We made it!! Wow, what an experience to say the least...a SCARY experience. I kept hoping and praying Ike would take a sharp turn West but that never happened. Manny had to go to work on Friday 9/12 so I had to make some decisions as to what the girls and I would do. When I woke up Thursday morning the news said there was a
Mandatory
evacuation for our whole zip code, 77571...I started to feel panic-y(best way to describe it) from that moment forward. On Thursday I decided we would go "hunker down" at my dad's house in Pasadena...along with his wife and her two kids..her brother...their two dogs...and our cat..Manny was taking our dog to work with him. All I could think was 'gee, this should be fun' in the most sarcastic way possible. Friday morning we woke up bright (it was actually still dark) and early...5am...and loaded up the cars and headed to Paw Paw and Nana's house...only we decided to leave the cat home and NOT take anything of importance with us and not move any of our furniture or belongings off the floor because we didn't think it would be "that bad." Well, after a short early morning nap on my dad's couch I woke up and watched a little more news coverage and decided it would be in our best interest if I headed home while I could and grab our cat and important documents and move our computer and other expensive electronic devices i.e. his surround sound system and Wii. I got to the house and moved what I could...including our 57" flat screen TV...I guess that was the adrenaline pumping because as Manny would say, I normally can't even lift a gallon of milk. Once I completed my task there I headed to my dads to enjoy one more day of a/c, cable tv, internet, home cooked meals, running water, and sanity. It was decided the girls would sleep in my brother's old bedroom until we felt it was no longer safe and at that point we would move them to pallets in the hallway. I gave them one last hot shower, fed them, and set them to bed with their portable DVD player around 830pm (their normal bedtime is 8pm) Around 9:30pm we turned the movie off and they went sound sleep...which is what I wanted...hoping they would sleep right through the hurricane. I settled on the couch around 1030pm and watched Ike creep closer and closer to the coast...and my panic-y-ness kept growing more and more. Before I settled on the couch I had been pacing...literally...pacing around my dad's house...back and forth from my step sisters bedroom to the living room then I'd walk outside and pace then I'd walk around the living room, kitchen, front yard...anywhere! My dad kept telling me I should just chill out...we'll be fine!Pssh! Around 11pm or so I decided to catch a little cat nap because I knew I was in for the long haul...I slept MAYBE 15 minutes and got and resumed my pacing. Once the wind started howling, literally, I knew I wouldn't see another wink of sleep until it was long gone. I kept my eyes glued to the tv, even through my pacing, and prayed we'd be safe. I also was wearing my St.Martha's cross necklace from James Avery and I kept that in my hands most of the night seeing as my beloved grandma's name is Martha and I KNEW she was in Heaven watching over us...I knew she wouldn't let Ike bring us down. Then the dreaded time came....we lost power...around 140am. The candles were lit and flashlights were glowing. The rain was pouring down and the wind was snapping branches left and right...all I could think about was the huge Arizona Maple tree in my dads front yard crashing onto the roof of the house into the living room where I was now nestled into the couch cushions...Thankfully it didn't...but the same is not true for the tree in the backyard...except it didn't fall through the roof...it fell onto the power lines. Roots and all are out of the ground from this huge tree in my dads backyard. We heard a large cracking sound and discovered the tree hadn't been able to fight the winds. The girls woke up around 2am because of the wind and we moved them to their "bed" in the hallway and they were fast asleep again. After many hours of rain and wind "the eye" made it's appearance...which was greatly appreciated. I could FINALLY get some sleep...I slept about 45 minutes...and was again woken up to wind howling it's way through town again. The rain at this time was going completely sideways and my dad and tammy decided it'd be the perfect time to sit on the porch and watch Ike leave his trail. I stayed completely still on the couch throughout this...praying the wind would stop. 110 mph wind never hurt anyone before, right? ;) FINALLY around 8am it seemed we could breathe again...and check out the damage. Thankfully nothing major happened to my dads house besides the tree being uprooted, their back patio roof ripping away from the house, and just leaves and trash scattered around. At this point Manny is still at work...serving our great city of Houston as a firefighter. He finally got to join us at my dad's house around 330pm...by this point I was TIRED, HOT, felt dirty, stressed, anxiety level through the roof, annoyed, everything! We decided we would drive to LaPorte to check out our house...the storm surge was expected to reach our neighborhood so we weren't sure what we would discover. Luckily one of our neighbors had called and said there appeared to be no damage from the outside besides our fence being blown down. We had some trouble getting passed the cops but we finally made it home and discovered, thankfully, just a broken fence and broken tree branches. I told you my grandma was watching us! We didn't stay at the house...we went back to my dads because that's where the food and water was. After attempting to put the girls to bed around 9pm and it being unsuccessful due to the tempature we decided to pack up and head to Arlington to Manny's sisters house. We got on the road around 1030pm and arrived around 230am. Since Manny had been at work since Friday morning...and was now Saturday NIGHT..and he hadn't been to bed...I said i would drive after we made it through Houston. We pulled over in the pouring rain in the Woodlands (our poor dog was in her kennel in the back of the truck and we had NO room insde for her so she had to get rained on) and switched drivers....seeing as I had only had about 2 hours of sleep since Friday morning I had to do everything possible to stay awake. I sang outloud, I chewed gum, I drank water, I sat up super straight...whatever I had to do to stay awake. On Sunday afternoon we decided it would be best if the girls went to stay with their grandparents in El Paso until we found out what would happen back home. So on Monday afternoon I began my journey across Texas! I flew with the girls to El Paso...literally walked them to their grandma, gave hugs, and briskly walked to my departing terminal...boarded a flight to San Antonio because there wasn't a straight flight back to Dallas that day...Got to San Antonio...got off the plane and found my next terminal...waited...found out my flight was delayed...checked my voicemail...and viola...we had power at our house per our neighbor...get back on the plane and fly back to Dallas. What a day! I was in three cities...seperated by hundreds of miles...in just 7 hours. Tuesday morning we stocked up on groceries and headed home...got home around 5pm and started removing all our old groceries from the fridge and cleaning it out...We were outside in the backyard when our neighbor informed us we lost power again!! Around 700pm. Great...shoulda stayed in Arlington. The evening ended up being pretty nice though. Candace and Michael came over and the neighbors too! We sat in our driveway drinking beer, eating wings, and getting to know our neighbors better...they really are nice. Around 1am while we're still outside the power comes back on!! It was time for bed!! Wednesday was spent cleaning...ALL DAY. Manny tackled the outside and me the inside. The house smelled musty from being boarded up and closed up for so long so I did a good deep clean. And today...I'm back at work...sitting in a room full of mold...my head pounding...and thinking...when will things be completely back to "normal?" I've always felt sad for hurricane victims but I now I really know how they feel. It's weird to drive down a street you have driven down millions of times and the power lines are hanging down, signs to restaurants are gone, streets are blocked, red lights are hanging down, trees are laying on their sides...it's a surreal feeling. I didn't type all of this expecting people to read all of it...I typed it so I can come back to it years from now to read what my experience was like...although I know I'll never forget! Also, those of you who are wondering...I have NOT talked to the wedding facility yet so I have NO idea if the wedding will have to be postponed...and I do not know if the wedding shower will be rescheduled at this point. I will let everyone know. I hope everyone is safe and their homes too!
