So Friday night was so weird as we sat around with no work no school just waiting for the storm to start. We watched it slowly creep our way across the TV screen. Jason cleaned the house just to maintain some sense of control. We didn't know what to expect, and after the let-down of Gustav (which I wanted to evacuate for) we weren't sure Ike was going to show up. But he did! Here is the night before:
We had our candles ready and the kids were nervous, but everyone went to bed really well in their own rooms. Here is what the sunset looked like that night:
All week I had been developing a cold, and after work and getting ready for the storm I was so wasted. So I went to bed saying a prayer that I would be able to sleep. Jason was in total man mode and roamed the house all night. Ike arrived at around 3 am but only Jason was up to witness it. He brought Kat down to our bed cause the wind was hitting her room so hard. As for the rest of the house, we were really protected by our neighbors that bore the brunt of it. The power went out around 4 am and in the morning we were confident it wouldn't be that big a deal. So we ate instant oatmeal and capri suns (so we didn't have to open the fridge- we have a gas stove so we could boil water, and the water never ran out) and tried to keep the kids entertained by painting and doing crafts.
We weren't sure how much we could get out and about, the radio was telling us to stay at our houses and their was an imposed curfew. We had a walkie talkie with my brother so we knew they were ok. All day we hung out. We heard others on the walkie talkie asking who had beer and wanted to hang out. It was really hot and sticky and that night the mosquitoes came in. It was such a long night! The next day we got out and here are some of the things we saw!
This was a framed house in our subdivision.
A closed gas station, like so many.
This poor guy lives right behind our neighbors and had a huge tree fall on his house.
Here are the crews trying to get the trees off the line and restore power.
I can't even explain what it's like to be cut off from the world and not know when life is going to get back to normal. We count our blessings that everyone we know is doing ok and we share what we can. By Sunday I had to make contact and I found out that a neighbor in the ward just a half mile away had power so we spent the day and night at their place. Thankfully God's grace sent us a cold front on Monday and it was a record low temperature. By then people were getting out a little more and we had actually found a Subway open in Tomball and had a nice lunch. We were able to save some of our fridge stuff at our friends house but supplies in the city are low. There isn't much gasoline and hardly and decent food. You can get a lot of soda and junk but I know my body is starting to crave nutrients! The school is out for all of this week and who knows when it will be open again! The best part of all this is meeting our neighbors and taking care of eachother. On Tuesday we made a little movie theater in our car and the adults played cards on the driveway:
I started reading the Swiss Family Robinson to inspire me to suck it up! It really helped! You can tell I didn't get much sleep since Thursday! (Or had a blow dryer) But that evening around 5pm we got power. We were dancing in the streets!! Then in the morning we had cable and internet! So finally we know what is going on out there! It is sad that the rest of the country probably doesn't even know what's happening but I am content that locally everyone is coming together. And then the trash man came! Everyday brings us another miracle. Thanks to everyone who kept us in your prayers and I just want to say how much I miss you and took you all for granted! I am sorry. Thanks Ike for what you've taught me.... hopefully this will be the last lesson we have to learn this season!
I don't know if the pictures do her justice but she looks like a Dr. Seuss dog to me. She is some kind of terrier.. she is short haired with long hair on her face and feet. I know we are big dog people but right now with all I have going on I wanted a low maintenance dog. And her temperament along with her size makes her perfect for us. It was so cool eating dinner with a dog in the room who wasn't under my armpit! And she can't even reach the toilet! It's a whole new dog experience! It's only been 5 hours but we haven't even heard a peep from her yet. As for her name- the rescue kennel was calling her peaches but the kids named her Lilo. We like the Hawaiian sound so Lilo it is!
