D-Day

Well, this is it. We have until maybe lunchtime before we start to see tropical storm force winds. They predict hurricane force for us around 3am. (of course, the absolute middle of the night!) Tom didn't get home until 10 last night so we still have a few heavy things to move into the garage so they don't become missiles. The waves are really kicking up on the island. As tempting as it's always been, I'm really glad I don't live on the coast right now. Woke up at 6 just to check the news. You can too, at www.khou.com. The have a live feed of their newscast. Just heard that the storm is not strengthening like they thought and that it's looking a little ragged. Good news for us! The kids are a little nervous, although so far it's been a big party. Since there's no school today Maddy spent the night with a friend and Regan had a friend stay here. The weather man just announced the eye is supposed to travel right up I45, which we are about 2 miles to the west of. Lovely! I hear Tom up, so I guess I'll go take a shower, maybe my last for a few days (better shave), and begin to get things rolling. More updates later!

Yikes! Ike!

It's looking worse for us up here. Ike continues to track WNW, with projected landfall just west of Galveston. Just got back from my tennis match (priorities, you know), and things are getting crazy! Weather started out very hot and very still. It's now clouding up and a little breezy. Lines everywhere. No gas, no water, no ice, no propane. Store shelves are picked clean. School is cancelled for tomorrow. Only one house in our neighborhood is boarded up. Tom is at work so there's not a whole lot I could do with that anyway. Awful lot of windows in this house.... Big windows... And lots of tall trees...
Scary thing is this is going to be an overnight storm. Everything seems worse at night. We are thinking of riding out the storm hunkered down with several other families. I think the kids would be more at ease that way. (me too) I'll try to take some pics of the weather, maybe some video. I think I can post them on the blog. Gotta go start moving things into the garage, projectiles you know. Check back often. Until the the power goes out this will be the easiest way to keep in touch. Phone lines are already jammed up.

Apparent New Addition to Family

Bear

Jeez, as if we didn't have enough going on.... Tom watched this little guy wander around the neighborhood for weeks. All the evening dog walkers were talking about the poor thing. Didn't seem like the typical "stray." The kids in the neighborhood finally saw him and picked him up. (came right up to the kids, wouldn't go anywhere near adults) We thought we'd be the good samaritans and locate his owners. Problem is, nobody seems to be looking for him. Thought I had a possible adopter, but they backed out. (little baby, no time). I guess the fact that we've named him should give the little guy some sense of security. Although he started out sleeping outside, since he weathered Ike with us he has made his way into the house and has even earned "couch" priviledges.

Watching Ike

Well, we didn't think Ike was going to pose much of a threat to us, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. When we woke up yesterday all of the computer models were sending the storm to the Corpus area. Mom and Dad actually loaded the truck with plywood yesterday evening and headed down to Port Aransas to board up the condo windows and move some furniture to the back bedrooms. That area of the Texas coast has not had any significant hurricane come ashore since I think Hugo in the early 80's. By the time I got home from daily mom activities this afternoon, Ike had tracked further north than anticipated and it now looks like it will hit somewhere near Matagorda Bay. Depending on how far North Ike tracks, Houston/Galveston could be on the "dirty" side of the storm which means we will get more wind and storm surge, not to mention tornadoes. Arrival time looks to be sometime Friday night Saturday morning. Lucky for me I already have a full tank of gas as I hear the lines are already forming. Parts of the coast are already under mandatory evacuations. Safe to say that we will NOT be evacuating this time. Unlike Rita, which forcasted 100+ mph winds where we are, we shouldn't get anything more than tropical storm force, and hopefully some much needed rain! I'm sure the store shelves are already cleaned out of water and canned goods. School districts south of town have already cancelled classes for the rest of the week. This is our local high school's homecoming weekend. How crummy is that? I believe they have already moved the game to Thursday night. Time to get the kids in bed. Choir practice for Maddy starts tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. Ugh!