Ike: Yikes!

Well, after so many "didn't" happen hurricanes, one hit and hit hard. Ike came in on Saturday morning and Houston is still bruised from the beating!

I was out of town in KY (via W VA - a place I never wanted to be and after having been there I still don't ever want to be there). I was supposed to go on to Ohio to a show, but listened to a wise husband and my boss who wanted me home and not stranded (had I not listened, I would have been stuck not being able to get home). I made it home Thursday afternoon. School was cancelled on Friday, and we battened down the hatches getting ready for Ike (what was Eric doing to prepare for the hurricane? skimming the pool - I kid you not!)

We lost power at 2:30 am on Saturday morning. Still don't have it now. There was rain, and crazy wind. We finally started venturing out Saturday around 11:00 am. If you just looked around our little neighborhood you would think, not so bad. Lots of tree limbs down. No real property damage. One or two big trees down.

Then we ventured out of Villaggio into our old neighborhood (1/2 mile away). This is what we saw:

This is our old house. You can't really tell from this picture, but there is a tree on the roof - really through the roof. It put two holes in the master bedroom, which put a lot of water in the master, and the water seeped down the the bottom floor which has a couple of inches of water. I think the weight of the water might crash through the master. Our neighbor told us we are lucky we are out of there. Luckily, no one was hurt!

Here are some pics from Lakewood Forest:

The pavilion at our church:

Mind you, this is all 60 plus miles inland, on the "clean" side of the storm.

Now, let me just say, pioneer woman I am not. But, we did manage to make bacon and eggs on the bbq grill. It was still raining, so I was ever so grateful for our port-e-cache. We pretended it was a big camping trip - one that never ends with heat and mosquitoes.

The kids and I had enough and have evacuated to Dallas. We are now basking in the hospitality of Chez Linford. There is no school until at least Thursday. Still no power for us. Still not much gas to be found in Houston. This one will take a while to dig out from.

Through it all we have felt very blessed. We are all safe and healthy. No major damage to our house. Our biggest loss is the fridge and freezer contents. Big deal. Thanks for everyone who was worried about us. We appreciate your thoughts and calls.