A bit of normalcy

Today was a trip to Costco - I don't know why but I enjoy our trips going there. You can't escape the facts of the hurricane even in a trip like this. On our way we passed a convoy of National Guard trucks coming into town. At Costco lots of generators for sale and food cases stocked very full - I'm guessing they are anticipating as people's power goes on they will need to totally restock their refrigerators and freezers. In fact that is why we went. We never lost power, but we ate down almost everything in our chest freezer and needed to fill it up again.

It was an odd week - mixing the routine with the recovery mode. I now fill my days with calling and meeting with fence contractors. A friend suggested we contact FEMA about our fence since insurance won't cover it - that will be Monday's chore. The kids are getting ready to return to school Monday (that thought caused me to remind them to finish their homework after a long hiatus). I find that now when I enter an intersection where the lights work I am surprised!

Another odd thing this week. We were awaiting our weekly magazines we get to see how they covered hurricane Ike. We remembered the extensive coverage of Katrina. There was nothing. Not one word - oh I take that back one of them had a sentence. I am hoping this doesn't mean that the nation will forget hurricane victims of this year. There are still so many needs. The recovery is just beginning. If you would like to help visit http://www.core-alliance.org/ - it is a volunteer group coordinating efforts of different churches to help with disaster relief (they helped with Katrina in Mississippi).

The eye

Reading a newspaper article and hearing accounts of people who stayed during Ike, I learned that the eye of the storm went directly over us. What does that mean exactly? Well it means that we were hit with winds and rain - then given a break - and then more intense winds and rain. The reality of that is it could have been much worse. Our homes were given a brief break. The storm surge was not as great as if we had been east of the eye. With all of the destruction, we were protected from a fate much worse.

Today in our paper I read an editorial written by a high school senior. She wrote about how Ike had disrupted her life - not because her home sustained any damage, but because now all her college applications, scholarships and AP prep time was off schedule. Her eyes were on herself and her worldview was very myopic.

It was a reminder that we need to look up to keep our eyes off of ourselves - and see the greater needs of those around us.

What is normal?

At church yesterday someone was quoted as saying "normal is only a setting on your washing machine". I am tending to agree as I wait for life to get back to normal and realize any semblance of whatever that was will be for a time far off in the future. This is how our week's new "normal" has started.

A trip to the orthodontist and realizing how many people do not understand how to proceed at a four-way stop. Many intersections don't have power or have street lights dangling, missing, or pushed by the wind facing the wrong direction now. The phrase "defensive driving" is a reality anytime we hit the streets.

Taking the dog for a walk is an adventure. Fencing and branches litter sidewalks. Trees, leaves and branches block walking paths. Walking in the street with drivers that seem a bit more agitated isn't a very smart option.

Met with the insurance inspector and learned the lesson I learned long ago - insurance is never what you need it to be. Our fences (our largest expense) are not covered and the damage we had from water coming through our roof (because of the last delay from insurance) will most likely have its own large deductible. Translation - we're on our own for all our repairs. Fortunately, even as I write this, I have roofers putting on a new roof which was damaged last May!

School is out again this week as some schools had major damage. For many school age children "normal" will mean going to a new school in a new area. Evacuating to new homes/apartments/hotels, means new districts they live in and must attend school. Students in schools that were too damaged will also be moved. "Normal" will mean being the new kid next week, new classes, new teachers and your friend group shattered. For some it may mean attending a new high school your senior year. Pray for those students and their families.

With Kristal's condo she's renting now growing mold the reality that she will be with us for a while is evident. Her management company is waiting for their adjust to come and assess damage - then work can be scheduled to begin. I doubt there are enough skilled laborers to do all the work that Houston has ahead of it. We're thankful we have a house large enough for 7, but we know that she would love her independence and her own place soon.

Another thing I have noticed is some new emotions. Unjustified guilt - the images of those who lost everything, homes, businesses, still have no power can make you feel like you're doing something wrong for just going about your day. Unjustified urgency that I should be doing more - there are so many, many people who need help it is easy to feel that you are personally not doing enough. I have to remind myself daily that God is not about guilt but conviction. I am called to take care of my family and their needs and to look for and make every opportunity to help those He brings in my path. As I can, I will reach out to help through our church work crews etc - but it will never be enough. I have also battled some feelings of disgust for those who live in debris strewn streets and have chosen to move their trash to a green belt or across the street to a vacant area so their lawns will look nice. I continually need to put all these emotions to prayer to keep a healthy perspective.

