Good People

Just a quick little post .... we still have power and have kept our cable now, so I think we're good to go! However we do have friends in Katy without power. It is really strange because there doesn't seem to be a rational method to figure out who does or doesn't have electricity. It is really "random"! A house here a few there.... go figure!

I have spent most of the day coordinating needs for families that aren't "good to go". I have been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from so many people willing to share freezer space, stoves, ovens, washers, dryers and anything else someone may need. It truly is remarkable how "good" people are. Even the media has been touched by the generosity and compassion of the people of Houston.
School was not in session today and is canceled for tomorrow as well. They should be back on track for Wednesday. Scott has been busy helping people clear their yards and driveways of tree branches,etc. The kids have enjoyed the time from school and made good use of it with sleep overs and get togethers with or without electricty. They don't seem to mind!

Galveston was devastated by the storm.

Marci went to Walmart with her girls this morning to do their grocery shopping and said they had NO refrigerated or frozen food at all! I haven't even attempted going to the store yet. The parking lots are packed. The gas lines are crazy as well. The airports have re-opened and flights seem to be back on schedule. We'll see what tomorrow brings:)

Life after Ike

Yay! We are up and running again. Actually we fared really well in comparison to most of Houston and even alot of our dearest friends and my parents. They just barely got their power back. Yesterday evening Mark and Scott (my heroes)set up our generator on the outside of the house. It worked out perfectly because The Shapers (our fun neighbors) weren't home. Generators are LOUD! By the way, thanks for the chicken Julie! I made chicken salad with it and the sandwiches were perfect with all the chips we bought at Sam's. Here we are all set up in the family room. It was pretty nice! We had fans, lamps and even TV! (and this is why Mark and Scott are my HEROES)

I was impressed! Later we brought our pillows, blankets and junk food in for our Ike Party/Camp Out. It really wasn't bad. We could hear the wind picking up and the cats were very much aware that something was weird ( besides the fact that all the humans were spread out around the family room and obviously not planning to leave.....ever). But after not very long our power suddenly came back on. I think Scott and Hope were a little disappointed. (I heard them grumble.... "oh, man")....Too funny.

This morning we let our Bishop borrow our generator because we were so fortunate to only be without electricity for a few hours. Mark and Scott went to check on some people from church as well as Marci and Mike's home and their rental property. I e-mailed Marci the pictures Scott took of their places so I'm sure she'll post them on her blog.

These are some of the pictures Scott took while they were out this morning.

My Wisteria Vine:

Our Neighbors right across the street:

Driving into Our Neighborhood:

Driving Down Our Street:

My Parent's House and Their Neighbor:

Our biggest issue was our cable was out; so we had no phone line, interenet or TV (oh no! Mark missed the BYU game but he heard they won.... BIG TIME, so he's very happy)

More tomorrow, I'm off too bed. It's been an eventful day!

Nite All....

Here Comes Ike

Tracking Ike

Who gets to name these storms anyway???

Today went by soooo fast. Mark and I headed for Sam's Club as soon as Hope went off to school this morning. We were there by 7:45 and by the number of shoppers, you'd of thought it was 1:00 in the afternoon! We got batteries for our flashlights, water and lots of junk food!

It's kind of a tradition now to have a little party while in the midst of a natural disaster. It started back in March of '93. We were living in Baldwinsville NewYork and I got to fly home to California (all by myself, such a treat) to surprise my mom for her birthday. Well while I was in sunny SanDiego, the blizzard of the century hit NewYork. It was "lake effect" snow to the upteen degree! My trip was prolonged because of the weather. When I called home to talk to the kids , I thought they'd be upset by the blizzard. Not at all! They were having the time of their lives with dad. They proceeded to tell me, while everyone else was stocking up on essentials he bought out the Oreos, Doritos and Twinkies! They watched movies and ate junk until I got home to gently bring them back to reality.

Mark spent most of the today bringing anything that could possibly fly away- into the garage or house. I didn't realize we had so many things out in the yard. There was the rod iron bench, several potted plants, chairs, garden flag, pool floaties, and garden statues. I promise our yard doesn't look like PeeWee Herman's! I spent most of the day on the phone checking in with the RS sisters to make sure everyone has everything they need before Ike comes to town. School is canceled for tomorrow as well as all extracurricular activities including Taylor HS Homecoming. which is kind of sad.

I'm just totally enjoying ELECTRICITY while we have it!