The insurance adjuster came today. I sure hope he approves a new roof. I will fight tooth and nail if he doesn’t. Derek is now thinking he will do the drywall work and what not. I hope it doesn’t become one of those, ‘half done projects’ of his that just aren’t right. We shall see. I need to get back on my diet. Hurricane rations aren’t the most healthy. I have Rock Band 2 and haven’t even played it yet. Haven’t really had the time. Pearland ISD has 7 schools without power still. Will Ethan ever go back? We were doing so well with keeping his homework on track and all. Now our schedule is all messed up. He got a 100 on his last (and only to this date)spelling test. I am very proud of him.
Video
I’ve been sharing the video I made yesterday. It is my first try at this movie stuff, but I think I did alright. I guess blogging and video making (hee hee) have been my outlet. I still cry, often. I think next hurricane I need to leave. I affects me too much.
Neighbor get together after Ike
It was a good day, except Derek and I are now coming down with Ethan’s cold. Other than that, it was good. We went across the street and we all brought something. We brought hot dogs and sausage, Melissa brought homemade dips and potato salad. That potato salad was good too. I’ll have to get the recipe. The kids played, and things are becoming more ‘normal’. I do feel a little guilty. There are some that still have no power in our neighborhood, and they won’t probably have it until after Monday! (it’s Thurs. now) I have finally caught up with all the laundry, and cleaned as much as possible. We have already signed up with a roofer, and gotten estimates on the carpeting we need, and the drywall too. We even have an adjuster and claim number! Most other people haven’t gotten that far. I just keep my mouth shut and answer direct questions when asked-I don’t want others to feel bad. Derek has really been working hard.
Life as you know it……
This is my personal ‘Hurricane Memoir’. You may find it a little boring, but for me it is quite emotional to write this.
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
I hate hurricanes. A flood is the scariest thing I have ever been through, but a hurricane is wayyyy up there in scary rank. I have had previous experience with Storms. Hurricane Alicia, Tropical Storm Allison, some other hurricanes that have blown through that were either category 1 or we got the side of, and bunches of other tropical storms. I know how to prepare and what to pretty much expect, however, hurricane Ike has been unreal.
To be prepared is half the victory.
The moment we saw that Ike was trending towards us, we flew out of the house to get plywood. (see previous blog post about this) I went to Kroger and stocked up on canned and dry stuff that would last at least a few days. There was this hunch I had that made me do this. Thank goodness I had that hunch.
We boarded up….. (turn off the sound on these lil videos)
Life as you know it…..
Derek has never been through anything like this. I told him that the hurricane wasn’t too bad, but the aftermath was horrid. It will be like a war zone. The worst feeling is, that no matter what, all you can do it sit and wait. The force of the storm is so much bigger than you. I also added, ‘Life as you know it, will cease to exist.’ How true this statement became.
Pete and my parents got ready as well. I called Bonnie and Libba. Mary was ready-Brandon and Nikki went to stay with them. Melissa and Amber across the street evacuated. Mr. Harris started to prepare….
The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear
Note in this video: the condition of the fences and roofs. (not sure why the sound is as it is, but you may want to turn it off)
September 12, 2008–Hurricane Ike started slowly. There was sporatic wind, and very little rain-in the beginning. The lights went out after flickering twice at about 6 pm. Mr. Harris next door started his generator immediately. Thank goodness for that. The sound was strangely comforting. The silence would have been deafening without it. The storm surge took the waves over the sea wall in Galveston WELL before the storm was here. Tim Heller on channel 11 news said something along the lines that some watching now riding out the storm will not be alive tomorrow. People staying on the island were told to write their social security numbers on their arms. That wasn’t a good sign. Time marched on, and at about midnight, I actually fell asleep for a couple of hours. Then the eye came near. Derek got very agitated, to say the least. As I awoke, he stated, ‘The eye is going over Galveston!’ I then arose and we heard the flu in our fireplace just howling, our garage door made a waaaaaaa sound. The exterior garage doors were just shuddering under the pressure of that wind blowing full force right on them.
Some observations from Derek:
- could never conceptualize the force (guess you just have to be there)
- everything looks ‘alive’
- never want to experience that again (me neither)
- at one point during the eyewall I prayed to God to just make it stop
The eyewall passed over us and we didn’t get the calm eye. We never got a break.
This includes the roof.
