Linda is quickly becoming the 5th member of our family…she fits right in and seems to be adjusting well. She’s made friends at her new school, and in the neighborhood. She loves going for walks on the beach and swimming in the pool. She’s getting good grades in school and she keeps her room clean, does her chores (doing her laundry, cleaning her bathroom and vacuuming bedroom, helping with Jack, and taking trash out), and helps around the house. She does her homework each day at the kitchen table, chatting to us and telling us about her day. 

She had one of her friends from school over for dinner last week because she wanted us to meet him. And she tried corn on the cob and Key Lime Pie for the first time!

A week after moving Paige into her new apartment in Tallahassee (and stocking her fridge and freezer with tons of food to last her a while), Hurricane Hermine paid a visit to the college town and left trees down and thousands without power. 

Paige and her roommates wisely decided to evacuate the power-less town (nothing was open, traffic lights not working, roads closed) and come home for the weekend – hoping that power would be restored when they returned. A couple of Paige’s friends who couldn’t easily travel to their homes (Miami and CT) came too. 

The girls had fun. They had a beach day and we all helped Linda make a fabulous Italian dinner one evening. 

FSU resumed classes today, even though thousands are still without power in Tallahassee, including Paige. I was not happy about having to send her back to a hot, smelly apartment (all the food we bought her and stocked the fridge and freezer with had rotted in the heat) with no electricity, air conditioning, hot water, or any way of cooling or cooking food. Frankly, I’m appalled that it has been 6 days and there is still no power but I am even more disappointed in Florida State University for not having the empathy or common sense to wait until power was restored before requiring the students to return to town for classes. 

I’m extremely disappointed in FSU and unhappy that it appears the City of Tallahassee decided student apartments should be the last to have power restored…but I’m hopeful that it will, finally, be restored today.