The Little Things...

Today I smiling about the little things...

*Hurricane Ike forced all to stay home... with each other:)
*A gas station with gas has never been so appreciated:)
*The sound of the kids playing outside - their squeals and shouts of laughter and seemingly
lack of awareness of all that has transpired is priceless
*Cool breezes
*70-80 degree weather

We take so much for granted - Ike was such a big reminder!

Wyatt's commentary on the porta-potti...

Anyone who knows Wyatt knows he always has something to say. This video was taken in the summer of 2007 by our very special friend, Marti! Thanks for sharing Marti!!
(You may want to turn the sound on the slide show and my playlist off in order to hear Wyatt.)

"It's Kinda Yellow"

Ike Took a Hike...

Ike has finally taken a hike but not before exacting an estimated $8 billion worth of damage to the Gulf Coast area. Praise God that none of that damage occurred to my home, however; my heart hurts for those who were on the receiving end of the devastation. We only lost power for about three hours and our cable, phone and internet were down for most of the day yesterday, but things are back to normal in the Hodges' house today. Well... as normal as they ever are! Normal meaning Wyatt was up early, ready to go, Megan is still sleeping (it is only 9:20am) and I am nursing a big ole cup of coffee while working on the computer:).

This was my second hurricane to ride out - the first being Hurricane Frederick in 1979 when it hit Mobile, AL. We lived about 60 miles or so north of Mobile. I remember loading up the next day or so in the car with my parents as we drove to Mobile to survey the damage. Those images are still with me. I imagine that they match what Galveston looks like today and will look like for several weeks to come. I was awestruck then at the power of water and wind and I am awestruck again. With age, however, comes experience and at eight years old I didn't get what the devastation meant. These days I completely get it and how I am so grateful this morning that we were spared. The parts of Katy and west Houston that I drove through yesterday have nothing in comparison with Galveston. There are fallen trees, awnings that have been ripped off, debris littering the roadways (but small debris - no boats!), broken fences, broken roofs, but, as far as I know, all life was spared on this end of town.

In some ways I think Ike is a testimony to the power of prayer - he was expected to be so much larger than he was, so much more devastating - forecasters were expecting him to reach a category 3 or a category 4 before he reached landfall. He never reached a category three and downgraded to a category 1 as he began moving inland. The storm surge was not as high as was expected either. Each of those things are what many throughout the area were praying specifically for. It's as if the large, unseen hand of God reached down right in front of Ike and slowed him down - not allowing him to gain strength or to be as devastating as once forecasted!

As I posted before...
Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save, He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

He was definitely with us, He saved us and in the middle of the night, when the storm was raging so very loudly, He quieted me with His love.

We're wearing sweatpants...

Yes, you read that right... we're wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants... it is all part of our preparation for the storm that hasn't even hit yet, but water levels are already rising in Galveston - about 100 miles southeast of us.

So... here's what we've done:

• loaded up on groceries (I've been to the grocery store three times)
  
• made sure the cars were full of gas


• gathered all of our batteries and flashlights


• rearranged the freezer so that I could put gallon size storage bags filled with water in the freezer - this way when the power goes out there are huge blocks of ice on top of everything - my freezer has rarely been this full!!


• put a pot roast in the crockpot - it smells so yummy and we'll have a great supper tonight:)


• boiled noodles so that we can have spaghetti tomorrow night if the power is out


• turned my freezer and refrigerator colder


• turned my AC down to 65 so that my house is freezing - supposedly doing this will help to keep the temperature from rising so quickly when the power goes out, thus the sweatpants and warm clothes
  
• gathered all of my bandaids and first aid items so they are all in one place instead of some in each bathroom and they are in a container in the kitchen


• all outside toys, flower pots, benches, etc... are in my garage


• did I mention I've been to the grocery store three times??


• made coffee so at least I can have cold coffee or I can warm it up on my gas stove:)


• went to Toys R Us and got new board games

Today we are...

• filling our bathtubs with water


• baking brownies - chocolate makes everything better, right??


• making sure all laundry is done


• having some quality family time:)!!


• hooking up a new dvd player - Wyatt broke ours accidentally this morning and as long as we have power we might as well watch movies


• playing on the computer - backing up all of my pictures, etc...

