Surviving Hurricane Ike

Howdy friends. Life has been pretty busy the past few weeks. We got back to school, as well as starting co-op. I just haven't had lots of time for blogging.

Just to let you know, yes, we did stay for Ike. For those reading this who may not know, I live approximately 25 miles northwest of Galveston, straight up I-45. Compared to many in the Houston, Galveston area, our town weathered the storm very well. Most of our little town has power again, and things are starting to feel more "normal".

My husband (Bugman) decided to stay for the hurricane, and I wasn't going to leave without him. So, stay we did. It is incredible to witness the power of God in action. Truthfully, the storm wasn't as scary as I expected, but maybe that was because of the peace I had (read Psalm 91 over and over!). It was after, with no power and it being so miserably hot, that was so awful.

We had really no damage to our house, no fence to fall, and so just a lot of tree-debris to clean up. Bugman got a new chainsaw and had lots of fun (still is!) helping neighbors cut up limbs and trees in their yards.

We spent Saturday after the storm cleaning up our yard of large debris items, and then cleaning up the gutters and storm drains on our street to help the water go down. Many on my street were not as lucky as us, and had large (HUGE) trees down in their yards or even in their homes.

Sunday, we left after church to go out of town. Our congregation meets in a school, which turned out to be the hardest hit school of all the ones in our district (so who knows where we will meet after this!). We met at our pastor's home for that Sunday. We left Sunday and headed for Roanoke, TX (just north of Ft. Worth). We stayed with our dear friend Pat (kids call her "Mama Pat"... she loves it!). We got a call Monday that there was power again in our house, and Tuesday we headed back. We ate lunch at our favorite Roanoke spot Babe's Chicken Dinner House and went away happy.

Wednesday was dedicated to finishing our yard, as well as helping other families with theirs. Other than a slight altercation with a neighbor (who wanted to wait for "the city" to take care of his problems), we actually had a great time, bonding with neighbors and getting to know some we had not met before. Our side of the street had power on Monday, but our neighbors across the street had none until Wednesday night. We ran an extension cord over to them so they could run a fan, or plug in their refrigerator.

Stores have been low on lots of items.... milk, cheese, eggs have been scarce, but are getting more plentiful. I went today and was able to get everything I wanted. I think one of the keys is to go EARLY. Gas lines are getting shorter. Over all, we have been blessed in more ways than we can imagine!

So many in our area are still without power. It is quite sad and depressing. My sister-in-law up in Kingwood (north of Houston) may not have power until late next week.

I think the saddest part for me is throwing out so much good food (and then smelling it rot in front of the house).

I will blog more later. I am still in awe of the power of God and how much he does for us.

Just to show off... here are my boys.
Left to right... LittleJ (7), Buddyboy (16), Tiny (4) and Legoboy (13).

Isn't that an awesome picture?

Freezer's Fine

You know, since Sears got bought by Kmart, it's service and quality have diminished greatly. It was very disappointing for us, as we had always bought Sears items due to their great service and policies. Well, the deep freeze is a Kenmore (bought five years ago, before Sears changed hands) and since we didn't want to deal with Sears (my service nightmare story has to do with another Sears product... I'll tell it another day!), we called an independent service guy. He told us that our model had had lots of problems in the past, and made suggestions as to what the problem might be, but said on top of all that, he couldn't come until Monday. Great. I might lose all my stuff!

So, we caved and called Sears. They said Saturday. Great. We'll take it.

That was Tuesday. I thought I was going to have to go through five or six more nights of listening to that stinkin' alarm go off at 3 a.m. out in the garage telling me it was "off temp-er-ture" (said in my best Marvin Zindler accent).

But, God is so good! Wednesday, they called and said a technician would be in the area that day, could he come by and check today! Yes, Ma'am! The tech was a 37 year Sears repair veteran, and knew EVERYTHING! He checked the freezer, said it was fine, but gave us some advice (it was off temp because of the nine gallon bottles of water I put in it in prep for the "hurricane", and because of the boxes I had stored on top... which kept the condenser working harder). He also came in and told bugman how to fix the door to the fridge inside (also a Kenmore, 10 years old). AND.... when bugman said "I want your card so I can request you next time" we found out he is a MASTER PLUMBER! How cool is that??

Now, why is that cool, you may ask. It's cool because we need a plumber who can run a gas line to our kitchen for our new stove! I really feel like God sent this wonderful man our way to bless us. We are very excited. Bugman will call him next week to set up a time to get the line installed. Meanwhile, I need to find a scratch-and-dent store to see if I can find my stove at a discount price. LOL.

Mow, Mow, Mow your lawn...

We got a new mower. One of those old-fashioned mowers. No engine, no gas, no noise. No, we didn't buy it because how environmentally friendly it is (although it's a plus, huh) but because it was cheap, I never have to go buy gas for it, never have to have someone else come start it, etc. AND, my almost-8 year old (LittleJ) can use it! He loves it. I like to sing when he mows... "On the mow again, J can't wait to get on the mow again..." He laughs, and wants to know where I learned that song. It actually does a good job, as long as you don't let the grass get too long. Did I mention that you can mow at 7 a.m., and not worry about waking the neighbors? How cool is that?

"Dodged the Bullet" and Broken Freezers

It's been a so-so day.
We "dodged the bullet" (as Bugman likes to say, making fun of the media coverage), in that Edouardo went northeast of us and we are just having a bad thunderstorm. It is hilarious... all these businesses are closed, all for naught. At least the dentist was smart... he didn't officially say he was closing. Buddy (16yos) had an appt. this morning and it still happened.

On the other hand, I have strep throat. I started with a slight sore throat Friday night, turning into a horrible, throat-closing experience by Sunday. I kept waiting for it to improve, but no. It has steadily gotten worse. I can barely swallow. Called the Dr.'s office today, and it's closed due to the storm. Same with the local Rediclinic. Egads! Luckily, I have a lovely doctor, whose email and cell phone number I happen to have. She called me in a prescription for Antibiotics... yes, I am that desperate! I feel fine, except for not being able to talk and swallow!

And on top of all that, my deep-freeze is acting up. Yesterday, I rearranged it, making room for a whole bunch of frozen gallon-size water bottles. Last night about 11pm, the alarm went off... the door was locked, and the temp was about 10 degrees. It went off again about 2:15pm, and the temp was about 15 degrees. Bugman says it should be about zero. Great. So today we called a repairman... of course, it is *just* out of it's warranty period! Find out that this model has had repeated problems, that may cost more than a new Freezer! Yikes! But, upon reading online here, I found that sometimes it can be a clogged defrost drain. So, Bugman took apart the freezer bottom, and lo and behold it was blocked by ice. We cleaned it out, loaded the food back in, and we are now in the "wait and see" period. Praying that the alarm does not go off again. Meanwhile, I have an appt for a repair guy to come Saturday between 1pm and 5pm. That means, that he'll be here at 5pm if I stay home, but if I leave, he'll show up at 1pm. Saturday is my "sabbatical" day. Bugman is taking boys off to "the farm"... a farm owned by some friends out in Flatonia. I get two days ALONE!!