Me and Ike - Part II

Part II - A Long Night
After the lights went out, I started lighting the strategically placed candles to insure at least some visibility in most rooms of the house. My eight year old grandson, the self-appointed man of the house, informed me that we needed to pray and had already gathered the other children and my friend into the living room. “Good idea,” I replied. “Let me light these candles first.” My daughter joined me in what soon became the candle ritual. As the week wore on, we quickly learned that it was easier to light all the candles in one place and then take them to their appointed spot. It saved on matches (and fingers – ouch!). We also learned that we didn’t need to light so many candles! By the time we got them all lit and placed, it was time to blow them out and go to sleep! Apparently, the young man of the house thought we were taking too long and repeated his request that we come into the living room to pray. Okay, okay, we’re coming! As soon as we were reverently seated (he was standing in front of the fireplace with his hands behind his back looking a bit like a preacher) he began a beautiful prayer. I was so impressed with and moved by his heartfelt requests for protection for our family, our house, our neighborhood, and all the people affected by the storm, especially those who were at that time being hammered along the coast. After he finished, we went around the room and allowed everyone to participate in expressing their concerns to God. Even the three year old joined us. I felt peaceful and tranquil. We were not afraid, just bummed that the television was out, which probably helped with keeping away the fear.

It occurred to me that we didn’t really have a safe room ready in case we had damage to the roof or windows so I cleared out the closet under the stairway. The only other window free room downstairs is a small guest bathroom off the kitchen. Upstairs wasn’t an option. We all agreed that downstairs was best. I was amazed at how much stuff was packed in that closet. After emptying it out, it looked like a hurricane had blown through the dining room! A big empty closet was exciting for the children. They immediately gathered quilts and pillows and begged to sleep in there. They even extended it to make a tent outside the door with the bar stools. The girls decided that the grandson would sleep in the tent part. Four kids in a closet meant that the peace and tranquility was about to end. After more than one argument, the older girls decided to sleep elsewhere and before too long they were all asleep.

The boy and the toddler - sleeping in the closet.

The eldest granddaughter alsleep under the breakfast bar.

Do you mind? I'm trying to sleep here! (Milo, the cat)

During the course of the night, I was able to talk to hubby on the other side of the world and to my eldest daughter in Dallas. The cordless phones had stopped working as soon as the electricity went out. The good old fashioned, plug into the wall, phone worked for a while but it, too, eventually went dead. The cell phone circuits became very busy and calling became difficult. Text messaging worked best, at least for a while. We could hear the wind and rain a little bit but it was surprisingly quiet in the house. Certainly not like I thought it should sound in the middle of a hurricane. The girls thought they heard a cat yowl outside but then thought it must have been the wind. It seemed safe enough to open the door and take a peek. It was much louder outside and the trees were whipping around. I had to insist that the door be closed. I sent a text message to hubby around 3am and told him I was going to try to get some rest. He told me, "I wish I were there with you. Take care. I'm praying and by the way, Happy Birthday!”

Darling Daughter brought a cake! Ahh, chocolate to relieve stress!
We played musical couches for a while but eventually settled in to try to get some sleep. We started hearing what sounded like limbs falling on the roof. After a particularly loud thump, my daughter said she hoped that wasn’t her car. I looked out of the uncovered, upper window in the entryway and had a moment of anxiety. Then my eyes caught a reflection from the candle on the fireplace. It was a cross. “Wow,” I thought and dozed off for what seemed like a few minutes but was really a few hours. The eye of the storm passed right over us around 6:30am shortly after I awoke. Dawn was about to break, revealing the damage outside. To be continued…..Sorry, but I have to do this a little bit at a time!

Me and Ike - Part I

Things are starting to get back to normal at our household. Many are still without electricity in our area so we are grateful ours was restored Monday night. Here’s a recap of how I viewed Hurricane Ike these past two weeks. After I started typing it up, I realized I am probably going to want to do this post in parts.