So that is my Monday - I have a dog by my feet under a table because of the roofers. It's nice to know he feels safe by me.

Here is a link to some amazing photos of Ike's aftermath http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Yesterday Robert and the girls worked at a women's home not 5 minutes from us. Her home had been flooded - all of her possessions now sat in piles on her curb. Our church along with others are out in the community helping. Gathering this morning for our first service after the storm, this song almost brought me to tears. The words rang so true and real in a community recovering after Ike.....

Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
- - -
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Ike - One week later

It is hard to believe that a week ago we were fixated on our computer watching Ike bear down on Houston and praying, quite honestly, that it would just go away. The anticipated storm surge and flooding did not reach our neighborhood. The fact that I feel so blessed and thankful that our damage was minimal in comparison to others is kind of a quandary. Does this mean that those who lost their homes and suffered damage are not blessed and do not have a reason to be thankful? I guess it is a reminder that stuff is stuff that we are not to store up here on earth, and we are to look for God's blessings regardless of circumstance daily.

Our church is still without power and my act of service was my first "tagging" job spray painting the sign. We have still been blessed with cooler than normal weather and pray that it will hold true through services on Sunday. We also received the all clear on our water and can now drink from the faucet. Our neighborhood is back to full power as of last night. About half of Houston is still without power though.

I am still trying to put the house back together - a task that is taking me much longer than I anticipated. The nerves of everyone seem a bit frayed. We have not returned to life as normal now that we house seven. School isn't starting until September 29th because of damage to the schools - I know everyone is anxious about going back and wondering if this means two weeks longer to the school year.

And so we start a new week.

What day is it?

Today I am exhausted. I find I need to check a calendar or newspaper to remember what day of the week it is. We continue to be under a boil water advisory - so we are using all that bottled water I had hoarded. Today we had a bit of normalcy..... trip to the orthodontist with the girls. Having to sign the financial papers for Heather's second phase seemed a bit of bad timing - but a necessity I know for their office.

Yesterday I was on the phone with our insurance adjuster - one of many I will speak to I am sure. Although I had initially had difficulty getting through, they held true to their promise to call back in 24 hours. That was the good news. The bad news is that fences are not covered by our policy. The other bad news is that our deductible is "per incidence". Since we already had an "incident" from the Mother's day hail storm this was not welcome news. The adjuster said that if they can "relate" our water damage to the roof needing replacing from the hailstorm that deductible will be met. In the short term we just wait for the inspector to look at the house, they send in a report, then another adjuster will go over it with me. I think it would be foolish to pray that AAA out of the goodness of their hearts would cover fences after all. In the meantime, Robert is trying to figure out how hard it would be to install a fence.

Our church is still without power and sustained significant water damage. Can't tell much more until the lights go on. We will be having a service on Sunday - Robert is off buying plywood so we can make a sign to display in front of the church to communicate that. CORE (which helped in Katrina relief) is up and running again joining together churches. We have teams that meet at the church every morning at 8:30 to go out and help. I think that will change to every Saturday morning as people go back to work. I guess some outside groups are now beginning to come and help - there is so much to do. We are still thankful to have power. There is a rumor in our area that full power might not be restored for 3-4 more weeks. Generator sales are brisk.

And the true answer to prayer - it is still cool here. All our windows are open. The over 10,000 electrical workers do not have to battle Houston heat and humidity and people without power are not sweltering. Truly a blessing.

More photos

Realized that the photos I posted before were after Andrew had done a lot of clean up. Here are some he took when he just got to our house. Below is Kristal's condo (lower left) As you can see the damage to the chimney's above her.

Wednesday - I think

Last night we ended our day of hard work with a fire in our fire pit roasting marshmallows using our fence as firewood.

Today if you look in our backyard it would be hard to tell there was a hurricane (except for the propped up fences). A drive around the area though leaves no doubt that a hurricane came through. Most grocery stores are beginning to open in our area though some of the supplies are limited I hear. A few gas stations are opening too as power is being restored. We drove past a couple with no lines. It is amazing that people up north Houston and in our area don't have power, the estimate for some is first part of October.

