How It Went Down

Well, Hurricane Ike was quite an experience. We prepared early and I baked and cooked all day before the storm. We knew that if we lost power we would still be able to cook on our cook top since it is gas and that we would still have water because of the generators at the Katy water plants. I bought groceries to cook on the stove, loaded up both freezers and coolers with bags of ice, etc. We discussed having Shelby and I leave. But we did not know how far or to where we should go? The predictions for the storm were all over the place. We decided to stay put. Friday afternoon when Shelby woke up from her nap she was burning up and had a terribly snotty nose. The child had not been sick since January and she picked the day of a hurricane to get sick?? Grandma checked her out and said she had a cold. Once again Ross and I discussed Shelby and I leaving but we were only a few hours from the storm coming in. I was afraid that without a/c Shelby would get worse. It was a little late at that point so we stayed put. About 7 that night our lights went out. It was not really even blowing yet?? We went next door to a hurricane party and I called over to grandma and grandpa's and they still had power. We decided that Shelby and I should head over to grandma and grandpa's and Ross wanted to stay and look after the house. I called Ross around 9pm to see what he was up to with no power. He said he was making macaroni and cheese. I bought it just for the storm. I knew he would be excited! The power came on about that time.

Shelby had as much fun as could be expected at grandma's house. She got to play with her cousin Tink (the dog) also known as Tink the Stink. She really loved Tink and by the end of the hurricane they were walking around the house together. Shelby would chase Tink and then Tink would chase Shelby.

Shelby and I slept with grandma and Shelby had a rough night since she was sick. She woke up around midnight crying and what did she want....Tink. She finally went back to bed and woke up at 4 and wanted to play. I think she woke up because I was laying in bed texting back and forth to Ross about how bad the storm was and this is about the time the power went off. We let Shelby play in bed and we had a flash light on so she could see. Grandma pulled the sheet over her head and pulled it off real quick and to our amazement Shelby said, "Peekaboo". I am glad Grandma was there to witness it so Ross doesn't think I'm crazy by myself. She said it clear as day!!!! She ended up playing for 2 hours in bed. We put her bag on the bed and she is really great at unpacking. She was throwing diapers and clothes all over the place.

If Shelby would have slept I would have slept right thru Ike. First of all, I can sleep thru anything. I know the Johnson's know about Ross' snoring. Second, grandma and grandpa's house is cinder blocks and concrete so you really couldn't hear much.

We woke up to a disaster zone. There were leaves, branches and trees everywhere. I think they lost 6 trees over 15 acres. One tree was lodged in the front gate and Ross and dad cut it out and moved it so we could get out. Grandpa started the generator in the morning and we watched the news report on Galveston and grandpa hooked up some sort of small blower thing that felt like an a/c. We were doing pretty good. We walked out on to the porch and walked around the side of the house and noticed that one of the a/cs was running. The lights had come on!!!!!!!

Shelby was sad to leave grandma, grandpa, and Tink but she was happy to see her Daddy. We went home to a disgusting pool and one small limb down. The five miles between our house and grandma's was covered with down trees and fences. It was a lot of damage. A little cleaning and some chemicals and our pool was crystal clear the next day. We ended up getting 6 inches of rain Saturday morning after the storm.

We were very lucky, the people in Galveston, not so much! What would possess anyone to stay on an island that is about to take a direct hit from a hurricane??? That is another blog in itself.

Well, Shelby still has her snotty cold but I think she is slowly getting better and now grandma is REALLY sick. Sorry grandma!!! Grandma keeps saying it wasn't Shelby but we know better.

Our other house fared well also. Just a small limb down. The renters cleaned it up before we could even get over to look at the other house and they helped all the neighbors clean up. They seem like great people and the neighbors seem to like them.