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.)

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!