Are we the only ones that escape weather?

When it comes to Hurricanes - yes, you should. Our week has just ended - and it all started last Thursday when the weather men were sure that the Hurricane was going to hit. It was too large to not effect anyone on the Texas Coast. So this is what our preparations look like.

Thursday 12:30 pm: Hunt for water, batteries (C batteries), Baby formula, water - canned items.
Head to Kroger, notice that traffic was building because of gas - pass it and try to gear up for a wait later. Get to the Highway, evacuees already leaving and roads are backed up. Kroger's resembles the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. Bjorn Jude and walk a couple of blocks. Head to batteries - there are none. Go get nursery water (two left). Grab some protein bars and recall all the things in our kitchen that we will just have to make due with.

Kroger's does not give cash back because of shortage and I'm waiting in a make-shift cash register line.

Load up my two bags of groceries, lock in Jude and head back towards home. No traffic towards the hurricane. Make it to CVS for batteries and formula. Batteries gone as well. So I pray. Find them in an obscure location (SCORE). Jesus loves me this I know...

Back out again. This time heading towards the traffic I noticed when I left. Get in line, finish up phone calls during the wait.. Have to back my car around because the gas tank is on the opposite side. After 45 minutes I pull through, no gas. More amazed at the gentlemen filling 10 (5 gallon) jugs with gas along with his SUV. Leave and call Josh to make an effort to fill up before getting to town. Josh asks if I tried the other grades (IDIOT!) never thought of that one. Oh well. Josh fills up the tank at 12 am.

Entire emergency run trip - Return home at 4pm. 3 1/2 hours to purchase two items and get gas in a 5 mile radius. That is an amazing amount of procrastinators.

Friday, 8:00am: Roam the outside and inside of the home, take down, cut down, tie down anything and everything. Go to friends house and repeat, after talking with cops because I set off their alarm - and the nosey (good) neighbors. Everyone thought I wasn't a potential burglar because of Jude and it being 10am in the morning.

8:00 pm: Finished, time to enjoy the craziness, and calm down Jude. Try to convince him the storm shelter is fun and cool.

11pm: Lights out - for real. No turning back. Wind continues to pick up. Josh and I fall asleep.

Saturday 6am - Jude wakes hungry. Tour the grounds and amazed of what damage a little storm could do. Clean up what we could and enjoy the outdoors.

Babies get sticky in the heat. Jude had 2 baths a day.

What's it like without electricity? Fun to camp the first 24 hours - so - Not too bad, we had hot water (we had water and plumbing). Our house was keeping cool, although the humidity from the passing storm was increasing. New Fridge lives up to its name. Your day ends around 8pm. Tired from the heat and keeping your boredom low by doing physical work. Pretend you are Amish. What gets old is not have electricity and not knowing when you will have it. Become envious of those with super loud generators.

Grill Menu: Everything cooked with an iron skillet. (Josh still has dreams about the glorious fire and iron combo)

Amigas - Eggs, onion, cheese, hash browns, with refried beans. Desert is peaches caramelized with brown sugar, oats and pecans. (trying to rid the fridge of food)

French toast with Hot Strawberries and Pecans sprinkled with Powdered Sugar, amigas

Left over frozen beef dinner, Fresh green beans tossed with whole garlic roasted, grilled zucchini.

Monday 8am: No more food - protein bars! No electricity is getting old. Josh has a gig in Austin and will take advantage of that.

Wednesday 9am: Josh goes to lunch with work, car breaks down on the way. Need new radiator fan. Not going to Lunch with Josh so call claims to discuss deductible. Little too high to have a fence replaced - we will be footing the bill entirely. Hotel booked and can not accommodate late checkout or extra night. Holly packs in a hurry.

Jude takes advantage of my focused attention and downs some allergy pills. Tackle him and rip apart his jaw to recover one pill. Take note of his secretive "I know something you don't" smirk for later in life. Secretly hope that will cure his runny nose. (It doesn't) Call poison control - Allergy pills are non-toxic and he just might become restless (GREAT!). He does.

Walk the hotel grounds and lobby for 3 hours while Josh has his lunch. Jude is not liking the same toys or the trash I keep handing him in thirst of two minutes to "zone out". Radiator might be replaced by EOD and will run $700.00. Think about that, fence repairs and property taxes that are looming. Oi!

Josh picks me up through a friend at 3:30 pm. We all head to car shop to tell him we are staying the night or he fixes the car. He fixes the car - Josh's job offers us one more night because of the car. We head to Round Rock to stay in a 3 star hotel which had more luxury than the 4 star that we had. (4 Star was the only room left because of hurricane). Wingate is great.

Thursday - still no electricity. Decide to head home anyway. Tour Bluebell factory and get free ice cream with extra free sccops because of Hurricane. Also get two free cases of water. Make it into Houston around 4pm to stay at a friends house.

8pm - power is up. Josh and I stay for a little longer and bee-line it out to our home.

We can now blow dry hair, wash clothes, microwave, use a dishwasher, turn on a fan or a radio, keep time not through a cell phone, charge laptops and cell phones, cook without fire (josh is not upset - odd) annnnd, Make HOT coffee - french press got too cold from hot kettle water.

Sounds rough, just adventurous and highly annoying at times of course - but to think, we were the ones that made it out "Lucky" - there are those that had it sooo much worse. Makes you laugh when that's what Luck looks like around here.

Our car now runs great. Fences are being held up temporarily - my backyard view is pretty, I'm back to being able to blog and work.

Some still waiting on power, to get to their homes, to hear from claims adjusters, to not have to boil water, to have cars - it can go on. We definitely made it out good, but we also made it out with a story to tell Jude about his First Hurricane. It was a perfect trip to decided that having more than one child is stupid. I'm sure that will change with 5 solid days of power. :P