It's Been a While Eh?

Well, we, the kiddo, the husband and I are still without power, so is my mom.  My sister and her fiance have power so we are all at their house.  It is sooooo nice to be in a place with lights!

We all lucked out, though.  My house had minimal damage -- just a gutter fell down a bit and a lot of  small tree limbs fell.  The absolute amazing thing I saw was that the two small lanterns that tristaprez bought me and hung from the roof of my deck in the backyard didn't fall or break! They looked completely untouched!  At my mother's house, the neighbor's tree fell over into her backyard and landed on top of the storage shed. Neither the shed nor the fence that separates their yards was damaged. 

As most of you know, Ike was a bad mutherfucker, but luckily there wasn't much flooding -- even in Galveston which has areas that are pretty much gone.  Ike's deadly force was the wind. 

The aftermath is what is making everyone short tempered.  Trying to find gas is an adventure akin to the legendary journeys of Hercules or Gilgemesh.  The poor husband has sat in long lines for hours and just when he's about to be the next in line, the gas station attendant comes out and tells them they are all out of  gas.  When this happened the second time he was pissed off to no end.

According to the news, many people in my area won't have power until at least the end of the month! Last time I checked callmeroger, torridgirl and saturnfreeway are still without power.  If anyone knows how whatethelsays is doing, please let me know. I know this is a rambling post, but I'm just trying to catch you guys up with what's been going on in my neck of the woods. God knows I'm behind on so many blogs and replies that I just gave up trying.  I just want you all (Ya'll) to know that I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and prayers. Ya'll really know how to make a girl feel good. :D

What I Learned from Ike

• People these days don't just thrive on electricity, but communication.  For me, the suckiest part was not knowing what was going on in the outside world and not being able to reach my friends and family.  When I was able to watch television via my battery powered t.v./radio/flashlight/compass most of the news was about the hurricane.  I saw almost no world or national news.

• No water is way worse than no power.  After flushing the toilet with rain water I collected and having to take a bath by using a partially consumed bottle of water, I quickly realized not having water is damn near uncivilized!  I still had enough water left after the bath, to brush my teeth, by the way.

• Kids deal with adversity better than adults.  As I've mention before, we waited the storm out at my mother's house.  After the storm was over, the kids in the neighborhood had a grand old time. They pretty much had a block party everyday.  The parents barbecued and the kids played until the sun went down.  When my kiddo came inside, she kept wanting to tell stories around the candlelight.
  

• James and  Jayme  are the best!  They called and checked up on me everyday. Poor Jayme was worried sick about all of her Houston buds.  They have also been helping out people in their area by providing food and supplies.  They are true sweethearts!