mmm blue nitrile gloves are so hot....

day 2 of living in the top two floors of 237:

tonight i had one of the greatest showers of my life. it was just above freezing cold because my dad turned off the hot water heater when he came 2 weeks ago. i've never had a bucket of icewater dumped on me (not that i remember at least), but it was just like that. we instinctively gasp for air and start shaking when shocked with cold water. but that was exhilarating. it forced me to breathe - taking the biggest, most productive breaths. it was as if i hadn't breathed in the last 3 weeks. i don't think i have. i recommend a really cold shower, just to clear your mind.

tonight, dad and i were clearing out the cabinets in our den. the cabinets underneath the giant wall of bookcases. he was taking care of the liquor cabinet, and i was taking care of the games and videos (most of which were still dripping water and/or growing mold). he pulled out a bottle of whiskey (i think) that had this great schwegman's label. SCHWEGMANS! classic. still drinkable whiskey, my dad promised, and i carefully wiped down the bottle with diluted bleach to make sure the mold was gone. he then pulled out this bottle - herbsainte, i think - but it had on the label "THE new orleans spirit" and "served at the old absinthe house, new orleans, louisiana." dad then proceeded to explain to me what absinthe was (ha. oh absinthe... it makes the heart grow fonder), and how when they made it illegal, this particular liquour is what was served. key ingredient in the szazerac. i made sure i kept that bottle. now, my father was a bartender in grad school, so he does enjoy his spirits - like any good new orleanian - so i hoped that him telling these stores would put "good thoughts" in his head about our city.

we have been on a roll - punching through walls, pulling out sheetrock that was still damp and insolation that was still sitting in a pool of water. gross. but hopefully, when we pulled out all the wet stuff, it stopped the mold from colonizing our entire first floor. (i had my first storm nightmare last night - it involved me waking up scratching, thinking my body, my pajamas, my bed, my sheets, my walls, and all the furniture in my room were covered with mold. it was pretty awful) we moved all the furniture, including two pianos (ours and my grandmother's - it's not weird, i promise), trying to make sure we got to all the walls. i sprayed EVERY hole we made and the walls with bleach. lots and lots of bleach. from the outside, our house looked fine. no roof damage, and the oak tree just lost a lot of branches. but upon closer inspection, it looked like the bricks had actually shifted slightly off the slab, as if something had hit it. well, i guess that's what sustained hurricane winds of over 140 mph will do. we do have the neatest pile of trash on the block, we decided. mr. don from across the street was the impartial judge and he concurred. good for us.

i've learned more about construction and demolition in the last 2 days than i have ever wanted to know.

i need to do something super-feminine now - like get a pedicure or facial or go get dressed up for no reason.