I have been very impressed with how Houston has handled themselves during this recovery. Where FEMA hit glitches the city and city governments have stepped in. Neighbors are helping neighbors. We headed over to a friends house to clear their yard since they are still out of town only to find their neighbors had cleared and bagged the debris already. Our church still does not have power but is sending teams to help people. We know of a few members personally who have lost their homes. Kristal is still without power and we are thankful that the only loss she has suffered so far is all her food in the refrigerator.

Home at last

We are home and I have to admit it is a bit surreal. The drive from San Antonio had quite a bit of traffic. Gas became harder to find the closer to Houston we came. One town actually had their exit blocked so no one could get off the freeway to get gas (a little selfish I thought). Fortunately we arrived back home with a half tank of gas.

Aside from a few missing shingles, all our fences down and lots of debris, we are VERY blessed.

The fence you see in the distance isn't ours, it is across and green belt and is our neighbors. Ours is flat on the ground. When you consider only 27% of all of Houston had power and our street (or at least part of it) was a portion of that it is amazing. We have already provided freezer space to a neighbor and some ice. We plan to make our internet available tomorrow to whoever needs it.

I will try to send more pictures as time allows. It is hard to capture what it is like. Trees snapped. You can tell a hurricane went through - there is no doubt. Kristal will be living with us for a while as she cannot live in her condo. Her upstairs neighbor's fireplace collapsed and it sent soot and some water into her unit. Water came through her glass doors, but the smart girl had put towels in front of them which were soaked, but protected her floor. We will clean out what we can tomorrow so she doesn't get any mold on her stuff. She said she passed many apartments that were much, much worse. Carports collapsed, brick exteriors down. There is so, so much work to be done.

The blessing - we have no fences. We have talked with all our neighbors, meeting some for the first time. We will be reading our insurance policy and hoping that what they say isn't true - that each insurance incidence has a deductible.....we just paid it to repair hail damage from Mother's day. Sigh. That is something for tomorrow.

So continue to pray. For energy for all the clean-up for ourselves and to help others as we can. Praise God for cool (yes cool) weather and low humidity - unheard of here - but a great blessing to work outside.

Monday morning - a new week...

Well this is the plan for today. We verified that we have power - one of the very few in Houston. Answered prayer? I think so. Andrew went home last night for the first time since the evacuation - I imagine he will be sleeping all day - he confirmed we have power. He didn't mention any gaping holes, so I am going to assume our roof is intact.

So we are stocking up on some groceries and bought some for a friend who is already back and running low. We have heard where to fill up for gas before it becomes scarce. Robert had the foresight to fill up our truck, which we left, with gas. So we should be good for a week or more. If we didn't loose power for long, we should have plenty of food in our chest freezer. We are seeing images of people in long lines for ice, food and gas. I almost feel guilty that we have power. Our plan is to get ourselves settled and then open our home to any neighbors who need to power up phones, hand out some ice and anything else we can do.

Our church this morning was planning to work out of our parking lot starting this morning to help with recovery efforts. From what I understand the church does not have power so they are coordinating what they can using generators. Supplies of food and ice are just now being distributed - so many people are in need - I would say most of Houston.

I do not know if we will have internet when we return. So this may be my last blog for awhile. I spoke with Verizon yesterday and they have replaced many cell towers with temporary generator run towers to keep service up. We have have charged up as many things as we can in case we lose power. The blessing is that a cool front came in - people can open their windows in September and get cool air - that is unheard of in such a hot and humid place!

Keep Houston, Galveston and the other communities in your prayers. Just because some of you will not see it on the first story of the news every night does not mean everything is fine. This will take so much work it is unfathomable.

Good news!

Robert's generator hunt came up short - the Home Depot here had sold out. We were a bit discouraged. Then a friend had posted on her Facebook that she was glad to be home and had power. She doesn't live far from us so I asked he she would go to our house and bring a small lamp and plug it into one of our outdoor outlets. We have power!!!!!!!

It is raining in Houston today and we are all a little tired and cranky to make a long trip so our plan is to leave sometime tomorrow morning. Of course when we get back we have no guarantees we will have internet - so regular posts are iffy. We will get word out somehow though.

