No likey the Ikey

Just thought I'd drop in an leave a hurricane update. Will update as I know more.

** Sunday morning, 11:30 am CT**
Power has returned on our street. Karen is going out to San Antonio to be with her brother who was transferred from Victoria Hospital to San Antonio in anticipation of Ike and Paul will hold down the fort. Sounds like we are sending Nick over to crash at our house since he has no lights, so enjoy Nick! Our plans are still up in the air, we actually aren't quite clear to leave if Jason's work needs him afterall. His office is down to one generator and technically if it went out and the power is off, he would still be needed here

** Sunday morning, 10:25 am CT**
If you know Heather's friend Shelley and her daughter Kurstee, you know that they are a huge part of Heather's life. They live in one of the worst affected areas further south on a bit of land with animals and appear to have lost everything. I do not know if everything includes the actual animals. My thoughts are with them this morning



Good luck, ladies! We're thinking of you

And this morning Paul sent me pics of my sunroom and house. Looks like I let my imagination get the best of me, as I started to think all the doors and windows must've busted out and become unsalvageable. Really, it's a bent up roof (that *may* have some holes now)and frankly it may stay that way for awhile. No one's allowed to judge if they come over, Ike did it not me. Here are the pics:





** as of 9:45 pm CT**
Friends of Brandi -- she and her family are good and safe. They lost electricity but have a generator they are using. She and I will be continuing to text, but they are used to this from other storms and should function better than most =)

More word on my house. Lost my sunroom (which I never even got to enjoy except for doing renovation work in) and the tree also hit the master bath but Paul doesn't think the master bath is hurt too badly. I am trying to remember that I am a heckuva lot better off right now than people in Houston now because I have a/c and internet and yummo food all of which is unavailable in H-Town. Still though, I am feeling sadness and homesickness just because we have no idea when we get to go home and when life can return to normal. I miss my normal life, my friends, playdates, but it will all be back soon enough.

** as of 10:25 am CT**
Paul went over to our house and reported that our sunroom is the only place there was any damage. The pic above shows the trees that were remaining before we left (it was absolute jungle when we bought it and the boys have been cutting and cutting trees down every heavy trash, so forgive the mess we already had) Basically that pine in front of the sunroom fell on it. Since the house was spared, I can't be too sad and I will assume we'll fix that one without an insurance claim. I was hoping that back building would get hit, lol, it needs a good demolition as it is and it would have been nice to be on Allstate's dime as opposed to my own.

** as of 8:45 am CT**
Somehow, my mom and Jim have electricity. Miracle of miracles, 4.5 mil people without and they have theirs even with reports that all above ground electricity is out. So if that holds and we do have to go back soon, we can crash there. Karen and Paul have confirmed there are many down trees and one went through a neighbor's window. It is not safe for them to go check ours out, but there's a good chance of something similar for us. The good news is that the guys have been trimming down tons and tons of trees over the last months, but it is a pretty wooded lot so no telling what still ended up down. My dad is fine, but no electricity.

** as of 7:20 am CT**

My little family was sent to Austin by Jason's work so that if their computer systems were compromised, they could be rebuilt here. We are crashing at a hotel near Andi and Chad, so really it is quite pleasant for us (and paid for by them!) I am watching the tv and internet and desperately seeking a real pic of what the city is like after all the drama news and a long dark night. 90% of all power customers are without energy, and I am assuming that our house is included on that though there is no confirmation from Karen and Paul yet. It will prolly be the biggest hurdle to trying to get home since it would suck once we got there and non functioning traffic lights would make it really hard to get through any affected areas. I'm sure Paul will walk over and assess our damage once everything has passed.

Heather K and I have been in contact. Her family is fine and I know she was anxious about being in her "bat cave" with the windows boarded up. She lost power early on, which is no real shocker since a light summer shower will do that to them, but they have a generator they can turn to and the tubs are filled with water. Sadly I received a text this morning that the family trampoline did not make it. Rest in peace, treasured trampoline. They ran out during the eye to try and recover the pieces. No word if Cam's "Happy Birthday" sign was still attached to it as it was at Meg's party (sorry, H, I could not resist the thought!) Will update as I know more

Rita was staying at her home too and I am expecting a fairly similar story from her, minus the trampoline. Will update as I know more.



Stay safe, everyone