Catching up...

So much to say, so little energy left.

The last three weeks have been a blur. There was a week of watch and see what's going to happen before the hurricane. Then the hurricane. What an experience I could have lived without! Then there's the week of life after the hurricane. No power, no stores open, no normal life. Then, there was this week. Thankfully our power was restored, even though we've had a few scares with it since then.

My folks got their power back too. I'm still amazed since they had a tree fall on the power line. The line didn't break until they started trimming the tree. We honestly figured, that would delay the fix even longer. I guess the dangling wires caused the power company to put them to the top of the list because they got power.

My in-laws, serious AC addicts, are still without. So are over 400K people. It is amazing to me that it has taken so long, that the energy company has had such a difficult time predicting how long the wait will be and that so many are still without. Some people are being told mid-October before their power is restored. The power company claims crews are working 24 hours. However, for two days now, at around 7 PM we see the trucks streaming out of town in route back to their command center. We have yet to see any crews working past dark.

I understand the hardest hit areas -- areas that were evacuated, but everyone I know on the coast had their power restored within days of the storm. Many, many people right around me waited for over a week.

Electricity is such a luxury in life, it's a shame we are all so dependent on it. Our homes simply are not built to be in the dark. My grandparents home in the country, it was built so that the windows catch breezes that can completely go through the house. Not so here in town.

Somewhere I have pictures from things we saw. Like the birds, including a beautiful little hawk, the morning after the storm. The wind would still gust and the birds knew they could not fly. I do not know where all of the little animals hid, but I was thankful to see squirrels and birds in our yard after the storm.

Then there's Galveston. The island. There's a few very realistic people, they knew the chance they took having homes out there. It's still very sad to me, to see that they have lost everything, they have no where to live and only the belongings they took with them. I am certain as days go by and they allow more residents to return, they will find more bodies. There were people who had stayed for other storms and they took a chance again. This one was just too much. Sad, sad, sad.

We have yet to finish our clean up. Our evenings had been filled with hunting fuel to keep the generators running. We had to have the generators to keep the business going.

Business. So many small business still do not have power, they still cannot operate. People in the retail and restaurant business who could not work for more than a week, they simply did not get paid. Unemployment has shot up, of course.

I am eager to watch the rebuilding process, here and in Galveston. Hopefully we'll be able to dodge another one for 25 years. (It had been 25 since Alicia, a big one that happened when we were little.)

Normal

I'm a very normal person. Life is not normal right now. I like my drama-free existence. I'm ready for it to return.

We have not had power since 2:57 AM Saturday, September 13. The fun is over, the excitement left long ago.

Ready for easy going to come back. I promise to appreciate it even more than before.

Ike Status Report

I'm exhausted and we've got to start early tomorrow. Thanks for all the offers of a place to stay -- it's nice to know we're loved! :) By the way, anyone hanging out in here and looking for company, we'll be home! Last time (Rita) we had Noah's Ark going at our house, but looks like it'll just be us. So, come on by!

Daniel & his dad got the generator hooked up to the house today. I'm not exactly sure how it is supposed to work -- not sure that Daniel is either -- but hopefully, if/when we loose power, we just flip a switch and the house gets powered by the generator. Or, of course, the house blows up, electrically speaking that is ;)

Dad had a very successful evening. He got their house boarded up, just in case. Of course, when I was there tonight, I said, "Dad, you can't leave all of this, ummm, stuff, out in your yard. It will fly around and crash into things." His reply was, "Well, that's why I boarded up the windows!" Of course he was kidding, I think, but they have lots of plants and little things to finish up tomorrow morning. Well, he does, because mom has these crazy little old ladies that need their hair done before they get blown away by Ike. Go figure! Anyway, kudos to my pop -- he worked from 5 AM - 2 PM and immediately went outside and started working on the house!

We have our emergency stuff to pack up. I had been in denial, and in our house, one box of the important papers turns into a "truckload" of things we just could not live with out. Plus, we have to empty the shed to dig out the boards. We also have our "missiles" outside that must be put away. But, I'm confident we can handle it. Most of our customers are closed tomorrow, and while it made today difficult, tomorrow our work load should be a little lighter.

We have had no local TV since last night, which I think is absurd! I mean, I didn't even get to listen to "The View" today! :) Tonight, I tried to listen for the 10 PM update, but they had some news conference and I never heard a forecast. Someone referred me to the National Hurricane Center and suggested that we look there for more accurate hurricane info. There's also another site -- that shows the wind speeds we can expect in our zip codes.

Well, I've bored you all enough with our trials and tribulations. Of course, with Daniel, everything has been much funnier than my email has indicated.

If you don't hear froms us, know that we're safe and will be "bunkered" in by tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Take care everyone!

I think I figured it out...

I think I was on an Olympic high??? I miss them...

Here today, gone tomorrow....

Can you believe it takes over 3 hours for my slow little hands to decorate a cake? Would you believe that someone put "handi-wrap" right over it to cover it up? I couldn't believe it. I didn't actually attend the birthday party, so when I looked at the picture on the camera, I asked why it looked so funny. Oh, well, of course, that's the plastic wrap on the cake. What else could it be???



At least there was no real damage. Here's what it looked like after the plastic wrap was removed.



The practice cake was made with two types of icing -- old stuff out of the freezer, and new stuff, out of, umm, a little plastic container. The colors looked much better in the picture than on the real cake. Since I knew one cake would probably not be enough for all of the people, I knew cupcakes or another small cake would be needed. We did 2 McQueen cakes. We were going to make a Sally, but McQueen just didn't look good enough to only have the practice one. Just in case you're wondering, I am not sure if either cake tasted good.



My dad had a wreck yesterday in his truck. Today we found out it would be a total loss. He's ok, and that's all that matters to me.

Lately...

Lately, I have not been a nice person. I have actually avoided public places, social gatherings, or other events where I may have to be nice. It's really sad, but I just think my "niceness" has expired, or ruined. I don't know what to do to get it back. I am sure that this is no way for a person to co-exist in a world with other people.

This weekend I left town. There was a hurricane coming. It was going to be bad. There was a HUGE area of possible impact. I'm certain millions of dollars were spent evacuating people and pets from the most likely impact area. Well, hurricanes...lately, they are just another item on my grumpy list. Lately, I'm tired of doing the responsible thing. (Some people felt that it would be more responsible of me to cancel my plans and sit home and wait to prepare for a hurricane that would not really affect our area.)

Lately, I'm tired of doing things for other people. I have lost the desire to donate to charities, offer meals to the homeless, or simply go beyond the bare minimum of what is required of me.

Lately, it ticks me off at myself for acting in such a selfish way. I remember a couple of years ago, I had the same problem. A good friend of mine, a mentor in many ways, put it to me quite simply. He said quit doing things for people and expecting something in return. Lately, I've had a hard time remembering that.

Maybe it's a midlife crisis? Am I old enough for one of those?

Hopefully, I had a good enough time over the weekend that I can get over it - at least some of it! I had a great holiday weekend. I'm glad that the hurricane, lack of dog sitters and just sheer worry did not keep me home this weekend. Lately I worry way too much...