Wow. What a weekend you Texans have had. It looks like Conroe and the Woodlands are getting power back today.
This link will take you to the Channel 11 forums, where a lot of local people are asking questions and getting answers.

My resource blog post

From what we've heard and seen, Bolivar Peninsula was the hardest hit, by far. Most of the houses are just gone, empty foundations are all that are left. Galveston has a ton of debris, and structural damage, but not the devastation that was initially reported. The storm surge was pretty intense, and everything was under water for a while, so lots of work to be done.

Have you seen the pictures of the boats on the freeway? Crazy. Houston had a lot of flooding, I-10 was completely under water by TC Jester. Sounds like Conroe and the Woodlands have TONS of trees down, and pretty much everyone lost power.

But the reconstruction process has begun. Here's the thing, the news is deliberately negative. They're showing all the city/state/Federal officials bickering and the gripers at the gas station. Ignore all that. Everyone we've talked to in person tells stories of neighbors chipping in, and community and kindness. That's what I wanted to hear, because that's the Texas I know. Sappy, but true.

Mama and Bob are back from Austin, and got power back today. Have not heard from G. Leah and Nate are in Tulsa, and Calvin has trees down and no lights but he's fine. Rob and Steph are out at Eva's and are supposed to be getting some help and supplies today.

Update: I forgot to talk here about Richy's grandparents! What a schmuck I am! They had a tree fall on their house, and it is pretty much irreparable, from what I understand.

Feel free to post needs here, so we can help each other.

Update 3:35 pm

30 day assistance for people who have lost homes :1 800 261-3362 (1 800 261-FEMA)

Update 2:40 pm

Conroe working fuel locations per message board
Stop N. Shop @ Gladstell & Frazier
Chevron @ N. Loop & Walmart
Citgo - S. Frazier at Boman
Chevron - 1200 League Line (League Line @ 45)
Kroger - 2222 N ih-45 (N Loop 336 & 45)
Kroger - 3830 W. Davis (105 & N Loop 336)
Sam's - 2000 Westview
Shell - 11000 E Davis (105 E & N Loop E) (Have Diesel)
Citgo - Super Stop - 1500 S. Frazier at 9am
Walmart - Hwy 242 (Running Electricity)
Shell - Hwy 242 (Running Electricity)
Texaco - Hwy 242 (Temporarly Closed)
Valero on Hwy 242 East of I45 (Running Electricity)
Stop N. Go 1108 - S. Frazier
HEB - 2108 N. Frazier
Speedy Stop - Hwy 2998 N. I45 - (Have Diesel)
Chevron at 1200 League Line
Valero-Diamond Shamrock - 812 W Davis
Valero-Diamond Shamrock - 172 FM 1488 (Running Electricity)
Citgo - 447 S IH-45 N (Credit Card Only, Self Serve)
Exxon - 1300 W Davis (I45 & 105)

*All of these resources are getting opened and closed as supplies last. It looks like your best information source in 99.7 FM.

from: http://www.thewoodlandsassociations.org/site/emergency/
Update as of 5:40 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15:

Ice and ready to eat meals are available at Fellowship of The Woodlands, located off 242, while supplies last. This is POD (point of distribution) offered through Montgomery County Emergency Assistance.

Tune in to KSTAR 99.7 FM for local information regarding The Woodlands. Also, see the update below for additional information about schools, water, electricity, etc.
I got a lot of this info from the Channel 11 KHOU forums

ICE and WATER Distribution Points:

Pct. #1 Willis Community Center Building approximately 7 blocks down Gerald off of Longstreet, ICE ONLY. Expected opening 2 PM Sunday, September 14, 2008.
Pct. #2 – Friendship Drive open until empty, then moving to the Magnolia High School on FM 1488.
Pct. #3 Woodforest Stadium behind Portofino Mall, 19115 David Memorial Drive.
Pct. #4 County Commissioner’s Barn (East Montgomery County) – FM 1485 to New Caney; Loop 494 to Roberts Road

Montgomery County citizens seeking assistance should monitor KSTAR Radio 99.7 FM for up to
date information on available supplies and distribution sites for disaster supplies.

Montgomery County OEM will continue to monitor the situation and send reports as necessary.
Montgomery County EOC can be reached at 936-582-3100.

ONLY ICE AND WATER is available at these locations*.

another good resource: http://blogs.chron.com/ikeanswers/

So, evidently Ike is bearing down on most of you, my bloggerati. Odds are, you won't even read this because you will be busy filling your bathtubs with water and holding on to your wigs. Or having a Hurricane Party. I would say it looks like the responses are pretty divided by generational lines, but that would be ageist of me.