I took the flashlight and peeked out the back door window and saw that we had shingles all over the back yard, that the shed door had swung open, oh-and that we are missing part of our fence. Derek didn’t believe me, of course. He looked, and was in awe of what he saw out there. He then got upset with me, as he was trying to rest and I was disturbing him. I couldn’t help it-there was a hurricane going on after all! I sat and listened some more to the radio we had. Thank goodness for that radio. I think it was on 24 hours a day for a few days and it didn’t even have fresh batteries.
Derek fell asleep.
I started to get a little hot and bored (even with all heck breaking loose outside), so I thought I’d go upstairs and get a wet washcloth. As I was walking down the hallway, I realized the floor was damp. I looked up, and this is what I saw….
I actually had some inner strife about this. Do I wake up Derek? By this time, he was sleeping so soundly. I looked up again and the answer was… ‘Yep!’ I woke up Derek and he sprung into action. I ran and got towels and what not as well. The water was dripping onto the attic folding steps in the ceiling. Now, Derek is a very smart guy. Sometimes, when he seems to be rushed, he doesn’t exactly make the most intelligent decisions. He heard it dripping, and pulled the string to open it. SPLASH! Now there was water on the landing carpet. We put down some Rubbermaid buckets and such with some towels under where we knew it was dripping. Then we decided to call Derek’s dad. We had no idea how to start the insurance process. After all, it was 4 am in the morning and our house was hurt. There was no answer. Where were they? Were they getting the rain and such as hard as us? Harder? Were they floating down the Brazos river on doors? Were they okay? We called again and again.
A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams
I went upstairs in between calls to them and then I start putting things in some kind of order up there. Mind you, it is still dark and I have to use a candle to see. It just isn’t fun. Derek finds it leaking in the kitchen. I just start to bawl. My pretty house. Our stuff. All the hard work we did to keep things nice. Gone. What about all our plans? Destroyed. Where were Derek’s parents? In the end, we found leaks in Ethan’s bathroom, the study closet, and of course, the entry way.
For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously
Finally, Derek’s mom calls. She forgot to put the landline downstairs. I started crying and did I say she forgot to put the landline downstairs? Don’t worry, I apologized later. We gathered ourselves up, and assessed the damage.
Note the fence….(again-turn off the sound)
Roof damage…
We gather strength from sadness and from pain. Each time we die we learn to live again.
Now it is time for cleaning up. Family okay? Check. Neighbors okay? Check. Neighbor across the street contacted? Check. There are many bad feelings a girl can have in this life. Roaming around the back yard gathering up bits and pieces of your roof is on the top of that list. A disaster changes your perspective on your material belongings as well. I had been going through our closets and stuff-kulling things that I thought we didn’t need-keeping far too many of them. When you have to throw away your son’s beloved Christmas stocking due to water damage it makes that ‘you had to keep them’ stack of random folders cluttering your desk seem not quite so important. You are glad to be alive. You see what your surroundings (trees, house, plants, etc.) went through and feel grateful that you had a place to shelter.
Your home.
A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul.
There were a couple of happy stories that emerged from all this:
The squirrel family that lived in the palm trees somehow gathered back together and the momma took them to a new nest-away from the broken fence. So they were okay and the little baby birds that got tossed into my front door violently from the hurricane winds lost one of their own… but one still lives under my sago palm out front. Here they are-momma and baby….
baby bird
Bad things:
My fish, Spotty, didn’t make it. He passed on shortly after the electricity turned back on. I couldn’t tell you why really.
If you never have to make a home insurance claim, you are lucky. I don’t recommend it. Ever. Dealing with insurance adjusters just plain stinks. Period.
If you have a random contract that needs signed, ask Derek, he can help. 
Living without electricity during the humid Houston Summer is a bad thing. Take my word for it.
Stores were closed for days… We were all refugees for a while.
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in
My simple trip to HEB (one of the first to get power back) caused tears to well up as I was immersed in all the normal. The people comparing different varieties of sudso soap in my way didn’t phase me on this visit. The lady using her Lone Star card to get a whole cart of groceries, yet haggle on the free coupon she had for 89 cent pinto beans didn’t either. I am sure there will come a time when I will scoff at those situations and get cranky, but this time I enjoyed seeing it. Being able to see it again-was a good feeling. I will always try to remember the 4 days we had without electricity. The way we sincerely appreciated a cold drink and ice…oh my goodness… ICE!
When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better
Most of Galveston was washed away. It is difficult to look at pictures of the destruction, as I look a the streets I envision what they used to look like before Ike. So much of my childhood was spent in Galveston. My grandmother lived there, my aunt lived there, I went and spent so much time on the beaches and the Strand. It was a second home.
