Happy Birthday Maddy!

We celebrated Maddy's 10th Birthday in San Marcos with the cousins. (Yikes, double digits!!!) Her only request for a gift was a digital camera, which grandma and grandad were kind enough to honor, and a cake that looks like a pink camera. Apparently my cake rendition wasn't so good because Regan just saw the picture and said, "I didn't know that the cake was supposed to be a camera!"

The noise level here with all the kids together is monumental! Perhaps I should ask Santa for some noise cancelling head phones! Mom and dad are out shopping all day today. I think historically they are actually a day ahead of schedule! I keep trying to get out of the house for a awhile, but various siblings kids keeping coming and going and somehow I have ended up as the babysitter of the day. I did have the pleasure of spending an hour or so hollering for our 2 dogs, Daisy and Bear, to come home. The kids let them both out together and in a flash they were gone. Brought back memories of our old dogs moose and sam and how they would disappear together, sometimes for days. After an hour or so they came running back from the neighborhood across the road. Luckily no cars were crossing at the time. They were filthy dirty, apparently they stopped by the tank for a dip during their excursion. It seems they went to invite a few friends over for a party because 2 other dogs just appeared in the yard. Too bad for Daisy and Bear, they're grounded for the rest of the day!

More Snow!

Apparently it kept snowing all last evening. After I put the kids to bed I let the dogs out and was surprised to find everything still coated with snow! Of course I immediately woke the kids up and had them come look. It was gone by this morning though. Everything east of us is still coated with snow and ice and traffic is at a complete standstill. The news is showing lots and lots of accidents. Areas around us got up to 3 inches!

Snow? In Houston?

Ok, so it may not look like much to some folks, but this was cause for lots of giddiness after school today. It was sleeting when the kids got off the bus, and by the time we got got to the house, we actually saw a few flakes. A few minutes later, a few more flakes. We eventually had a pretty nice little snow shower! You could hear the shouts of excitement from all the neighborhood kids outside. Phones were ringing off the wall, "have you looked outside? Its SNOWING!!!!!" It's still coming down, 40 minutes later, but it's more of a heavy flurry now. The kids are already asking, "do we have school tomorrow? Will there be enough to build a snowman? They tried scraping the snow off the chair to gather enough for one little snowball. Maybe one about the size of a large marble. Enjoy it now kids, cause it's gonna be near 60 tomorrow!

Texas Renaissance Festival

We made our annual trek to the Texas Renaissance Festival this weekend. It was a little colder than usual this year. I think the highlight for the kids is always getting their face painted and looking for the scariest/best costume. It took a little bit of convincing for them to have their picture taken with random strangers. I'm always amazed at the "lack" of clothes on some people, especially when it's 50 degrees outside! I guess that's where walking around with a bottle of mead comes in!

Happy Halloween

We had our 4th annual Halloween Party on Grandad's train last weekend.





The kids finally deviated from the Star Wars theme for costumes.






The kids have been getting a little braver the last few years so we stepped up the "scary" part of the party. We made each kid go through the "Haunted Train" alone instead of running in as a gang. There is definately bravery in numbers. Although they won't admit it, I think a few of them were just a little frightened.




Tom's costume was barack the money sucking vampire, and I, of course, was Hillary as the devil.

Gig 'Em Aggies

We took the girls to their first Aggie football game this past weekend. It was very hot, but we had a great time anyway. Aggies won (whoop!) 21-17. It was veterans appreciation day and they opened up a huge flag on the field at halftime. Also had paratroopers jumping out of helicopters and landing in the middle of the field. Very cool.

Here Come the Cavalry!

This is what our neighborhood looked like on Monday and Tuesday. The streets were lined with power trucks. Most were from Conneticut. These guys worked for days getting trees trimmed and power lines restrung. If they weren't working they were crashed in their trucks (with AC on of course! Not used to this heat!) I hope they know how much they are appreciated! Especially since it has warmed up significantly in the last few days. Then yesterday, VOILA! Let there be light! The girls and I were out, but we someone we were with got a phone call that we might have power. I was reluctant to believe it so we made a few calls. And when we got home I flipped the breaker and Regan yelled, "The lights are on!!!". I have never appreciated lights and air conditioning so much! And the day before school starts! So now we're hitting the ground running, school starting, tennis lessons, choir, etc. Life is nearly back to normal! Yeah!