Continue to pray for the thousands who have no power and are living in Houston without air conditioning. Praise God that an unheard of cold front is coming into Texas in September. What a blessing for all.

Sunday morning - Sept 14

Saw this puzzle yesterday at a store. Someone had put a piece of paper on it depicting the hurricane.

Didn't sleep well last night. My mind started going through a few realities of the impact on us regardless of if we have damage - Kristal (and many hourly employees like her) has been without pay since evacuation and won't be paid until her work opens again. My heart started thinking of those in Galveston who don't when if ever they can return to work. I am not sure when I will be returning to work. Can't imagine the real estate business being very brisk anytime soon. I know that God has always provided for our family in amazing ways - and He has not ceased being God in all this so I shall expect nothing less.

Today I woke up with a killer headache so cancelled plans to take up some one's offer to have us for lunch. Robert is off pricing generators in case we don't have power. If we don't have power they say it might be weeks. This hotel room seems to be getting smaller and we all just want to go home. We are SO thankful for it though as we see images of families as large as ours having to spend all their time in a shelter, sleeping on cots.

Some have asked if we received any of the affects of the storm. Nope. San Antonio stayed sunny - and hot throughout. Today is cloudy. Hearing about rains in Houston make us hope our roof did not sustain any damage. The rains also delay our return as some roads not flooded by the hurricane are now flooding some. We all wish we were there.

Photo update

Hello from San Antonio Residence Inn, temporary home for the Sherrills

I know if you have been following Ike you have been innudated with images of damage. Since many of our family and friends are keeping up with us using this blog, I thought I would send some photos of the Sherrill family in San Antonio. This is our temporary home. It's small but we are fairing pretty well for a family of six in closed quarters. School is going to be closed all week - the kids of course now realize that might mean a longer school year. Not sure when we will return. But now for the photos....(and I apologize - I haven't figured out how to put captions or layout the pictures like I would like. So for reference we have photos of the hotel, Riverwalk, a park we take the dog to everyday and pictures of relief after we found out our home is okay)

Best Text Message Ever!

Received a text from a friend saying he went by our house and it looked fine except for our fence. Later in the afternoon, Heather received a call from her friend who lives around the corner. She walked around our house and said it looked good but our fences were down - in fact the entire neighborhoods fences are down. She saw some of my plants had blown over and propped them back up. Simple gestures like that are very touching.

Staying Connected

The age of technology is wonderful that we can access local pictures and video feed even though we are hundreds of miles away. If any of you want to see more local information, here are some sites we have gone to (quality and loading speed varies from site to site)

www.khou.com off to the right of the screen click live feed
www.abc13.com click the top of the screen for the live feed
www.click2houston.com click right at the top on the banner

www.chron.com is the local paper - visit the Sci Guy blog for excellent information

Here is a link a friend sent me of pictures taken by people in the area that they have sent in http://www.khou.com/perl/common/slideshow/sspop.pl?recid=12113&nextimage=0

For those checking my blog from out of state who may be hearing news and wondering where we are in relation to what is being reported. If you hear the words Clear Lake, Johnson Space Center that is our area. Kemah, Seabrook and Nasauu Bay are close as well but closer to the water than we are.

Right now - I am going to rest for a bit before we head out to a mall and get away from technology. Sometimes you need to take a break. I will try to post pictures of the family in San Antonio later tonight so you can see we are well.

Hope

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. HE cares for those who trust in Him". Nahum 1:7

News of hope. Heather talked to a friend who's family rode out the storm and live around the corner from us. There was no flood damage in Brookwood. Power is spotty. Watching the Weather Channel and seeing that NASA road one is driveable. All good signs.

Robert was in the breakfast area of our hotel talking and finding people who were also evacuated. Some from our area. He was able to share with them the news we had heard. He said you could see relief begin to come over people's faces.

Will keep you posted

Saturday morning -

Last night I actually had the best night's sleep in days. Turned off the TV around 11 and just went to bed. I did see one story about Houston's Mayor Bill White and a councilman going into Clear Lake to see if most people evacuated. They were told that a few apartment complexes had not evacuated. They went door to door to encourage them to leave and found that there were three major factors why they didn't leave: language barriers, not having a car reliable enough to drive out, and having no means to get out. They brought in three buses and were able to evacuate them. It just magnified the problem when disaster strikes that the poor and helpless suffer. They don't have some money saved for a hotel, or friends and family to shelter them. It is why God calls us to minister to the hopeless and the helpless. It made me thankful.

