Hurricane Ike: Before

(Part 1 of 3 in my mini-series on Hurricane Ike.)

Last Wednesday, September 10, was my birthday. (Number 32, thank you very much.) I went out to dinner with friends, had the most amazing birthday dessert ever*, and then went home to prep for Ike. You see, that was also they day we knew for sure that Ike was heading our way here in Houston, although we didn't know until Friday just how dead-on he would be.


I spent Thursday moving thing in my apartment away from windows, packing for my evacuation to a friend's house farther west, and obsessively checking the online hurricane trackers at the National Hurricane Center, the Weather Channel, and the Houston Chronicle. My plan was to get up early Friday morning (a good 18 hours before the storm was predicted to hit the coast) and head to Katy. Then I lost my internet. Being cut off from my major sources of information freaked me out, so I threw my clothes and non-perishable foods into a suitcase, tucked my laptop in a tote, and locked the door behind me.


My friend and I spent Thursday evening and most of Friday paying with her three kids (okay, two kids and a husband), brainstorming books, trying not to eat any of our hurricane stores, and watching news coverage of the coming storm. After the kids went to bed, we watched the summer finale of Psych and fielded worried phone calls from parents, neighbors, and friends.


Then, at 9:30, the power went out. Ike had arrived.

Hugs,
TLC

* This dessert consisted of a silver vase overflowing with blue cotton candy (like a giant ice cream cone) with a sparkler on top. Cotton candy and sparklers are two of my favorite things on earth. It was amazing. Definitely my best dessert since the Smurfette cake at my 7th birthday party.