Anyway, where do I begin...I guess I will start with the most recent string of events.
HURRICANE IKE: I'm sure many of you have been watching nonstop coverage on our boy "Ol Ike"...and I'm sure many of you know how messed up he left so many people in Houston, Galveston and cities in between.
Well here is my personal story with Ol Ike. Before Thursday (9/11) I really didn't think that much about Ike. I heard he was coming...my father in-law told me that we needed to buy tickets and come home to avoid the raft of Ike, people kept asking me if we were going to evacuate...but still there wasn't any sense of urgency for me or my husband. But I get to work Thursday (my first day back after the accident...which I'll get to later) and I'm excited to be back...even though I'm still hurting a bit...and we have this all school morning meeting...which rarely happens...and our school Director says that we are having a half day and leaving at 1:30 so that our students and staff can properly prepare for Hurricane Ike. So now I'm thinking, damn this must be serious...bc we don't really do the whole get of school for nothing thing. So anyway, I go back to my office- see a few kids that had been looking for me all week and then I get a text from my husband asking me to get needed supplies for the storm. Now anyone who knows my husband knows that he doesn't make a big deal out of anything...and he had already said that we weren't leaving bc this wasn't really gonna be anything just like the last one. (we had decided we weren't ever leaving again..especially by car...because the last time we evacuated for Hurricane Rita..it took us about 30 hours to get to Ft. Worth which is about a 3 hour ride..and nothing happened to the city..but heavy rain fall.) Anyway- so I go to the HEB grocery store and get some food, flashlights, water, etc...but they were out of ice and bread. So i go to about 3 more stores and they too were out of bread and ice...and here is when I knew I should be worrying...I pull up to the Wal-mart about 3:30pm and THEY WERE BOARDED UP AND THE WORKER TOLD ME THEY WERE CLOSED. Now in all of my life...I have never seen a closed Wal-mart! So I called my husband and said...are you sure we shouldn't leave...I mean, even the Wal-mart is boarded up. By this time they had already announced a mandatory evacuation for Pearland.
So we decided that we weren't gonna leave the city- but we would go to a friends house that was more inland and more north than where we lived. But we had to find a friend that wouldn't mind us bringing our baby Ryan. So we went to JB's and crashed there for a few days.
So Ike comes in the middle of the night Friday and it was like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life. Talk about being scared. The wind was blowing harder than I ever could have imagined...and for a very long time. I thought it wouldn't stop...I went to sleep and woke up hours later and HE was still at it.
But let me tell you how I beat the hell out of myself. So in the midst of Ike, I'm trying to stay awake...but I end up nodding off at some point. As
I'm "resting my eyes"(like my grandaddy used to say) I hear a loud boom...and I jump up and scratch the crap out of the right side of my face. I normally sleep with my head on my arm or hand..and I guess i jumped up too quickly and my nail caught my face. Well the power was out so I couldn't really see...and Nick and
JB were taping down a window that Ike had blown through...
so I make my way to the bathroom to wet a napkin to put on my face bc at this point it's burning...and I feel the blood! I then go to where they are and Nick said..what happened to your face..did Ryan scratch you? (BTW- Ryan cried through the whole storm...I should slap Ike for making my baby that scared). Yes, that's how bad it was. And of course my husband being Mr. funnyman himself.. says " Babe, you the only woman I know who can whip her own ass!"
So the damage that Ike did to our city was...well minimal compared to our friends in Galveston. We had a lot of trees down, messed up roofs, tons of power lines down and millions without power. But God is really good and we only suffered damage to our fence and went without power for about 4 days. (which is why
i'm just now writing this). So we are definitely blessed beyond measure. But look at some of the damage in our neighborhood
While were out of power mi esposa and I had some really great times. We made the best of the situation....and truly enjoyed each others company!
We played lots of games of Uno and created several other games to keep each other entertained...like "name that dvd" or "guess the Spanish word" or 20 questions, etc. Well you get the point. Times like this will really really let you know how much you like a person. Some people would go crazy if they had nothing to do but talk and play games with their spouse for 4 days...but WE LOVED IT! No TV, internet, phone or work to disturb us. I really do love my husband..he is my best friend and I had so much fun with him during the storm!
Moving on to the next little crazy event in my life....Saturday 9/6 we were driving to a basketball tournament that Nick was gonna play in with our church and bammmm...these 3 guys in a STOLEN Expedition hit us on the rear left side, spun us around...hit us again and then we hit a pole! Yep, you read it right...we got hit twice and then hit a pole. AND ONCE AGAIN I TELL YOU THAT GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD! We walked out of the car with no broken bones, fractures or cuts. Just some neck and back pain. Well get this....the guys that hit us...jumped out of the SUV and ran on foot. mmmhmmm they sure did. We didn't actually see them...but this lady came up to the car asking if we were okay...so Nick asked her if she was okay thinking she was the one that hit us...and she said "Oh I wasn't in the accident, the guys just ran off". So at this point I am freaking out...my whole body goes numb and tingly and im hyperventilating (for the 1st time in my life actually). So I hear like 4 -5 different voices...but if you paid me $1million to tell you what they looked like..I couldn't. Not once, did I look up...my head was buried into Nicks chest crying my heart out...until the ambulance came and taped me down to the gurney and took me to the hospital. I was so scared...but the EMT told me that because I was hyperventilating I was causing my body to be numb and tingly...and I wasn't in fact paralyzed (even though I was standing when I thought I could be lol). I'm telling you...this whole scene was something out of a movie..people from the community coming out to witness to the police, some older black lady telling me to just hold on to my faith in God, and some man from the neighborhood who chased down the guys who hit us...but didn't catch them.
Anyway- Nick rides with me in the ambulance
bc he lied and said he wasn't feeling any pain..so that he could be with me...
bc I was clearly freaking out! Turns out..he did have some pain..and his neck is still hurting. Anyway, the Dr. took some X-rays and I was fine...he just gave some drugs and told me rest and go back to work in a few days. Here are some photos from the hospital..we had to do something while we waited hours for them to come back and see me.
So I promise that these pictures were taken several hours after the accident...after I calmed down and the numb and tingly feelings went away. Sarita took a picture when I was still in shock and crying mode...and she hasn't emailed it to me yet...and she probably won't because she doesn't have a good track record of handing over the goods...pictures I mean. We had to make the best of the situation. I do have good friends. Thanks Rita for being there with us..and taking us home....and missing your hubby play in the tournament! I love ya girl.