Today I was determined to get up and not watch the news first thing. So I took the dog out and then went to breakfast with the girls in the hotel. When I walked into the breakfast area the TV was on and it went to a live feed from a local Houston news station. That's went I broke into tears and had to leave. Not that I was overwhelmed by the images - it just came out of nowhere. I'm feeling better now - think I've been holding it in for a while.

We have a network of friends who are all going to share information as we hear it. It was good to see a report on The Weather Channel right on Clear Lake that they were not under water. We heard of someone that road out the storm not far from us that there is power. Our church has cancelled services Sunday and asking anyone (as of yesterday at least) to meet in the morning with work gloves, chain saws and anything else to come prepared to work. If you want to track our church's efforts visit www.gateway-community.org.

Not sure what the day holds yet. Will try to update later

Friday night

It feels like we've been here days. I feel wiped out. In a way I am glad that Ike is finally making landfall so we will know what we are in for (wow that sounded negative).

Today we tried to not watch too much TV or computer feed. We were having problems with our Internet connection, but it has improved now (I take that back our feed keeps breaking up). So tonight we are monitoring the storm. One report was from the Hilton in Clear Lake - that is the hotel we stayed at when we candidated at Gateway. This hotel is not far from our house. It was good to see that there was still power. Looked very windy though and the water is rising on Clear Lake.

Today to get away from things we went to a park so Rocky could run around. He had a blast. The park was empty so we let him off leash and he could just run. We came back to our room for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the Riverwalk and gave Kristal her first tour of the Alamo. Tonight I made a dinner in our very little kitchen. It was Hamburger Helper and watermelon - but it tasted great and felt good to sit down at a table (or at least half of us could). Tonight Eric and Robert are burning off steam working out in the exercise room. Rocky must be feeling insecure he has now laid under our coffee table and is laying his head on my foot.

Thank you for your prayers.

Friday morning - a new day of anticipation

We had a fairly restful night. Thoughts of course back in Houston. Our hotel is near the airport - so hearing planes early didn't help. It is strange now that I realize that hurricanes have always happened, but not until I moved to the Gulf coast have I understood the impact. As a Californian I grew used to seeing some video, watching The Weather Channel and looking for Jim Cantore and didn't give it much thought. Now I realize it affects thousands and thousands of people. We are blessed to be able to have found and afford a hotel. Many people are leaving hoping to find something. Their children are just as worried as mine, but instead have to find solace in a shelter. Many evacuated on buses - unable to bring all the photos and such that we packed in our cars. My prayers are with them.

Other things to consider when you think of Houston. Many refineries are there - lots of oil. This means barges of oil in the Port of Houston. Galveston has two major hospitals that had to be evacuated UTMB and a Children's Hospital. There is also the Shriner's Burn Institute. The Texas Medical Center in Houston has number one ranked hospitals. People travel from across the country and around the world for care there. These families already in crisis are having to brace for this storm as well.

So in all that I say be praying for us - but also for all those families. Lives will be disrupted and yet I know without a doubt God is still on his throne. He is with us and I can feel His peace and the prayers of others - otherwise I'd be freaking out right now!

I am listening to the news right now via www.khou.com. The just said that the Coast Guard cannot rescue a stranded freighter in the Gulf with 22 on board. Pray for their safety.

Today we are going to try to have some fun and get away from the TV and go to the River Walk for awhile. I don't think it was a coincidence that last Sunday's service was titled "Underpressure" about choosing joy in situations. The powerful testimony of a young family was shared. As they were expecting their first child a few years ago, the dad was in a horrendous motocross accident. They did not expect him to live. Their child was born while he was in a coma. They told her that if he recovers he will most likely not remember her or walk. AND YET there they were in the front row - still recovering from his injuries, but walking, able to talk, and with his family. I will keep that lesson in my heart today.

And with all that the kids are asking when we can go home - I don't know.

And now we know

Today is Thursday, September 11th. We have now evacuated to San Antonio staying at a Residence Inn there (MUCH, MUCH better than last evacuation). How did we end up here? Well....