Part I - The “Not So Calm” Before the Storm – Last minute preparations were a challenge but also a bit interesting, if not entertaining. As I ventured through the aisles of almost empty shelves at the grocery store, I couldn’t help but notice some of the things people were buying. Because what we really needed to stock up on was in short supply (or non-existent) it seemed to me as if many of us were buying just about anything that wouldn’t spoil when our fridge and freezer stopped working. Too much junk food and not enough “D” size batteries. The bread and buns were gone. I happened to be standing in the bread isle trying to decide if I should buy tortillas instead when a seemingly over-worked bakery worker brought out about eight loaves of just baked multi-grain bread. I quickly picked one up, not caring that it cost nearly five bucks! In the blink of an eye, the rest disappeared, grabbed up by desperate shoppers. Thankfully, I only needed a few last minute things and was soon able to dodge the bumper carts to the check out isle. “Oh, yes,” I thought. “I should probably get some ice.” Yeah, right! I wasn’t even disappointed as I looked over at the empty ice freezer. “We are fine on ice,” I told myself. “I made up four blocks of it in gallon size water bottles and filled several large ziplock bags from the ice maker.” Mental note: make more ice bags. Mental notes are pointless for me. I don't even pay attention to the written notes I make for myself. As I waited in one of the long lines (once I discovered where the lines actually formed) I watched the patient, adrenaline-pumped checkers and baggers. I wondered if their families were prepared for the storm yet. Then my mind wondered off, thinking about those who had to be away from their families so they could serve the public. I said a prayer for the firemen, policemen, and medical workers. Then I said a prayer for my husband who was in Asia the whole time, worrying about his family, phoning me every so often to remind me of how big the storm was (thanks) and making sure I was prepared. He knows I don't watch much TV. I briefly thought I may take the gang and head for Dallas, where my eldest daughter lives. But the authorities were asking us to “shelter in place” so the coastal communities could evacuate. I remembered all too well making the traffic jammed trip to Dallas when Hurricane Rita came through three years ago. Besides that, they were predicting that the storm may go that direction. And, after all, Ike was only a category two hurricane. “No,” I decided again for the third or forth time, “we’ll stay put and go there later, if needed.” I said a prayer for those evacuating from Galveston and the coast. Surprisingly, the lines went fast and I had to stop my daydreaming to pay for my purchases. It was then that I discovered that I had forgotten my ATM pin number. I’ve only had it for years and years! What’s up with that? Stress or menopause, I’m not sure. I was going to get cash back to have a little more extra money. “Oh, well,” was my attitude. “I’m glad I went to the bank yesterday.” On the way home amongst crazy, frantic drivers, I passed several gas stations and was grateful I had filled up the day before. They were either extremely busy or had no gas left. With a sigh of relief, I pulled into our half-cleared garage. The grandchildren had pushed everything to one side to make room for the patio furniture and the Explorer. They had worked diligently beside me the evening before to get “ready” for the wind and rain. My eight year old grandson declared himself the man of the house since his papaw was gone. “Sure,” I thought, “whatever,” and then replied, “That’s great and very noble of you.” I returned to ordering, I mean, directing us all in the chores that needed to be done. Even the three year-old helped without arguing.

The “hurricane party” guests came; my daughter, her roommate, their cat, a friend of mine, her daughter, and their dog. As my friend opened the back door to allow the beautiful blond lab outside, I realized the unfinished gate to the newly constructed fence was going to be a problem. So we constructed a barrier (not me, I supervised) out of wood I had just piled into the shed to keep it from blowing around.

The Nail and Board Holder Person

The Hammer/Builder Person

The Dog Lover and Dora the Dog

Then they changed jobs. Hurricane Dance Teacher and Movie Maker.

Daughter #2 took pictures of all valuables in the house and became the chief photographers and video camera operator. This picture was taken after the lights went out. She'll hate me for this picture but it shows her beautiful blue eyes. I dash of color in the candle lit rooms.

Finally, all things were ready except the last two loads of laundry, which were in the washer and dryer. We cooked and ate our last electric range prepared dinner at home until ten days after the storm. Dishes were loaded in the dishwasher and started. I decided to make a pot of coffee and put it in a thermos. We all piled in front of the television to watch the hurricane news but not for long. The wind was barely blowing and it hadn’t even started raining when the electricity went out. “Ah, man!” was echoed throughout the room. The dishwasher and coffee pot were not able to finish their tasks. The clothes in the washing machine were finished but were not put in the dryer yet (at least the water spun out). At that point, the hardest part was not being able to watch the TV to see what was going on. But I had stocked up on “D” size batteries prior to the mad dash and the radio became our main means of information. It was shortly after 8pm. To be continued….

