I was looking over my list of 101 things because I realized I have been a big old slacker and really need to get moving on some of them! It reminded me that my number 11 might not happen this go around:

11. Have Beignets in the French Quarter in New Orleans

We had our trip scheduled for November 6 – 10 and I was SO excited. I am simply heartbroken over what happened there and that I never got to see the city that these people loved so much. So for the time being, number 11 will be postponed to the next 101 things list.

One of the things about having a public blog is that you realize you are putting things out there for anyone and everyone to see. From your mother in law to your next door neighbor to the weird guy in 7-11. Really, anyone could read it. Sometimes that is a little weird but you get past it quickly enough.

Being the terribly nosy person that I am, I check my website stats every once in a while. Okay, more like every other day. Okay, maybe every day. ANYWAY. I check them to see who is linking to me, how visitors got to my site and what phrases they used in search engines to find me.

I always wonder what people think when they wind up on my site or blog while looking for “snopes greenies” (Snopes was mentioned in a comment and I had a picture of Truman with his Greenie) or “Manny’s Little Elm” (a fav Mexican place in Texas – we are still trying to find it’s equal in Ohio) or “Heath Brownie” (a recipe posted a while ago).

Then there are the phantom links…the ones that you have no idea what they are because they are either protected (like a private message board or Live Journal post) or the email “show message” links.

So, if you are linking to me or found me through a random search and are still trying to figure out how you got here, say hello, won’t you?

One of the things that comes to light after natural diasters is the need for insurance. There is a great article on Money.com on insurance and making sure you are up to date on your coverages – it is absolutely worth the read:

The worst kind of wake up call

A special note for those who rent – GET RENTER’S INSURANCE.
I know a lot of people don’t think they need insurance if they don’t own a house. I got it when I moved to NYC and was really glad that I did when it started to RAIN IN MY APARTMENT – in my second story apartment in a building that had six stories. Stupid super broke a pipe and flooded the apartment above mine – the water that came down through the smoke detector was not a pretty color and it killed my couch and chair. Then the kitchen ceiling fell in 2 weeks later and killed my toaster. That really wasn’t fun BUT because I had insurance, I got a new couch! And chairs! And toaster oven! Bottom line is renter’s insurance is cheap, like $250 a year cheap, a lot cheaper than replacing everything you own.

Obviously, with Katrina and her aftermath, we have seen the worst of humanity – the looting going on, the shootings that have been reported.

I will say though, sometimes situations like this bring out the best in humanity too – Craigslist in New Orleans has a board for people who want to help those displaced by Katrina. The sheer number – hundreds and hundreds – of people offering their homes, food, shelter and comfort to complete strangers is overwhelming.

It moves me to tears to think about it…