CREDITS:

Digital scrap items in the header, layouts and sidebar are by Miss Mint at PeppermintCreative.com or Jen Wilson at JenWilsonDesigns.com

Monday, September 22, 2008

Ike

We are *STILL* without power. More and more friends get electricity as the days go by but our entire chunk of the neighborhood is still dark. Centerpoint. Grrrrr.....

For friends & family wondering we are well. The power is the only thing wrong. Our house didn't have any major damage, our roof is fine, we didn't loose any trees nor were any of us injured. The only "bad" things have been the heat and life without power.

The contents of our fridge & freezer were 100% lost. It's unplugged, standing with both doors wide open in my kitchen, smelling faintly of bleach and looking brand new all over again. Not so bad! LOL!

We are having to keep the doors & windows open to attempt to circulate the 88-90 degree air. This is blowing in small bits of dirt, dust and plant debris but there's not much I can do about it. We have to be careful in the heat. Even mildly strenuous activities like house cleaning, rough housing and rushing from room to room cause over-heating which, without AC or power, can land you in the ER for IV fluids because of heat exhaustion. This is something I would have never seen coming. You would think without the distraction of the computer I would have drawers, closets & cabinets completely cleaned out and organized or a massive amount of the things on my to-do list checked off. It's just the opposite - I'm struggling to ignore the fine dust that only my vacuum can completely rid my floors of and looking past the pile of necessary flashlight, lantern & candle clutter on the table. Everything has dropped to a basic minimum and I'm ashamed to admit that keeping Aiden feed, hydrated and happy is all I have the strength for. I haul laundry to friend's houses and grab precious moments of time online. (Might I add that I'm sorry my inbox was full if you tried to e-mail me. However, I'm tempted to completely cancel Super Saturday if someone doesn't let us borrow a generator so we can keep Aiden's milk cold!)

Once power is restored, internet will soon follow but I won't be online much. I'm already feeling overwhelmed by the deep cleaning I'll need to do around the house, the "spring cleaning" type chores that will need to be re-done and the jumbo items - like the dog bed - that I will need to wash. It will be October 18 or later before I am back to normal. (October 18 is Super Saturday - that fun but pain-in-my-butt day I can't wait to be done with!) I'll be MIA until then putting my family's needs first.

My Freinds: Thank you so much for your love and support! The constant stream of dinner invites and offers to let me use your laundry rooms have made me so thankful for all of you. I love you all! Where would I be this week without you? Probably hot and naked with no clean clothes! LOL!

My Designers & CT's: I've missed you sooooo much! Two weeks without my computer has felt like an eternity. Believe me, my creativity has been replenished and is bubbling over. I'm ready to get back in the saddle once my house is put back together and my family is again comfortable! Hugs from Houston!

To Everyone Else: I'll post a more extensive list of what you would need to have in a similar situation but for now let me say a special thank you to Brian's Aunt in Grand Rapids. It was her e-mail that made me think to add disposable plates, utensils and paper goods to our stash of hurricane supplies. It has made a huge difference. Our house does not smell of dirty dishes and we have not had any pests because we can throw everything away and keep it outside of the house. Thank you for taking the time to send that e-mail, Brian and I sincerely appreciate your advice. In the future I will prepare similarly but I'm going to hunt for some new cook books and emergency survival books. I want to know what people several centuries ago knew that I do not. We also will be looking to add another battery powered camping lantern, with plenty of D cell batteries, so that we don't have to share one large light. And I'll probably order books several at a time from Amazon, keeping two or three that I want to read on-hand for next year's storm season. Sitting still and reading has been the only way to survive in the heat.

In short, we are doing well. We were lucky, we are blessed and we are being taken care of by good friends who have become even closer through it all. When I got home last week after being at my parents, I could feel the neighborly love in the air. It was like some sort of time warp back to the 1950's. Children playing in the street all day, friends stopping by to say hi, sharing of everything you could spare.....it's been magical. I'm anxious for the power to come back on but I know when it does the magic will be lost. We'll go back to life, busy as ever. But Ike, as nasty as he was, gave us a reminder. Friends abound and family is precious. See you in October!

1 comment:

amanda said...

you probably won't get this for like a week-but if you need another house-mine is open too-it was nice to have company tonight from the neighborhood w/o power! we have a large lantern if you need one! D batteries and all!