The government dropped the ball with getting supplies to the people that needed it. What’s a person gotta do to get some ice and a tank of gas? Seriously.
Life as you know it will cease to exist
Long after our new drywall’s paint has dried and all the fences are put back up here I will take some things with me:
- I have a wonderful son. He was good throughout this ordeal, and I can’t say it enough that I am more than grateful to have such a wonderful being in my life.
- I have a wonderful husband. He would move heaven and earth to keep Ethan and I safe. He is the best. Period.
- I have great neighbors. I am fortunate to live by good people.
- I have a great family. In times of need-each and every one of them offer themselves.
- There is only one thing, except family, that if you threaten will bring the strongest man to tears. His home.
I will never take that for granted again.
Ike is coming…
Hurricane Ike is coming. It is a strange feeling seeing my home’s windows covered with wood.
Galveston is already flooding and the storm isn’t even here! I hope everyone stays healthy and happy and I dread the clean-up after all this. It is going to be like a war zone. Geraldo is at least here! Oh, and the water he spits out is sea water mixed with sewage. EEEWWW
The Kindness of Strangers
We were getting some plywood at Home Depot last night for the hurricane, and the sweetest people helped us tote it home. They lived in Alvin, yet loaded our plywood up on their trailor and took it home for us. Not only that, but helped Derek unload it. They wouldn’t accept any money either. Wonderful people. It is people like this that renew my faith in the fact that all people have good in them.
Ike is coming. Derek boarded up the house today.
The old man and the water
I was in a precarious situation yesterday. You see, Kroger had their cases of water on sale 3 for 10-so there were quite a few folks picking some up. Now, I am a girly girl-I like pink and appreciate frilly stuff here and there, but I have a hidden ‘country girl’ side and I can hold my own picking up heavy stuff. I hoisted my case up into my cart, and looked down the aisle at a little old man obviously struggling to get his cases in his cart. I watched as a couple of people passed him-and I almost passed him as well, but he was just struggling too much for me to move any futher. Veins were popping out on his forehead and his face was red.
My inner struggle was this: a) people just aren’t into helping each other nowadays -they do not want to get too close-this is such an unfortunate current social more IMO b) what if he is just a grouchy old guy that can’t hear or just doesn’t want to be bothered with a young whippersnapper like me and c) I am female-no matter how old a man gets-he never wants to admit a female can outlift him -this one reason alone was enough for me to keep trucking down the aisle.
I just couldn’t NOT stop though. I had to risk it. Despite my inner conflict, I HAD to be sure he was okay. In the end, he said with a smile, ‘I am alright, thank you’ – and I felt better that I had attempted to assist him.
That, in a nutshell, was my good feeling of the day.
Hope
I saw most of McCain’s speech from last night. It seemed promising, but I don’t think it will ever happen. Ahhh… to have a perfect world. All we can do is hope. Hakuna Matata is coming on O’Reilly in about 10 mins so I will cut this short. I have yet to get my Hummy downstairs. He is painting Ethan’s room like the wonderful husband he is. 
Not a good day
Nothing has gone my way today.
Tonight is meet the teacher night and Ethan is walking around the livingroom with a box on his head. If his teacher could see him now. He is well prepared for his spelling test tomorrow and I am very proud of him. The word ‘quack’ might give him trouble, but we are going to have a crash test at breakfast tomorrow.
I lost my defensive driving papers that I had Derek notarize for me… but then I found them. Resent them- and got a call that my license didn’t turn out clearly through the fax. I have missed more calls while using the ‘old school’ cell phone from 2004. I will have to go back to one of the Razors.
I hope meet the teacher goes smoothly. And quickly.
Family game night
We had our first Family Game night tonight and it went well. We played Mouse Trap, Big Fish, Little Fish, and Jenga. Ethan cheated at BFLF-but it was fun.
That Palin lady is supposed to talk tonight at the Republican Convention. I like her so far. She doesn’t seem to be a politician in the traditional shady dealing sense, and she really seems to be a tough cookie. She will have to be, because she is going into a personal war. I am going to watch her tonight. I am kind of excited about what she might say.
I learned tonight to never EVER eat Chick Peas. Those are the nastiest smelling things this side of the PHS Boy’s gym locker room. I was using that Jessica Seinfeld’s cook book… the one you hide the veggies and such in regular foods so the kids dont complain. Chick Peas=NASTY!! I poured it all down the drain and ordered Papa John’s. Thanks Jessica.
Hurricane Ike is out there…. Wonder where he will go? I just want to make it to ‘L’ because this year there is a ‘Laura’.