Jumping Ship

Not that conditions were that bad up in our area, but we decided to jump ship. There was no sign of power coming our way. (We've been staying with neighbors who have power) Gas lines and grocery stores are still horrible. We thought a change of scenery would do us some good. We packed up this afternoon and headed to San Marcos. People here keep asking us if we've seen this or heard about that (national news wise). Nope, our world has literally consisted of our neighborhood alone. I gotta admit it's really nice to be able to hit a switch and have light! We did make a trip to Sonic for lunch today. They got a huge truckload of supplies in overnight. Somehow a lime slush from sonic makes everything seem a little more normal. So, we're going to hang out here for the rest of the week, maybe do a little shopping at the outlet mall. I'll call back to Houston before we go back to get a shopping list from everyone and stock up on the way out of town. We've all made a list of things to do differently next time. We really were pretty prepared, just a few things that would have made life a little easier. Perhaps number one on the list should be to leave town!

Recovery

Looks like we made it! Unlike many in our neighborhood, we escaped the wrath of Ike unscathed. Our trees are pretty bare, many leaves stripped from the trees, but no trees through our roof. Sunday was spent cleaning up (after the additional 5 inches of rain Sunday morning moved out). With the exception of downed trees, our neighborhood is pretty much cleaned up. Yards are lined with huge piles of debris and bags. I think we have about 10 bags of nothing but leaves and pine needles, along with a few piles of branches. I thought our neighborhood was hit pretty hard until we ventured out yesterday. Older areas with more trees are a real mess. One street had 3 houses in a row with trees through the houses. The majority of our neighborhood is still without power. Talk about darkess! As you walk down the streets at night or in the morning you hear the hum of the generators about every 8th house. We hear it may be a week before the rest of us get power. We all got water back on Sunday evening. Without water the girls and I would have left real quick! Rumors were flying yesterday that a smattering of businesses were open on the main road near us. We ventured out and believe it or not, Sonic, a Chinese restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, subway, a donut shop and Quiznos were open. And they were hopping! The lines for gas are unbelievable, so we are staying put. Gas lines are getting a little heated, so several neighbors are beginning to carry their guns if they go out. We are eating better than we normally do; everyone is trying to use up the meat from their freezers! Aside from the little inconveniences, things are like they were when we grew up. Kids OUTSIDE riding bikes and playing games. Neighbors outside talking to other neighbors, sharing food, stories,etc. I've met neighbors I've never even SEEN before, and we've been here 6 1/2 years. I feel for the people closer to the coast and east of us. They got hit really hard and it is going to be a long, long time before things are back to normal. Supposedly school will start on Thursday, although I kindof doubt it. I have video to post,but right now I'm headed outside to enjoy the unseasonable cool weather!

Dawn Breaks

7am. You can hear the relief in the newscasters voices that dawn is breaking and Houston is still on the map. Not sure about Galveston, but Houston is still here. Now instead of constant weather reports the newscast is made up of people calling in their damage reports or the “what’s happeining here” reports. Ok, at 5 I thought we were nearly done with this, but I really think it’s almost worse now. The wind is really blowing. Maybe because I can actually SEE the trees bending halfway over. Still not light enough to video. The wind is really ripping through these trees. I saw a branch or something fly by one of our windows. Evidently Ike is not done with us yet. The newscasters say we could see heavy wind until late afternoon. The sound of the wind is constant now. I don’t hear the branches hitting the roof anymore, either they have broken off or we are on the other side of the eye and the wind has shifted. The girls are watching a video on the dvd player, but are getting a little stir crazy. I don’t want them walking around the hosue because of all the windows and I really think the wind is stronger and more consistent now than earlier.

8am. I just heard the storms location on the radio. I guess we were going through the eyewall at 7. A neighbor heard from someone south that another band of high wind and lots of rain headed our way in about an hour. Great. We’ve been looking out the windows and man, what a mess! Branches and leaves everywhere. Our windows are plastered with debris.