Currently, at our house, about 700 miles from the danger, emotions are running high. I mentioned the Basement Babes... now, you would never guess it from this picture, but the BBs are actually old enough to have grandchildren. They are here with us for a week to soak at the House of Prayer, and help with kids, and cook food and rub Richy's feet and give him ibuprofen and such.

Maybe you didn't know it, but my spouse is a weather geek. Hurricane season for him is like American Idol season for me... he tracks the radars, and makes predictions, and just gets very excited and geeky about storms in general. In fact, he may or may not occasionally rent National Geographic specials about hurricanes, tornadoes and so on and watch them in lonely splendor.

Grandmothers, on the other hand, tend to worry a bit. (not so much my mom, she really wants to go up in a tornado) But most g-mas do worry. In fact, you could be in the same ROOM as your mother and she might still be concerned about how the storm is affecting you. So for the Basement Babes, this is an alarming development. They leave town with instructions to whomever to water their plants and flick the porch lights on and off once a day, and what do you know but a GIANT hurricane comes barreling after their children the minute they leave town....

Maybe you're seeing the siteration here. The MOG is tracking the storm on his iPhone and downstairs, he has the webstream of the hurricane-cam running all the time. He runs down there and watches waves crashing into the Seawall, and then he runs up here and tells his mom. And she calls the children to remind them to tether the dog to something permanent, or whatever. And so on... a continual process.

Seriously, we are praying for no destruction and loss... (well, it would be okay if some trees went down, or Geraldo's glasses, just no real destruction). Much love to all the Conroe-vians, and if it's safe, please take pictures of the craziness at Walmart for me.

I know you all want to know what IS HAPPENING in my life... but I can't blog now because a bevy of beautiful basement babes has descended on my house (including Viking Granny) and are watching my babies... so I'm going on a date! Sayonara.

Mas later.

I'm in the process of googling haircuts for Toby. There are lots of sites to choose from. Yep. Tons. If I were looking for the "My mom cut my hair, please beat me up" appeal, that is.

I don't get it. I like my kids to look like miniature humans. Did I sign a clause that specified my kids have to look geeky till they're teenagers?

I mean, whatever. If you're into the whole sailor-suit and bowl cut thing, fine! I won't judge, pretty much. But I just want something hip, on a kid. Here are some of the options I found online.








Seriously. Do these people like their kids?

So I will go somewhere with a picture of a grownup with a cool haircut, and the stylist will give me one of those same geeky 2 year-old mandatory haircuts anyway. Nuts.

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In other news, Richy refused to read my blog yesterday due to his suspicion that it was inferior content. I urge you, as blog constituents, to call and email and text him and urge him to rethink his position.

Well, the MOG is home, finally. I did good for a week by myself, didn't beat up the kids or get mugged... At the end of October he leaves for several weeks... maybe I should get a dog.

Or not, since I pretty much hate dogs. Oh, you want to know about that? Okay.

When I was little, we lived in a trailer in Cut-n-Shoot. My memories of C&S are pretty happy... we had family living nearby, an endless supply of outdoor cats, and a vegetable garden, and occasionally we heated up bathwater on the stove or collected twigs to burn inside the house! In adult retrospect, I realize we were probably incredibly broke. But what does a 4 year old know about that? I digress.

Anyways, the people across the street had Dobermans. Lots of 'em. And they stayed in a little fence all the time, snarling and threatening the neighborhood. Oh, except for when they jumped the fence. I lived with a holy fear of those dogs, as well as the free-range turkeys. (another story) Living out there taught me that dogs are not our friends.

In Beaumont, Mammaw lived with a series of humanized poodles who got taken to the groomer and rode in the Caddy and had it really good. Suzette? Yes. But Suzette had no use for humans, especially small ones, so we were never close. There was an ancient blind poodle in the backyard that I was warned to steer clear of. Check.

A few years later, we lived in a mansion of sorts in River Plantation (these are the days of our lives). There were no loose neighborhood dogs, as Fluffy and Fifi and such were kept indoors with their toenails painted. (pawnails? discuss.)

I had a number of entrepreneurial endeavors while we lived in RP, from my age 8-12. I sold off my books, I ran a babysitting agency, etc. One day on a matter of business, I walked down to a neighbors place and was invited inside. Now, this lady had two ratty little curs of some kind, probably purebred terrier-whatsits. "They won't bite," she assured me just moments before Mopsy dug his teeth into my heel. I was panicking and trying to shake him loose, and he was hanging on... I limped home with my bleeding heel and you better believe I have faith in NO dog's word to this day.

