Can you belive it!??? By the time I got home from the library, our power was on. Not only that, but our cable and internet are working just fine! Looks like we'll be hosting lots of power-less friends for a few days! No school for me until Monday. Matt goes back tomorrow.
Thanks for your prayers - they worked!!!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Surviving Ike
So we made it through our first hurricane. I am going to give you more details on this post than you ever cared to know, but somehow, it's calming for me to write out all of our adventures from the past few days.
I am currently writing this from Matt's school's library. Clearly, we, along with 69% of the rest of Houston, are still without power. We do have water though!
So here's how it all went down:
Thursday: So I came home from school and immediately ran a load of dishes and did ALL the laundry in the house while Matt was braving the grocery store. He came back with the craziest assortment of whatnots, but it has helped us survive! We cooked up some chili and had lots of leftovers. We then went to Home Depot for plywood, a new drill, screws, etc. We came home and our wonderful neighbor, Eli, who is a contractor, came over and taught Matt how to put plywood up on windows with brick frames. He and Matt worked on our two houses for HOURS, but got us safe. We learned that Cori and Trent, Matt and Sara, and Nichole and Cody all decided to leave. We'd be braving this one solol
Friday: We woke up to the news of the crashing waves of Galveston and decided we'd venture out to look for a third flashlight or lantern. After our 3rd store, we went to Target, which was hilariously empty (the shelves I mean), but we did manage to get another gallon of water and some awesome glow sticks (Ocean's Eleven style!). We went to four or five restaurants before we found our beloved Cyclone Anayas was still open - a delicious lunch.
Getting closer to landfall, we got all candles out and ready and filled the bath tub with water. Summers and Chris lost power early - about 7ish - so they came over. Chris carried a case of beer and laptop and Summers came with wedding albums and her Prada shoes. The sight was hysterical. We sat watching the news for a long time. Summers went to sleep around midnight and the lights went out about 1am. The wind had been really strong, but it got crazy at this point until 7am. We watched the wind whipping for a long time. The coolest thing was the sky. It kept on lightning all morning long, but we never heard thunder b/c the wind was blowing so hard. But the weird part was the colors. When the lightning happened, the sky was TEAL, ORANGE, and PURPLE. It was so crazy. It was pretty scary, but kind of cool from then on out.
Saturday: The wind finally stopped blowing SO hard around 10am and we followed Chris and Summers to their house to check things out. Our complex did well. We only lost our very back fence and part of car port awnings. We did lose MANY limbs and leaves. We drove very slowly b/c of the wind and got to see how torn up the city was and FINALLY hear some news. Their neighborhood looked pretty bad. They lost part of their fence and many limbs. We all worked to clean up their yard as best we could, and then we grilled brauts and had ourselves a little garage feast. After a rainy walk to the Buffalo Bayou to see the flooding, Matt and I went back home and took down the plywood, etc. It was SWELTERING. You've NEVER felt such humidity. It was horrible for the rest of the day. It was so humid my carpet, couches, towels, clothes, pillows, and blankets were all damp. Soooooo gross. We decided we'd try to bathe. I called dibs on first! I got in the freezing cold bath water we had saved (we had NO water at this point) and stood. I lathered up, and then would use a tea pitcher to dump FREEZING colod water all over. It was horrible. Then Matt had to do the same using the water I just bathed in. Poor guy. That evening we heard that water was being sold for $35 a bottle nearby. Can you believe that? We heated our leftover chili on the grill's burner and used already cooked chicken to grill quesadillas. It was delicious, but I was so hot and emotional that night, I didn't eat much. We sweated the night away and a huge rain storm came in. That was the worst. The rain was coming in our open doors and windows (p.s. a roach flew at my head that night- not fun), Missy was soo hot and couldn't calm down b/c of the thunder. I took her in the rain to the car at 4am for A/C. It was so scary b/c it was sooooooo dark everywhere. We came back in and got back on our floor palate. We didn't get much sleep. That was the worst night.
Sunday: We did another round of showers, but this time got to use fresh water b/c a trickle had returned. Then we went to Fox Sports Grill with Summers and Chris for A/C (the Galleria never lost power) and food and football. It was nice. The line was insane! We were lucky to get a table. We stayed there until about 4 and then went back home. It was a little cooler so we sat outside with half the neighborhood and ate peanut butter and honey/jelly sandwiches. Then we got back on the floor (3rd night at this point - it's way hotter upstairs) and slept much better b/c of the cool front. We did have to sleep wearing Off b/c of all the bugs in the house by now. We all woke up cold.
Monday: Nichole and Cody had come back Sunday to find they didn't lose power, so they invited us over. We had WONDERFUL hot showers, watched the news, and Nichole cooked amazing chicken spaghetti for us. We just soaked up their A/C till about 3, then went home and played cards. Cori and Trent came over (they returned Monday afternoon) and we grilled the steaks we had in a cooler (by now the fridge had to be cleaned out) and wine by candlelight. It was pretty fun, but of course they had to leave at 8:30 to make it home before the city-wide curfew. We slept on the floor again, but didn't have to sleep with the door open finally. We woke up freezing.
Tuesday: We went over to the Agnews for hot showers (they have hot water but no power), and we're now at STCL mooching A/C and internet. I'm hoping for a yummy Mexican lunch if we can find someplace with power.
All in all, Matt and I have learned SO much this past weekend. We are tired of relying on people from other cities to tell us the news in our own, we're shocked that our church, less than a mile from our home, is a FEMA pod (and we actually needed the FEMA help), and we're blessed that we have some places of refuge and that we still have our home. We have many more stories to tell than I shared here. I hope I didn't bore you all to death, but it makes me feel better to release the emotions we've felt.