I'll be uploading pictures shortly...

Taking Charge... Or Not

It is 12:46am on Thursday, Sept. 11th. The calm before the storm. Literally. Ike is headed our direction and sleep eludes me. I wish I had taken my camera out with me when I ran errands this evening - those of you who don't live here will think this sounds, well, surreal, but picture this - cars four and five deep waiting to get gas, Wal Mart ran out of gas, the shelves at HEB (one of our major grocery stores) empty of water, empty of "D" batteries, empty of flashlights, lines eight, nine and ten carts deep in the store, Randall's (another grocery store) was out of batteries, almost out of bread, and people everywhere - at midnight! Cars were on the road totally loaded up - plywood is scarce - and yet, inside my house there is no sound save the clicking of the keyboard. Well, that and the buzzing of my phone with text messages. (Yes, there is someone texting me at 1:00am:) - but that's another story for another day!)

I got panicky tonight when I was driving home from work - one set of neighbors has their saw out, cutting board for their windows, another neighbor was loading up their suburban. So I called my dad...

"Dad, what are you hearing? What do you think?"

"Monica, I think ya'll aught to think about heading our way."

"Dad, you realize that's five animals, two kids, one me and two carloads of stuff???"

"Bring it on, Monica." (Actually I think he said, "OK", but the other sounds better - don't you think??)

"Hmmm... I think I'll ride this one out at the moment. I may change my mind tomorrow though. I'll let you know. Thanks Dad."

My panic goes up a notch. So, I call the person who is texting me as I type at this moment.

"I'm getting panicky!!"

"Monica, can you control the weather?"

"Not the last time I checked. Although, you do know that God has consulted with me from time to time - it's one of my gifts:)!"

""Great, that's good to know. But since I don't think God has consulted with you this time and you can't control the weather, what can you do?"

"Umm... relax?? Just make sure I have what we need??"

"Wow - your roots must be brown! Brilliant solution!"

Ok, so maybe the conversation didn't go exactly like that, but close. And yes, I needed to hear that I can't control the weather - my worrying and whining - (I even called my homeowner's insurance this afternoon to check some specifics as far as potential damage) aren't going to change one thing except me - I will use up precious energy on all the wrong things.

God is in control. This storm isn't taking Him by surprise and He knows exactly what will happen. So what do I do?? I do what is most difficult for me to do - just my part. That's all He wants me to do - use common sense, take proper precautions and leave the rest to Him.
Ohh... how I struggle with that - how I think He needs my help! He doesn't - He has it all under control. And the best part - He will take care of Megan, Wyatt and me!

Zephaniah 3:17, "I. the Lord your God, am with you. Mighty to save, I take delight in you. I will quiet you with My love and rejoice o're you with singing. I, the Lord your God, am with you."

It's been a while...

My little Cub Scout headed to his first den meeting
He is so excited about his Cub Scout handbook
His sister being silly as she drives off with the little Cub Scout:)

Author Michael Wright at Blue Willow Bookshop

It has been such a long time since I've posted anything - it isn't that I haven't wanted to, we have just been moving at the speed of light! August is always like that!! The start of school has everything in a frenzy! September has finally arrived and with it comes a little bit of calm (when we're not worried about hurricanes hitting us) and life is a little bit more routine:)! Is it a sign of old age to say that I relish routine?? Well, even if it is, I do!

So what have we been up to... I had a Girls' Weekend Away at my friend, Judi's, river house on the Guadalupe River, the kids and I went on a cruise with our friends from church, we went to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert at the Astros game - what a great 2 for 1 - a concert and a game (if only the Astros would have won), Wyatt and I went to Boerne to see a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit that was fascinating, we went to meet an author at our favorite bookstore - BlueWillow (http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/) - the author was Michael Wright - he was hilarious, Megan started her senior year of high school and she went back to work at Pine Cove Crier Creek (http://www.pinecove.com/), Wyatt lost his first tooth and started first grade as a homeschooler - we are both loving it, he also started Cub Scouts and I am continuing to teach two Bible study classes at church as well as sing in the choir - I'm tired all over again after typing all of that:)

I'm including a few pictures and will post more later!