We survived Ike

What a funny name for a hurricane - huh? Well, it came and went - thousands around us were without electricity, but we were blessed and only lost it a few hours. Tim had bought lots of water just in case for our last hurricane - Gustav - that hardly hit us with anything. So we were not overly worried - except for a few swaying pine trees at one end of the trailers.

We slept in Saturday morning, moved a few things out of the bathroom - just in case. Settled in working on the girls "Flight Journals". Late morning we lost electricity for about an hour, then again about 3:30 until after midnight. The bad thing is that we lost the water after a while too - since it knocked out the electric pump on the street's well. That was put on a generator around 11pm, so not a huge problem overall.

Others we know didn't fare so well. Tim's parents have 8 trees down in their yard, and I guess some is on their new fence. They were on vacation, so Tim is there helping with the trees today.

Karen's family had a lot of trees down in their yard, some hitting the houses. Grandma's house only had the top of a tree - no significant damage, other than knocking out the gutter and making a huge mess. But a tree landed on the corner of their house and dented the roof and outside wall. No damage that they can see on the inside - but it seems to have made their mold problem much worse. It did enough damage to the lines, that they were without electricity until last night.

Tim continues to job hunt. Six months, nearly a hundred interviews, nearly a thousand job apps and inquiries and sent resumes - but nothing past the nibble stage. Very depressing. So far we have survived on the unemployment and tax refunds, but even trying to be frugal.... well, we've had a few large expenses - car, AC, replaced the stove, school books .... and we keep digging further and further into the little freezer. On the plus side, I can see what I have in there. Sort of.

We've also had all the kids and myself sick with what appears to be a 24 hour bug - high fever and a headache - then it is gone. Kendra went down with it last night. At least I hope she has the short bug - Esther was running fevers for close to a week.

Joel is learning about armadillos - Kendra plays "Go Diego, Go" with him, and I told her that she should pick an animal every week or three and learn all about it, read library books and all. They are enjoying it very much. He's got a little one I found at Mom's house to borrow and slept with it last night.

Well, back to making soap. And cleaning house. Wish I had a better eye for organization, and an easier time of letting things go. A better floor plan wouldn't hurt either. The girls have a bunk bed and Kendra is closer to the ceiling than Vannan is to her. LOL I will have to post the pictures I took the other day of their room and my poor non-existant living room. YIKES!