Last night we started the evening very carefully watching Ike. No evacuation orders had been given. We were going to play it by ear, but began getting the house ready for the storm - putting away everything outside, moving photos and important items upstairs - bagging them in plastic, moving things away from windows. This morning we woke up early about 7 a.m. to find that the storm had turned and mandatory evacuations were called for our area (they do it by zip code). The expected storm surge - if nothing changed as of that moment - would be 18 feet. We are in a storm surge area. Winds were expected at 100+ mph. So we woke the kids up and told them to pack their stuff and we were evacuating.

I am still waiting to see what clothes I actually brought - don't remember packing much. We did pack up items from the refrigerator and freezer to bring with us (kitchen here) along with other food and stuff the dog would need. We left our house around 8:45 a.m. anticipating a potentially long drive to San Antonio.

Fortunately everyone in Houston was abiding by the order to only be on freeways if you were ordered to evacuated. Everyone else is suppose to "hunker down". We only ran into a little bit a slowing and maintained full speed all the way in. On the way we saw many,many buses, ambulances, and taxis heading toward Houston to help with the evacuation for those who can't leave on their own. My prayers are with those anxious people right now.

We were blessed by having our hotel room ready though we arrived early. They even waived the fee for pets since we were evacuating. The staff here has been very accomodating for us. So now we have our computers hooked up to the wireless. Robert is watching the live video feed from www.khou.com and I am sending updates. As for the kids, two are playing Wii, one is watching TV and one is on the phone.

I will try to update to let you know how we're doing and what we've heard.

Still Don't Know

We are waiting to hear what the news says tonight with Ike. So far there are no mandatory evacuations for our area. The schools are closed tomorrow and Friday - but NASA hasn't closed at all (which affects Kristal) so maybe they know something we don't. All that to say is we are getting the house ready in case we have a lot of wind and rain - stay or not. I'm tired.

I don't know!!!!

Yes that is my response in regards to Ike - are we leaving....I don't know. Should we stay.... I don't know. We at least have a place to go - the idea of driving (and packing) is not my idea of fun. Nor is the idea of spending money on gas and hotel for who knows how many days. Schools are cancelled Friday. So I imagine we will debrief tonight and look at the infamous "models" and decide what we shall do. Keep checking the blog and I will try to keep it up to date.

Cautious optimism

Well it's Wednesday. I am wondering what I will do with all the extra time when I don't feel the need to continually check hurricane tracks. Right now it "looks" like Ike will hit south of us. There is some talk that we will get the "dirty side" of the storm. For a native San Diegan I really have no clue what in the world it means. In the meantime I haven't cancelled our reservations yet - hopefully can do that with a confident heart later today and free up hotel space for some family that will really need it.

Not Again...

It is hard enough to start a week without having to watch the Gulf. This is a phrase totally unused by me a few years ago "watching the Gulf". It is what we do now anytime there is a hurricane.

There was an article recently talking about "hurricane fatigue". If coastal residents are weary and becoming complacent because of too many hurricane warnings. I have to say I am tired of it - but each "watch" prompts me to secure a hotel - just in case (this time I was a bit later and it took quite a while to find a hotel to house all of us). It also helps me relook at our plan and realize if its going to happen with such frequency I should just make a check list. "Hurricane entering Gulf - do this, this and this". I am fatigued - but it is more of a brain drain - it is hard for me to focus on plans for the immediate future when such a large "what if" looms within the span of a few days.

And so we prepare for Ike. The hotel is ready in San Antonio. The water and batteries are still here, leftover from Gustav. We check the internet throughout the day to see if we are out of the dreaded "cone of uncertainty". They say it is highly unusual for a hurricane to enter the Gulf after the end of September - I can't wait for the month to end!

Labor Day

Here in Houston it is a beautiful morning. A few wispy clouds with just a slight breeze. It is hard to imagine that to the east of us Louisiana just had a hurricane come ashore. Right now I am the only one up - even made carmel rolls for breakfast (easiest recipie ever!). It sort of feels like we need to celebrate our relief. Today looks to be a normal day - but I can't help but think of those families waiting anxiously in shelters and hotel rooms waiting for the storm to pass.