Hunkering Down

*Update: It's 11:25 and we still have power. Woo Hoo! Although, currently, we have frozen our house out for when we loose power so that we're not so hot. So right now I am in comfy clothes and a sweat shirt. This is very uncommon in Texas during the month of September. I just started hearing the rain on the window, and the wind is definitely picking up. It's coming, folks. It should be here around 3 or 4 a.m., so we're just waiting. We actually just walked outside, and it was nice. My hair, not so nice, but that's okay. Thank you, wind. At least right now it's clean. We have also watched the sky change to about 15 different colors, it was gorgeous. At one point it looked like a fire in the sky! I'll definitely be sharing those pictures with you later. Well, I'm out for now. I think I am going to lay my head down now, because my eyes are starting to get really heavy, and this could potentially be a very long night! Thank you so much for your prayers. We appreciate them so much! I'll keep y'all updated...let's pray the electricity holds out as long as possible!

Well, we're here, and we're staying.

We've been doing things all day, preparing for the worst. To be completely honest, we will be fine. We are going to have some strong winds, and a lot of rain, but I am hoping that's all. There are always chances of tornado's, but if I am praying anything away, I am praying those away. The thought of a tornado scares me almost more than the hurricane itself. We are about an our inland, so we were not issued to evacuate. If the weather center truly thought we were in danger, they would have told us to leave. But, we were told to stay here.

We have not taken our eyes off of the t.v., though, and y'all, Galveston is already gettin' it. And I mean gettin' it. There is already tons of flooding, and the waves are HUGE. There is a sea wall in Galveston that is about 16 feet tall, and the waves are crashing OVER the sea wall. About 5 minutes ago we were watching a reporter, and the biggest wave came crashing well over 15 feet over him. Scary. I keep telling the reporters on the t.v. to move away from the wall. I am sure they can hear me.

Here are a few pictures from the NY Times so you can see for yourselves the craziness already:



Let me tell you my pet peeve, yesterday Galveston issued a mandatory evacuation for the whole city. Of course, there are tons of people that decided they want to ride it out. Dumb, I say, dumb. Well, earlier today they told the people that were left there, that they need to put, in permanent marker, on their arm, their name and maybe even their social security number. Y'all, if the national weather station is telling us that people left there could potentially face death, it is serious. So after they were told to write their name on their arm, they got the point and many left. Praise the Lord! However, there was one man that finally called for help because he wanted to leave, and it is too late. No one can get to him. They told him to write his name and social security number on his arm. I am so sad for him. I mean yes, he was warned, but still. I just hate that!

They are still doing rescues, but once the winds reach about 55, all of the rescues will cease, and the hurricane hasn't even hit yet. So just pray now that they can do as many rescues as possible. This is when I wish people would really listen and get out. Hopefully they will learn their lesson.

The clouds have definitely rolled in, though, so now we are here, just waiting, and I'm already bored. I really am tired of watching the news, but I can't take my eyes off of it.

Popeye's was open, so I just had me some fried chicken and it was glorious. However, we did wait in a 30 minute line. I guess everyone wants Popeye's, or maybe it really is the only thing open. :)

Our windows are taped, so we're hoping we're good. I think we are.

Well friends, I'll try and keep you updated, as long as we have power. Maybe I'll even take some pictures to entertain myself, and you peeps. Who knows. The brunt of it isn't even supposed to hit until about 3 am, so it will probably be a long night.

Oh, and funny thing. Here at home we keep talking about the fact the I am the hurricane. My initials are LKE, and when they are lowercase, it is lke, which clearly looks like Ike. Watch out folks, hurricane lke is about to make landfall, and it won't be pretty.