but figured it was probably due to the power in her area being back up and running, people heading home from out of town.

My nephew is to start back to school the first week of October. He is ready to go, he says he wants to get back so he can play soccer with his friends. For a six year old that is saying a lot. :)

My sister says that there aren't very many stores open yet, and a lot of the ones that are open are still required to close at dark, so things are definately not back to normal in her area. I'm sure she is glad to be home, and I can't say as I blame her after being displaced for a month. I was very sorry to see them go though.

It's amazing how quickly you adjust to difficult situations and having a two year old and a six year old in the house when you aren't used to it is something else. Thursday night, my first night by myself again I couldn't sleep. Couldn't hear the kids in the living room playing. How silly is that? :)

Needless to say, I have a empty nest again and have been trying to get back to the things that are "normal" for me. Cleaning up the house, and trying to get caught up on my posts that I wasn't able to do while the family was here.

Life is about adjustments, we all have to make them. Unfortunately for some the adjustment isn't over yet. This mess with hurricanes Katrina and Rita will wiegh heavy on the minds of a lot of people for a very long time.

God Bless all who are suffering through these trying times. Don't think you are alone. There are a lot of us out there in this world who are thinking about you, and praying for you.

Back to the mundane for me. Laundry is calling, the question is weather or not I want to answer. (nope.)

Sidenote: The University of Alabama is doing thier part to help in the aid of the hurricane victims, for more information go to Rolltide.com.