Wednesday Update - Still Powerless

Things are looking up. Our neighbor let us plug an extension cord into his generator so we have been able to plug in the refrigerator, make coffee, and charge our cell phones. Today, I put gas in my tank and filled a gas can for the neighbors generator and the wait was under an hour, which was good. It was the longest gas line in which I have ever participated. It was very organized, with the help of the HPD and other security people. I am doing laundry at a friends house who lives a couple of minutes from the church (her power is restored) so I thought I'd drop in and check my email and write another quick post. Hubby will be home on Friday evening. Yeah! It has not been a great time for him to be out of the country, if you know what I mean. Daughter, the youngest, cannot return to work yet because they have no power. That is a bit of a blessing, since she has been with me and the kids and has been a huge help! But she doesn't know if she will get paid or not. Her friend, who is also staying with us went back to work today. She found milk, eggs, and cheese at the grocery store where she works. Yeah, again! The simple pleasures in life are so appreciated when they are not readily available. The children go back to school next Tuesday, we think.

Just a Quick Post

I'm at the church checking email and thought I would do a quick post for family that may be worried. Hopefully I can do more later. We are all doing well but still do not have power. Making do. People are helping each other. It's great. We have had a cool front and the weather is great so we are not sufficating from the heat. Humidity is good, too. God is so good! Love to all!

Signs

My mother often said that bad luck runs in threes. A good friend of mine believes that affirmation from God or spiritual things come in threes. I don’t believe in luck and I’m undecided on the other but I pretty much notice when things happen in threes. That is what prompted the subject of this post, signs. Not the kind that come from God, but the kind you read as you travel about town.

The three year old, our third grandchild, took notice of certain signs three times in one day. She is usually pretty chatty in the car, especially when it’s just her and me, but it was the first time I heard her mention anything about signs (other than McDonalds, of course). The first time was right after I dropped her older sister off at the middle school at 8:25 am on Friday. Someone had placed an advertising sign right next to the driveway exit sign, so they were literally side by side. Her comment was, “Look, Grandma, those two signs are friends!” I smiled remembering that the pre-school teachers were talking about friends on Thursday and had even taken a picture of her and her friend, Raine. Of course, I thought her comment was cute. We headed for the church to attend a MOPS meeting (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) or in my case GOPS (grandmother of a pre-schooler). After the meeting, as we left the church parking lot we passed the church sign. She told me that the church sign read, “Art museum at the church.” I laughed. I suppose the church pre-school probably looked like an art museum with all the hanging pictures. I admire my daughter, her mother, for giving her children a taste of culture by visiting the children’s museum downtown several times in the past year. It amazed me that a three year old child would even know about museums.

On the way home, she made her third “sign” comment in as many hours. “There’s Hairy Bob, Jr., III!” she exclaimed. Hairy Bob, Jr., III is the neighborhood’s beloved stop sign. It has a beautiful floral vine that has grown up through the post and out of the top, giving it an appearance of having hair. The older two grandchildren came up with the name for the stop sign earlier in the spring, before it had blooms on it. Now they say he looks like a girl (some of you won’t get this, but here we go again!). I tried to explain (pointlessly and stupidly) to the older children why Jr. and III are not possible in one person’s name. Wait, did I just say “person?” Why, yes I did. Then I got to thinking about how George Foreman named all his boys, George. So there is actually a George, Jr. and George III, within the same generation of Foreman boys. But I decided not go into that with the children. I enjoy Hairy Bob, Jr., III each time I stop at that corner.

Anyway, my mind then moved on to thinking about a song I remembered from my teenage years. I found myself humming words from the song by the 5 Man Electric Band, entitled, “Signs.” Anyone remember that rebellious little tune from the 70’s? Then I started thinking how appreciative I am to live in a community that has restrictions or guidelines for erecting signs. Most of the signs have been landscaped and have beautiful flower gardens around them. So there’s no “blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind” going on around here! What does “breaking my mind” mean anyway? I’ve heard of “blowing my mind” and “breaking my heart” but not “breaking my mind.” Perhaps it’s a combination of both feelings. I haven’t totally lost my marbles, I’m getting somewhere with this. In the song writer’s last verse to the song he includes these words, “so I got me a pen and a paper, and I made up my own little sign, I said, ‘Thank you, Lord, for thinking about me. I’m alive and doing fine’.” I may have just convinced myself that spiritual things do come in threes.

First Day of Pre-school

The three year old started pre-school this week. I asked her to pose for some pictures and she obviously thought that to pose meant to act silly and frustrate your grandma until she decides to go with it. And no, she is not making gang signals with her hands on the third photo. The "I love you" sign on her right hand is for her mommy. I'm not sure to whom she was sending the "L is for loser" sign. Actually, she was trying to get the pinky finger up but I snapped the finger too soon.

Checking out the doll babies, first order of business.