Since then, I grew up and I have had to butch up significantly since we toured the country and I had to face countless beasts along the way. I bluff "not afraid" pretty well, but I think some of them aren't buying it. I especially try to fool Enoch, since he is my dog-in-law and also he is as big as a horse. Luckily, Enoch is a few candles short of a birthday cake, so he believes what I tell him.

Of all dogs that I hate, I hate little rat-fink Chihuahuas the most. DESPISE and LOATHE. What is the point? Seriously. If I was going to get a dog, which I may still do someday, I would get one that couldn't be stolen by an owl. I have made a few dog friends along my journey, all large intimidating non-rabid-barkers.

Chihuahuas. Please.

All that to say, if I feel unsafe at home, maybe a dog is not the solution. Maybe a nice Glock.

The first day went well... the teachers send home a note every day- isn't that amazing? I was wondering how I would ever know what happened, since Richy's pretty much non-verbal.

(click to enlarge)

The nurse called me at 3, which gave me a heart attack... he had a rash on his neck. (probably from the Wal-mart starch in his shirt collar. I know, old-timers, I should wash the shirt before he wears it) I asked if I should come get him and she was sort of alarmed. Well, shoot! I don't know how these things work. I guess they just have to tell me anytime the nurse gives him anything, like hydrocortizone cream.
Interesting, though, evidently the nurse does an assesment of the special needs kids every day- that's cool!

(click to enlarge)

The note made me feel so much better. :) He got fruit snacks instead of grapes today... little twerp.

The babies and I had a very good day... they did their normal play/eat/fight routines and Toby asked where Richy was about three times, but I only teared up the first time. Then they took a nap and it was so weird... the house was SO quiet. I cleaned a little, and laid down for a while, just at a loss a little. Today, I think I will take a nap too.

(click to enlarge)

Daddy has been in Michigan since Tuesday. Toby asks where he is at every meal and every time we get in the car. Last night we went to a Parent thing at the school, and Toby thought we were picking up R1. I explained it to Toby, but R2 didn't get the memo... as we walked down the sidewalk, he was jumping and singing a little "We're gonna go see dad-eee" song. (Sorry to kill you, Richy- but hey! at least they miss you!)

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In political news, it was a pretty good speech last night from Ol' Johnny boy. He was being awfully moderate in the middle and I was getting a little disgruntled... but he brought it home at the end with the war stuff. Fight! Fight! Fight!

(I watched Letterman's monologue last night, as I sometimes do when the MOG is AWOL. Hilarious observation from him about Palin... he said McCain may have made TOO good of a pick, leaving conservatives confused about who they want headlining the ticket... so true)

I just got home from dropping Richy off at school. Today will be his first full day.

This morning I woke up at 5, and couldn't go back to sleep. What if he has a seizure, I thought. What if he takes his scleral shell out? Will they know what to do? Maybe I should talk to the nurse. I don't know if he's ever kept his shoes on for a whole day before... just thoughts.

We parked in the parking lot and packed the babies in the stroller under a light rain. Richy was playing with a baby toy in the backseat, and I said "You have to leave that here, honey."

Elly (the autism coordinator) walked us to the special class and pretty soon, someone came and held my baby's hand and walked him into their kitchen, so he could put his own lunch in the fridge. And I was just standing there with the babies and the teacher...

I talked to the teacher for a while, just trying to get a feel for how connected can parents be... and then I went in the kitchen to say goodbye. He was busy, sitting at the table with the other specials and eating a muffin. I knelt down and said goodbye, and got a stiff little hug and kiss.

And then Toby and Bean and I walked out in the rain and left him there. I have no doubt he will have a terrific time, and learn so many skills toward independence. It's just hitting me that independence means less dependence on me.

Now, I know at least one of you is dying to know about R2's first day at school. I will tell you.

Yesterday morning I woke up super early and couldn't go back to sleep. This usually happens any time I have a morning appointment. No matter that my appointment is at 9. The ol' brain thinks sleeping past 6:30 is risking it. So I lay there for an hour and then the babies woke up and took over the world. So we ate oatmeal and then I started getting Richy ready.


He looked so cute in his little uniform and he was pretty excited about evidently, something going on. We drove up to the school and went in and met the Autism Specialist, who was to be his buddy during his observation. Don't know if I explained this... since he's never been in school and he's in the 4th grade, they are legally required to observe him in a normal class to make sure he couldn't just be in normal classes. Their original plan was for him to sit in there the whole day, but I vetoed that. So they said maybe he could just go for an hour with this coordinator with him and observing... and I felt okay about that.


