YIKES IKE

I survied my first hurricane since living here for 13 years. Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2, at Galvenston and then continued upwards. I live 80 miles away so we didn't get any of the 100 mph winds or any of the surge BUT we did get 78 mph winds and LOTS of rain. Since living in Texas I have seen rain blow sideways but never from all directions, like it did with Ike.

Since I have never been thru a hurricane before..I did not know what to expect. I kept thinking it was going to be like the "Perfect Storm" with thunder and lighting..but as Daryl explained to me that there is no thunder and lighting in a Hurricane.

We were very fortunate and we only lost power for a day and we did not have any damage to our house. Our neighbors who live in the two story got lots of damage and they had some flooding in there house.

One of the reason that Ike was SO BAD was that is was like 571 miles across. Even my mom in Ohio felt the effects of Ike when it made it's way up there.....

Houston is starting to get back to normal...there are still 63,000 people in Houston still without power. CRAZY!!!

For Galvenston it will TAKE MONTHS even YEARS for them to rebuild but the people of the island are putting their backs into it and cleaning up to start the rebuild.

Check out this website.....

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

And Daryl and I want to thank everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers!

Locks of Love

Daryl and I aren't the richest people in the world but we try to give to some non-profit orginazations when we can. But there is one thing that I can do that doesn't cost any money and that is grow my hair out. Everyone knows how fast my hair grows and in fact it aggervates my hairdresser cause she will color my hair and two weeks later I am already having to have my roots done again...he-he Locks of Love requires a minium of 10 inches in order for you to donate..so I went to my hairdressar on Saturday and we measured it out and it was enough for me to donate...so after calming HER down and REASSURING her that this is what I want to do...it all came off. Here is a before picture.....(most recent picture of me with my hair down and long)

After(front)

Back

So if you can grow your hair and are looking for a orginzation take a look at Locks of Love.

http://www.locksoflove.org

1 Month

It has been 1 month since Daryl has quit smoking and I am so proud of him!! He has been smoking for about 11 years and he has talked about quitting a couple of times but never did it..but a month and half ago he went to the doctors and got a prescription for Chantex to help him stop and he hasn't had a cigarette for a month now.
Daryl has learned some things along the way too. He used to be "that guy" who would blow smoke in your face or smoke by you while you were trying to stop...well he got a taste of his own medicine when other people started to do that to him. And he is liking how he gave himself a raise since he is no longer spending $5 dollars a day on a pack....now he can afford to spend $11 dollars at McDonald's.

5 Year Anniversary

No it's not our 5 yr anniversary but it is Daryl's 5 year anniversary working for Schlumberger. Every year Schlumberger has a banquet for people who have been with the company for 5 plus years. Every year they have the banquet in a different city for the region and this year it was in Frisco, Texas.....So thanks to Schlumberger we got to have a mini vacation.(the banquet was on August 9Th..I'm alittle late in posting)

So we packed up the trailblazer and headed up 45 North to Frisco for our four hour trip. Daryl and I love to go on road trips cause we have a blast with each other.

Four hours later we arrived at the Westin in Frisco and it was a NICE hotel. We got ready and went down to the ballroom for the banquet. Well they had a photographer there and we got our picture taken..which came out very nice..but as Daryl calls it..it's our Prom picture since they were posing us like Prom pictures. The banquet was great and it was amazing to hear some of the people's stories and it was amazing to hear that some people had been with the company for 35 yrs....35 yrs!!!!!!!!, that in itself is amazing cause in this day and age people don't stay with companies very long.

Sunday morning we got up and headed 10 minutes down the road to visit Chris,Amy,Carley, and Campbell in McKinney. This was our first time going to Chris's house and we got to see their new floors....Chris and Amy the floors look great. We had a great time visiting with everyone and we enjoyed having lunch with them....Chris makes a AWESOME grilled cheese sandwich. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay very long cause we had to head back south, but we are planning on going to visit soon and stay longer.

Award

Thank you ancient one for the award!!!

Not home yet...

Just a quick update....my kitty is still not home. I have not received any calls from the flyers that I have posted around the neighborhood and none of my neighbors have seen him. I visited the local shelters on Thursday to see if he had been turned in but he wasn't there.
I want to thank everyone who has checked in to see if has come home. If anything changes I will post it here for all to see.

Lost Kitty

I know that many of you don't live in the same state as I do..so it would be kind of hard for y'all to help in the search of my lost kitty..but I'm asking for you to say some prayers to help bring my kitty home. (The lost kitty is the one on the blue pillow).
My Shitty Kitty(yes that is his name) has some kidney problems and needs to be on a special diet. He's been missing since Wednesday am when he snuck out the door while my roommate was leaving for work. Normally he would just go out side and come home later that day but he has not been home since.
My husband and I have been looking around the neighborhood every night when we get home and have posted lost signs all over. I've been calling local vets around the area and the shelters but still no one has seen him.
So please take some time out and say a prayer for my Shitty Kitty.