9am. Yep, here it comes again. I think we have had wind from every direction and sometimes from more than one at the same time. The girls and I were watching an evergreen bend waaaayyy over when we heard a loud pop. I thought it was another transformer blowing, but then we saw the HUGE pine tree laying across the road a few houses up. I can see a tree snapped in half across the street laying across power lines. Our next door neighbor (who is in Italy for 2 weeks) has a pine tree laying across his roof. Just heard on the walkie that a friend is going to drive the neighborhood to look at damages.
Bad news. It sounds like our neighborhood got hit really hard. Lots of trees are down, and more than a few have damaged houses and garages. We’ll have a lot of cleanup to do.
12 noon – Ok, we’ve been at this for a solid 12 hours now, and it looks to be coming around again. Winds out of the south this time. Just when I thought we were out of the woods with our pine trees. Winds from the south would blow 2 of them right onto our house. We’ve been out walking a little bit. Still lots of rain but it’s nice to get out of the house. And we needed a shower anyway, right? They say maybe by 2pm we’ll be mostly done. I don’t know. I do know the guys are chomping at the bit to play manly man and fire up the chainsaws. Overall, so far so good. I will say it was much worse than I had anticipated. I thought I would be clausterphobic staying in the closet, but last night I felt the smaller the space the better! Don’t think I will do this again. Even though they begged us not to evacuate unless we were asked, I thnk next time I’ll just wait until the last minute and then leave. I still can’t imagine those people that stayed on the Island. I think I’ll turn the radio on to see if they have any reports from down there.
12:45 Still MORE wind. Jeez Ike, get a move on already! Maybe I’ll take a nap.3:00 Finally a break in the wind and rain. As I was getting some clean clothes to put on I heard two very loud power surges. I ran to the window and smoke was pouring out of our across the street neighbors garage. People were running to her house as she was running across the street with her baby. Turns out they have power lines down in their backyard and they are laying in their pool. There apparently was electricity in the grid somewhere and it ended up in their house. Anything plugged in on that side of the street lit up! Their entire electrical panel in their garage was friend. Guess they’ll be staying somewhere else for awhile. After that excitement we drove through the neighborhood to assess damages. Wow. So much worse than I could have imagined. Trees down everywhere (80’ pine trees), through houses , smashing garages and cars. Street signs laying flat on the street. Debris everywhere. And, we are officially without water. Went to brush my teeth and nothing came out. We filled all three bathtubs for just such an event, but come on… and I’ve been hearing that it could be weeks before we get power. Supposedly 2 million people in Houston alone are without power. That was before the storm even went north to Conroe and Huntsville. I guess the next time it rains I’ll take a bar of soap out with me! J The neighborhood is a mess, but people are already beginning to clean up. It would help if the rain would stop for more than 10 minutes at a time.

HANG ON!!

2:25 am. Power flickered several times before it finally went out. It’s really, really dark, and it makes the wind sound that much louder. I moved from the couch into the closet with the girls. I can’t sleep because of the sound of the branches slapping against our roof. It sounds like somebody is running across the ceiling. Every once in awhile we get a really , really strong gust. It’s almost like you can feel Mother Nature taking a giant breath and then blowing as hard and as long as possible, then it pauses, and does it all again. I turned on the battery radio and put he earphone in just to block out the sound of the wind. Starting just before midnight I kept seeing out my window what I thought was lightning. The flashes got more frequent and brighter,but there was never any thunder. After I turned on the radio I realized that the flashes were from the transformers blowing. They flashed all night long. We are going to be without power for a long time. It’s going to be a long night.
3:30 am. I called mom and dad, mainly because I was bored and tired of listeneing to the wind. I think I said “this is ridiculous”. I was surprised I still had cell service. They were right on the money when they said it would really let loose around 3. My phone call woke Maddy up, but at least I had someone to talk to. Daisy was getting a little nervous and walked between the bathroom (where Tom had moved) and the closet. Bear was snug as a bug curled up next to the girls. Regan woke up around 4 and we just started telling stories, to block out the sound of the wind. I didn’t want them to get too scared. I thought we’d all feel better if we could just make It to 5 am, which would, in my mind anyway, kiss the night goodbye and we’d be on the downhill swing to daylight. Bear snores, and has really bad breath. 5am. The neighborhood is starting to come alive via walkie talkie. Talked to a few people I didn’t know. They all start out with, is anybody awake? Is anybody out there? One guy lost his fence, but didn’t get any water in his house. Don’t k now where he lives though. Jim and Lynn came on at 5am and we chatted awhile. It helped to realize that we weren’t the only people riding this thing out. It seemed to be settling down outside with just heavy rain and gusts here and there. I ventured out of the closet for a pantry run, we were all starving!