Elly (the specialist) was really great and liked him a lot. We got to the mainstream classroom about 10 minutes early so he could explore and get used to the room before the kids got there. And he was talking and wandering around, much more engaged in his surroundings than usual. So I hung around for a few minutes and then said goodbye and left just before the kids came in. I walked back down the long hallway to my van, enjoying all the antics and goofiness of all the little kids (we are the racial minority at the school)... and then I sat in my van and cried.


I came back in an hour and they had spent 45 minutes in the normal class and a little while in the special ed classroom... so we talked about how he did (great, he's sweet, follows directions, that's my boy) and what the plan will probably be. 80% of the time in the special ed class and then art, music and gym in his actual grade level, with a personal aide. I signed 40,000 papers and we made a temporary IEP (individualized education program). Nothing is really set in stone until they finish all his testing and evaluations in mid-October.

Then we went and looked at the special classroom. Now, this is where I started getting excited. They have bathrooms in there, where they work on pottying, as well as other hygiene skills. They also have a full kitchen where they practice cooking, and serving their own snacks. They eat family-style around a table, learning not just manners, but basic table skills like passing food around, and how to cut food, clean up, everything. One of the focuses of the program is teaching these kids some independence. Very cool. They also work on some academic and pre-academic skills, like shapes, letters, colors, numbers...


When we were done with checking out the classroom, we went to the front desk and got the bad news... he cannot start school officially until he has his shot records. Problem is, I have been trying to get those records for a month. They are in an archive vault somewhere in Houston and for some reason, no one can get them to me. VERY frustrating. So I've been on the phone countless hours (and you know how I love it) and am still getting a run-around. Still exploring possibilities and hoping I get an advocate, either at the school, or at the clinic in Houston.

So it's the story of my life, hurry up and wait.

If you follow Richy's Twitter, you may have seen this cyber-whine Friday night... I have been waiting since then to tell the story.

So, it's been pretty slim pickings around here for a while... in a financial sense. So we've been paying bill by bill and then buying one or two grocery items at a time, and I've gotten pretty creative with the pantry contents. So on Friday, manna came from heaven and we were off to Wal-Mart. Now, you may recall a few weeks ago, Toby took a header out of a shopping cart. In an effort to spend less time at the ER, the MOG has been accompanying me on grocery trips. Usually, this is helpful in a manpower sense, and not at all helpful in a budgetary or morale-lifting sense. He hates Wal-mart with the fire of a burning sun.

He was in an especially good mood, though, pondering the excellencies of Christ and also means of taking over the internet as we browsed the aisles.
Before we got out of the car, I asked him, "Do you want me to add anything to the list for you? Are you out of anything?"
"No, no," he replies. "I don't want anything."

I had an extensive list I was attacking... a list I had labored over during long weeks of broke-ness. And I, being a June Cleaver type, was buying things like meat and bread, onions, flour...
As we made our way through the store, I asked again, two more times, "Is there anything you want? Lunchmeat, maybe?"
"No." he answers, staring off into space, or maybe the Kingdom.


So we finish our trip, and I am deliriously happy to have so many ingredients to work with. Since it was a long day, the children and I just have PBJs ("Do you want one?" I ask him. "No, I'm not hungry," he says.) and then I hose the kids down and put them to bed. I am then reveling in my first 15 minutes of freedom, complete with a caffeine-free Coke and a Hershey bar, when the MOG shows up. (ominous music)

"What am I supposed to eat?" asks the 30 year old father of three.
I am taken aback. "Uh, a sandwich?" I offer.
"Do we have mayonnaise? Do we have sliced cheese?"
"I don't know. Do we?"
"No!"
"Okay, then, how about one of your burritos?"
"Do we have salsa?"
"Uh, no... but we have sour cream, and jalapenos..."
"You spent all that money and there is nothing for me to eat??"
"Maybe a PBJ... or we have bacon, eggs..."
"You're supposed to know what I need!"
"Well, I asked you..."
"No, you should know!!"
"Okay, fine. I'm going back to my internet and my candy bar. Figure it out."

So he eats a solitary container of yogurt.

(for all you mama-types out there, he's been eating fine since then, as long as he doesn't have to make it for himself....)

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And since I just spent a whole blog picking at him, I will repost the info for his new podcast.

New worship podcast... weekly updates... plus in the fall we are going to have tour video!

Radiant Worship Podcast
You can just click on the file..or BETTER..subscribe by clicking on the "Itunes" link on the bottom right! It will go straight into your itunes, and you will keep up automatically when new episodes etc...