Our Christmas vacation, which consisted of a long drive to California to visit my family in Fort Bragg, and Megan's brother in Marin County, turned very expensive when a December 29th phone call (Mike's birthday) from our dogsitter Rick in Albuquerque gave us the news that Hannibal was sick again. Vet visits and lots of attention later, Hannibal is better and we have a big bill. Not only that, but our clutch burned out in Kingman, Arizona on the way back. We limped into Albuquerque and got it fixed for $750. Ouch!

Aren't I the youngest 42 you've ever seen? Or perhaps the oldest looking 22 year old you've ever seen?

Some weeks ago, Sarah James made a first visit to Albuquerque when she came down to visit and stay with us. Now she has made her second visit, to visit a friend named Bill. She celebrated Thanksgiving Day with us and our friend Anne Avellone, and we all had a nice Thanksgiving feast at Anne's house and watched a movie, Wet Hot American Summer. She even forgave Mike for messing up the ingredients to the very popular green bean casserole that everybody but him seems to know about.

Megan and Michael will be celebrating with Hannibal on the occasion of his 15th birthday on Tuesday, November 15th. If you want to send Hannibal birthday wishes, e-mail us at megan_and_michael@hotmail.com. In the next day, we will be uploading pictures of Hannibal over his 15 years. In the meantime, if you want to read about Hannibal, go to our tribute pages!

We just found in a Google search this morning that Stephen Holzenthal and his wife Julie were among the people who waited at the New Orleans Convention Center for days to be evacuated. Besides not having food nor water, and dealing with the gangs preying on people after dark, it was made more stressful because their newborn baby had been in a neonatal unit in a city hospital. The article stated that the baby had been evacuated to Alabama, but Stephen and Julie were left behind. While I'm reasonably sure that they had been evacuated, I'm not sure if they have been reunited with their daughter, Zoe. Stephen was with Mike in the UNO Political Science program. To see the articles, go to the following links:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/343246p-293107c.html

http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1125700443150140.xml&storylist=alabamanews

Mike was able to find Les White in El Dorado, Arkansas tonight. We also received e-mail confirmation from Lacey Hoagland that her mother, Susan Hoagland, is safe in Austin, TX.

Les told us that Gertraud Griessner and her family will move temporarily to Washington state and enroll their children in school there.

CNN and Fox are just reporting that National Guard troops are finally moving into New Orleans. Finally. After 5 days in which people have been starving, thirsting and dying, finally the troops and relief are moving in. I don't know what is wrong with our federal agencies and administration, but their inaction over five days allowed the city to descend into anarchy, and left people desperate. This is not to denigrate the efforts of the Coast Guard and other rescue workers who pulled people off roofs. That is very important. The needed relief effort was missing, and people died as a result.

For current news on New Orleans right from the source, go to www.nola.com

The following New Orleans friends we know are safe presently:

Alice, Dave Becker, Collin, Ursula Daxecker and family, Mike Edwards, Fritz Esker, Richard Engstrom, Brenda and Kevin Fitzpatrick and family, Autumn and Mike Giusti, Gertraud Griessner and family, Patrick Hall, Susan Howell, Dave Lektzian, Russell McCulley, Francisco Mercado, Holly Miller and Jimmy, David Neubauer, Chad Nilson, Megan Osterbur, Amy Poteete, Hannes Richter, Matt and Janet Rousso, Jeremy Sanders, Corina Schulze, Steven Shull, Amy Steigerwalt, Denise Trowbridge and husband, Nora Wall and family

Some people we haven't heard from and would like to:

Corey, Dustin Berna, Sarah Birney, Christine Day, Charles Hadley, Susan Hoagland, Stephen Holzenthal, Michael Huelshoff, Brian and Bridget Peters, Les White, Xinwu Zhou and family

Anita Scholze, who met Mike and Megan when she came over to Milwaukee in the early 1990s for an urban immersion experience, has gotten married in her hometown of Jena, Germany. Anita currently lives in France with her new husband Martin and two children. Congratulations, Anita! At left, the lovely bride and her husband.

For a fun and interesting story involving Anita during her first visit to the U.S., click here to go to our Thoughts page.