Back to School?

Currently Magnolia ISD is closed tomorrow (Monday, 9/22). Some people think there is no way that we will go back on Tuesday or even the rest of the week. Personally, I would like to go back so that we can get back to some sort of routine. We all need to get back to normal. Cody just called from High Meadow and said that the water is back on there, and the power might be back on in 2-3 more days. A lady who lives in that neighborhood told me yesterday that it is costing them $47 a day to keep their generator running and keep their food from spoiling. No telling what it is costing the people who have more than one generator going. We have water right now in our neighborhood, but it has been going on and off. I'm not sure if it is on for good or not.


Trees down & spoiled food (We have pictures of lots of spoiled food for the golf course's insurance.)

Comfort Foods

Since we've been at home all week, we have been cooking lots of yummy foods. We have made 2 batches of Special K Bars (my favorite dessert of all time), brownies, Rice Krispie treats, and a heart-shaped, 2-layer cake. Those of you who know that I don't cook a whole lot may be surprised by all of this domesticity. Don't be impressed, the brownies and cake came from a box. The kids have helped with all of these treats and were most proud of the cake. All of this baking has been challenging without water, but at least we can use the oven. At this rate, I'll have to buy bigger clothes before we go back to school.

The Cleanup

Jake helping get generators hooked up

Josie not even pretending to help

The news reports this week have titles like, "On the Road to Recovery." After driving around several neighborhoods in Magnolia, I can definitely say it's a long road. Some areas look like what I imagine a war zone to be. We saw homes with trees still sitting on top of them and countless utility lines that are still on the ground or have trees on top of them. Administrators from our school district spent the evening delivering food and water to hard-hit neighborhoods, and a school was opened up for people to take showers. We found out today that we will not be back in school on Monday. No one is sure about the rest of the week.

Our water is back off. Maybe they will hook it back up the generator tomorrow.

The Saga Continues

Thursday Update:


Today we have water. :) I don't know if it will last or not. We have been told it is being run temporarily by a generator and will be turned off again. I am about to make Josie take a shower (even though she doesn't think she needs one). School will possibly start back on Monday, but some say that we won't have it. Apparently there are still schools that do not have power and/or water. Lots of people that work at my school are still without power.

No Water Again

The excitement of having water again was short-lived. It is off again. Apparently they hooked our water source up to a generator for a temporary reprieve. At least I got the dishes washed and a few loads of laundry done.

One of Josie's friends is spending the night with us because they still do not have power. Either way we are counting our blessings to be sitting in an air conditioned house.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea

On Saturday, we were wishing we could make frozen beverages (smoothies for the kids). It was so hot and muggy outside (and inside) that we were wishing we had a battery-operated blender. Then we thought of the adapter that some people had for the car. It plugs into the car power points (cigarette lighter) and has an AC adapter to plug things in. We were so excited about this brilliant idea. Everyone gathered up frozen fruit (which was rapidly thawing anyway). All the kids in the neighborhood were excited about the thought of smoothies and were standing around waiting.

Apparently a blender takes more electricity than this adapter could pull from the car. We didn't even manage to break the ice up much. It was very disappointing, but the bright side was that I knew anyone reading our blog would get a kick out of the story. It brought back memories of college when doing something like trying to use a blender in the car was a pretty common occurrence.

The FEMA Line

My neighbor and I loaded the kids up on Sunday to go get ice and water. They had four trucks and were handing it out right around the corner from us. At that time, we did not have power or water. It was a very weird feeling to be sitting in our car waiting with so many other people. You see it happening on TV, but you don't ever expect to be in that situation. Of course, we took the camera to record this latest experience in our Hurricane Ike memory book.