Ever had one of those days...

When you just feel plain "bleh"? Today was one of those days. I didn't feel much like going out into the neighborhoods so decided to stay in and field phone calls instead. There is no time for sitting around these days though -- so even on the 'bleh' days I have to find a way to get something accomplished. When all else fails: paint!

We finished getting the first coat on the living room and hall walls today and started slapping some paint on in the master bath as well. We were thinking once we get all the paint on downstairs we will focus on just one room at a time. We'll start with the laundry room. It's small and will give us a self-confidence boost if we can finish it... and besides it's one of the most used rooms in the house -- second only to the kitchen.

Dave jetted out to the local Lowe's Home Improvement store to pick up the cabinets for our laundry room. Of course, they only had one in stock - but he placed an order for the rest and they should be in sometime between tomorrow and the turn of the century.

Someone asked me this afternoon how we can afford to go buy cabinets for the laundry room. The answer escapes me. I uh... don't know? Actually I'm not sure that we can at all... Not in the grand scheme of things anyway. But a few months ago we figured out that if we stopped to worry about such things we were never going to get anything done. It is a given that we have been at least $100,000 short on cash since the infernal storm struck. We have fully accepted it. We have embraced it. We understand. Therefore -- a few cabinets for the laundry room seem so inconsequential.

We have a solid (if not touched by post-Katrina lunacy) financial plan at this point in our lives: We are going to make repairs to the house until we run out of money.

Earlier this evening I purchased and downloaded the 2006 National Repair & Remodeling Estimator. We have had such a difficult time getting actual estimates for the work that needs to be done -- it seemed to be the logical thing to do. I spent hours pouring over measurements and materials lists and found absolutely nothing surprising about the outcome. Yep. Still about $100,000 short... So - why not buy some cabinets, ya know?

We have to have written estimates in the event that we will actually be allowed to apply for one of the community block grants that Governor Barbour and Rep. Taylor have been talking about for the last couple of weeks... I didn't waste my time then. We have also contacted the SBA and asked for a copy of their report concerning our losses. I'm curious to find out how our estimate compares to theirs. We may get that report sometime before the turn of the century too.

Ahh.. all this talk of money. It may as well be monopoly money. The figures are not real to us... not our figures - not the city figures, county figures, coastwide figures... They're unfathomable. Words. It elicits nothing more in me than when William runs into the kitchen wielding a scribbled on scrap of paper saying "Mom! You owe me six hundred billion trillion dollars." Okay honey - check is in the mail.

But here it is -- I always come back to this: I sit here tonight and tell myself we are among the lucky ones. What about all of those out there staring at the same astronomical figures... in a much less fortunate financial position? What about the ones who are simultaneously staring at a slab? Yep. We're lucky. I guess that's one of the reasons we have felt so driven to do something with our time and energy other than mope.. whether it's working on the house ourselves -- or trying to find ways to help those around us.

From my perspective it seems that what the Gulf Coast needs right now more than anything is a giant sweeping morale boost. How will that happen? Where will it come from? How do you put a price tag on that?