The Clock Strikes Midnight

As if on cue, the rain began at midnight. Winds are back and forth between calm and gusty, with the gusts getting stronger. I can watch the pine trees blow back and forth out the window. We still have power, (obviously), but I hear people on the walkie talkies talking about flickering lights. The kids are asleep under the stairs with Bear, Tom is asleep in our room, Daisy just came out to keep me company in the family room. I can see the lightning out the window, but it's still pretty far away. I think things are about to kick up a notch or two. Why don't they let these poor newscasters put on regular clothes already? They've been on air since yesterday without break and they are still in their suits.

Things that go bump in the night....

I keep hearing noises from upstairs. Branches hitting the roof maybe? Or maybe the girls rolling over and hitting the wall behind me. Things always sound worse in the dark... Gonna be a long night. The walkie talkies are quiet, so I guess everyone is trying to get a little sleep. I guess I'll sign off for the night and put the laptop out of harms way. See you on the other side of the storm...

Night Settles In

A few pictures of this evenings sunset. Even saw a rainbow. A little eerie. We actually just came back from a hurricane party. I can see why people have them. There is an awful lot of sitting around waiting going on and you just get a little stir crazy. Hanging out with neighbors makes it a little easier. It was a very pleasant evening. Breezy and much cooler. We get a few good gusts every now and then. The kids actually got out the kites and flew them for awhile. Primo conditions for that! One good gust nearly picked our neighbor Carly up by her kite! We are now in for the evening. Everything seems a little worse at night. Girls are getting a little nervous. So is mom. Tom is taking the dogs for their walk. Lots of neighbors still out milling around. We are sharing a walkie talkie channel with our neighbors so we can keep in touch through the storm and call for help if needed. (hopefully not). Doesn't look like I'll be able to get much video of the big winds since its so dark out. We are beginning to be able to hear the wind howl during the big gusts. The weather guys keep saying the sound of the big winds is something you will never forget. Still hoping they don't get that bad up here! 40% of Galveston did not evacuate. Crazy people. Probably crazy dead people by morning. The storm surge was much worse much earlier than they had anticipated. We are high here so water should not be a problem, unless it's rain coming through a hole in the roof. :) Ok, forgive the layout of the pics. I can't figure out how to fix it without starting over. Still hoping for a turn EAST!

The Waiting Game

And so we sit and wait, and wait, and wait. A little breeze now and again, but that's about it. Regan and some of her friends are modeling their Take a Hike Ike t-shirts. Just got back from the neighbors where we played a rousing game of scrabble while the guys tossed the football around. Tom just cracked open a beer. Galveston is getting hammered with the storm surge, but we're just playing the waiting game. Winds are now forcast for 80+ mph up here. These pines are looking a little more precarious... About 5-10 houses in the neighborhood are boarded up now. Some people just left, (who knows to where, but they left their dog), without putting much of anything away, so we walked the streets and put things away for them. Just may have saved some of our windows.

Prelude

It's almost noon, and the wind has begun to pick up. Just little gust here and there. The clouds are starting to build as well. So far it's a big party for the kids. They all got together and set up a lemonade stand earlier, now they are at a neighbors decorating hurricane t shirts.
Here is a picture out our back window to the south. You can see the clouds starting to build. Nothing much yet.







Tom decided to board up our bathroom window so we have a little bigger room to hide in. Several people in the neighborhood have boarded up all their windows. Too late now! If you have internet access, check out the live feed from khou.com. They are on the Galveston seawall, which is 17' high. the water is to the top of the wall and when the waves hit it they shoot up like a geyser. Very impressive. Just want to know who the idiots are that are walking their dogs out there and taking pictures in front of the waves!

Calm Before the Storm

I think we're done with our last minute preps. If it's not attached, it's in the garage. Blue skies and calm winds outside. Notice the beautiful tall pine trees. Tom is heading in to check on his patients one last time. The waves in Galveston are splashing OVER the 15-17 foot seawall. Who are the crazy people still driving along that rode? There was one town along the bay they were saying really didn't need to evacuate. At 6 this morning the newscasters were telling them to get up and get out.

This is our closet under our stairs, and I guess will be our "home" during the storm. (it was full, floor to ceiling, of christmas decorations and just random stuff) Doesn't look like a whole lot of room for 4 people and 2 dogs. Sorry Regan, we can't take the fish in there with us.