Take A Hike Ike

(Written: Thursday, September 18th, 2008)

Well, we survived the horrible visit of hurricane Ike. I have lived in Houston all of my life and have been through hurricanes before but this was the first one that I have been through where I am the adult in charge. It is not fun to be the one in charge of making sure your family pulls through a hurricane safe and sound. Pretty much I just sat on the couch with my arms wrapped around my legs and watched out the window as the outside world was blown around by 90 mile per hour winds. I did finally go to bed with a sense of, "What happens will happen and I have no control over it". I went to sleep and woke many times to assess the damage through the window. I looked out the back door and the back and side fences was gone. I thought, "Well, we needed a new one anyway". I looked out the front to see a tree down in my neighbors front yard and thought, " Well, at least it didn't hit their house, as far as I can see". When morning arrived we were all safe and sound and no damage to the house. We were extremely lucky. We had no electricity and this lasted for 2 1/2 days. Seriously, we all take electricity for granted and it is the greatest invention ever!!!! Thank you Ben Franklin!! Our neighborhood, which is full of tall trees, looked as though a bomb had gone off. Tree limbs, leaves and in some places entire trees were covering the streets and yards throughout. It was a sight.

Funny Story (well not funny haha but more funny ironic).......

Well we are sitting in the Texas heat with out electricity for 1 1/2 days and my mom calls to let me know that they have electricity. She tells us to pack up and come stay with her. Let me tell you, she doesn't have to ask us twice. I packed every one's stuff in record time and we were in the Weasel Wagon before you could turn around, headed for Pearland. This seemed odd to me since we were much further away from the coast then she was but "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" is what I always say. We arrive to her air conditioned, television blasting abode and it seemed like paradise. We wallowed in the lap of luxury all day and even took a nap with covers piled on top of us. It was awesome. We finally wound down for the night. Kids got their baths and were put to bed. Craig and I settled into the upstairs living area to watch some television. Right when we were about to get comfortable, "BOOM", no lights. The electricity went out and did not come back on. I started thinking that this was some sort of punishment for being too comfortable when others had lost everything. We decided to go to bed and maybe it would come back in the morning. Morning came and no electricity. The miracle though was the cold front that came. The weather outside was awesome. It was about 70 degrees and the wind was blowing. We could open the windows and be most comfortable. We decided to head back to our house to do some more clean up and clear out our fridge, since by now the food was most likely rank. When we got home the block parties were still in full swing. Everyone was outside, kids playing, adults gossiping, it was a blast. A Reliant Energy truck drove down our street and then turned around to leave. We all screamed and waved and the poor Reliant guy shouted out his window, " Sorry, wrong street". We all hoped he was kidding but he kept going and didn't return. We all agreed that next time they come down our street we would make a human chain and block them in until our electricity was back on. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was sitting out front with everyone chatting it up when I saw something strange. I exclaimed, "Is that a light on on that porch and that porch and that one too?!?!?" It was! I looked back at my house and the light was on in my garage. "We have electricity!", I yelled at the top of my lungs. It was awesome. You would have thought we had all won the lottery with the celebration that was happening in the middle of the street. It wasn't long before everyone cleared out and was now inside enjoying the luxury of electricity. Needless to say we all slept well that night.

We are all trying to get back to our normal lives. Some of our friends and family still do not have electricity. I have offered many people to stay with us but everyone wants to stay put and ride it out with the hopes that soon the electricity will be back up and running. The good thing is the weather is still nice so sleeping with the windows open is still comfortable, according to them. The offer is still open. My thoughts and prayers are still with all the people who had it way worse than we did. There were a lot of people who's since of "back to normal" is a long time away.

Back Fence...Gone!

Side Fence......Gone!