Thank you all for continually checking on us! We'll let you know as soon as we have power again. Keep praying!
I am currently writing this from Matt's school's library. Clearly, we, along with 69% of the rest of Houston, are still without power. We do have water though!
So here's how it all went down:
Thursday: So I came home from school and immediately ran a load of dishes and did ALL the laundry in the house while Matt was braving the grocery store. He came back with the craziest assortment of whatnots, but it has helped us survive! We cooked up some chili and had lots of leftovers. We then went to Home Depot for plywood, a new drill, screws, etc. We came home and our wonderful neighbor, Eli, who is a contractor, came over and taught Matt how to put plywood up on windows with brick frames. He and Matt worked on our two houses for HOURS, but got us safe. We learned that Cori and Trent, Matt and Sara, and Nichole and Cody all decided to leave. We'd be braving this one solol
Friday: We woke up to the news of the crashing waves of Galveston and decided we'd venture out to look for a third flashlight or lantern. After our 3rd store, we went to Target, which was hilariously empty (the shelves I mean), but we did manage to get another gallon of water and some awesome glow sticks (Ocean's Eleven style!). We went to four or five restaurants before we found our beloved Cyclone Anayas was still open - a delicious lunch.
Getting closer to landfall, we got all candles out and ready and filled the bath tub with water. Summers and Chris lost power early - about 7ish - so they came over. Chris carried a case of beer and laptop and Summers came with wedding albums and her Prada shoes. The sight was hysterical. We sat watching the news for a long time. Summers went to sleep around midnight and the lights went out about 1am. The wind had been really strong, but it got crazy at this point until 7am. We watched the wind whipping for a long time. The coolest thing was the sky. It kept on lightning all morning long, but we never heard thunder b/c the wind was blowing so hard. But the weird part was the colors. When the lightning happened, the sky was TEAL, ORANGE, and PURPLE. It was so crazy. It was pretty scary, but kind of cool from then on out.
Saturday: The wind finally stopped blowing SO hard around 10am and we followed Chris and Summers to their house to check things out. Our complex did well. We only lost our very back fence and part of car port awnings. We did lose MANY limbs and leaves. We drove very slowly b/c of the wind and got to see how torn up the city was and FINALLY hear some news. Their neighborhood looked pretty bad. They lost part of their fence and many limbs. We all worked to clean up their yard as best we could, and then we grilled brauts and had ourselves a little garage feast. After a rainy walk to the Buffalo Bayou to see the flooding, Matt and I went back home and took down the plywood, etc. It was SWELTERING. You've NEVER felt such humidity. It was horrible for the rest of the day. It was so humid my carpet, couches, towels, clothes, pillows, and blankets were all damp. Soooooo gross. We decided we'd try to bathe. I called dibs on first! I got in the freezing cold bath water we had saved (we had NO water at this point) and stood. I lathered up, and then would use a tea pitcher to dump FREEZING colod water all over. It was horrible. Then Matt had to do the same using the water I just bathed in. Poor guy. That evening we heard that water was being sold for $35 a bottle nearby. Can you believe that? We heated our leftover chili on the grill's burner and used already cooked chicken to grill quesadillas. It was delicious, but I was so hot and emotional that night, I didn't eat much. We sweated the night away and a huge rain storm came in. That was the worst. The rain was coming in our open doors and windows (p.s. a roach flew at my head that night- not fun), Missy was soo hot and couldn't calm down b/c of the thunder. I took her in the rain to the car at 4am for A/C. It was so scary b/c it was sooooooo dark everywhere. We came back in and got back on our floor palate. We didn't get much sleep. That was the worst night.
Sunday: We did another round of showers, but this time got to use fresh water b/c a trickle had returned. Then we went to Fox Sports Grill with Summers and Chris for A/C (the Galleria never lost power) and food and football. It was nice. The line was insane! We were lucky to get a table. We stayed there until about 4 and then went back home. It was a little cooler so we sat outside with half the neighborhood and ate peanut butter and honey/jelly sandwiches. Then we got back on the floor (3rd night at this point - it's way hotter upstairs) and slept much better b/c of the cool front. We did have to sleep wearing Off b/c of all the bugs in the house by now. We all woke up cold.
Monday: Nichole and Cody had come back Sunday to find they didn't lose power, so they invited us over. We had WONDERFUL hot showers, watched the news, and Nichole cooked amazing chicken spaghetti for us. We just soaked up their A/C till about 3, then went home and played cards. Cori and Trent came over (they returned Monday afternoon) and we grilled the steaks we had in a cooler (by now the fridge had to be cleaned out) and wine by candlelight. It was pretty fun, but of course they had to leave at 8:30 to make it home before the city-wide curfew. We slept on the floor again, but didn't have to sleep with the door open finally. We woke up freezing.
Tuesday: We went over to the Agnews for hot showers (they have hot water but no power), and we're now at STCL mooching A/C and internet. I'm hoping for a yummy Mexican lunch if we can find someplace with power.
All in all, Matt and I have learned SO much this past weekend. We are tired of relying on people from other cities to tell us the news in our own, we're shocked that our church, less than a mile from our home, is a FEMA pod (and we actually needed the FEMA help), and we're blessed that we have some places of refuge and that we still have our home. We have many more stories to tell than I shared here. I hope I didn't bore you all to death, but it makes me feel better to release the emotions we've felt.
Thank you all for continually checking on us! We'll let you know as soon as we have power again. Keep praying!
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