Tammy is getting married!
She is going to marry Kyle, he is Colton's daddy. They are looking not to wait very long so it may before the end of the year.
Tomorrow Tammy and I are going out to look at venues. We have 4 on the list. We're looking to keep it a small wedding.
I will keep you posted.
Tomorrow after venue shopping I will keep Colton while Tammy goes to school and he will spend the night with me as well. I have some spoiling to catch up on.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Finally Home!!!!
I'm finally home! I must say...it's been a very interesting and exhausting last 2 weeks. Power was finally restored yesterday for me. Now I need to clean the house and get the smell out from it being closed up.
The yard is really coming along....Josh and his friend have done a really good job had cutting down trees and cleaning debris. The yard still isn't back in shape...need to mow and mulch up all the leaves left behind from the fallen trees.
The yard is really coming along....Josh and his friend have done a really good job had cutting down trees and cleaning debris. The yard still isn't back in shape...need to mow and mulch up all the leaves left behind from the fallen trees.
Yesterday I went to the beach house for an inspection and it all seems to be okay...no structural damage, Now I just need to get the roof fixed and the septic hooked back up and then clean up some debris and bring in dirt to fill in the holes the storm left and dirt under the slab. Still a lot to do but not near the amount as others. I was very lucky this go round....my sanctuary is still in tack.
Today I went to the grocery store to get some food for the freezer and frig...I lost everything. As I was putting groceries in, I locked my keys and purse in the truck...had to wait 30 minutes for a guy to come and unlock it who was just on the other side of the freeway ....and it cost me 55 bucks for something that took him 20 seconds and not even a dollar in gas. But I was able to get on my way. Always something I swear!
Hoping next week I get a chance to chill and relax...I'm so tired and exhausted.
Tomorrow I'm going to a wedding ...a daughter of a good friend of mine is getting married so both Jen and I are going.
Just wanted you all to know...I'm okay...just tired...I'm back home...with some mess but not as big as it was and hopefully things will be back to normal very soon.
Love you all and thanks for visiting....Robin
Monday, September 22, 2008
I'm Still Here
Hello All....In case your wondering...I'm still here and okay. It's been a very interesting last 10 days. I've been to the beach house twice so far...still eery but it's coming along. I'm waiting to get an inspection on the house to see what my next step is. My brother who is in Florida helping me out some. I'm just lost and not sure what to do or how to do it.
My country home is STILL without electricity and looks like it could be another week. This is something that is almost pissing me off. I know other folks are in the same boat too but this is crazy. Our whole area and part of our neighborhood have electricity. We have been forgotten.
Today I went to the house (I've been staying with Jen and Paul) to check on things...the goat is good. The yard looks better but is still a mess. The house is starting to smell and bugs are getting in...it's gross. Just going in my house today was disgusting. Hopefully something will happen and soon but it's starting to get old.
Josh has been working hard trying to cut up trees and haul debris back to the back of the property. He's been working on his days off and going after work when he's gotten off during say light hours/ There are days he works alone and then days where he has a friend help. It's just unreal how much clean up there is.
Anyway...just wanted you to know we are still okay...just dealing with clean up. I will keep you posted. Hopefully on my next report we will have power.
Love to all....Robin
My country home is STILL without electricity and looks like it could be another week. This is something that is almost pissing me off. I know other folks are in the same boat too but this is crazy. Our whole area and part of our neighborhood have electricity. We have been forgotten.
Today I went to the house (I've been staying with Jen and Paul) to check on things...the goat is good. The yard looks better but is still a mess. The house is starting to smell and bugs are getting in...it's gross. Just going in my house today was disgusting. Hopefully something will happen and soon but it's starting to get old.
Josh has been working hard trying to cut up trees and haul debris back to the back of the property. He's been working on his days off and going after work when he's gotten off during say light hours/ There are days he works alone and then days where he has a friend help. It's just unreal how much clean up there is.
Anyway...just wanted you to know we are still okay...just dealing with clean up. I will keep you posted. Hopefully on my next report we will have power.
Love to all....Robin
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Beach House Update
Hello All!
Earlier this morning I posted pictures of not only my beach house but the area, if you haven't seen them yet please scroll down the page to the 3 different slide shows. It's so much different seeing everything in person than on TV but I will say it wasn't as bad as I had thought with everything I heard on the news....but it does get bad as you go up the coast...but still it's bad. I would think clean up would take years. The debris is awful...I can't believe how much and things that washed away.
As you can tell by the pictures of my beach house pictures I was pretty lucky. I have a few shingles missing from the roof...the roof is still in tack...a few boards missing...my beach walk over gone but the thing that's worse is all the ground (sand) that has washed away from underneath the house, it's not the foundation but just a concrete parking area.
The main thing I lost was my lot that was in front of the beach house....it has washed away and the beach has taken over more than half of it....that is something you can't recover or insure so your just out the property and it's value. There is so much beach erosion it's hard to believe.
No water came in the house at all. The storm surge wasn't as high as expected and my house sits up higher than the surge. It looks as tough all that extra property in front of my house actually helped protect it..which means next big storm I don't have that protection.
So...the beach house is fine...minor...but the area isn't pretty anymore...it will take time for that to happen again.
Jennifer and I are planning on making another trip tomorrow to the beach house to clean out the frig since the island is out of power and will be for months. I think this time I'll walk to the beach and see how it looks looking at the house. Before from the beach it was hard to see my house because of all the protection and dunes but now that's not there anymore...it's all open.
Today we went to my house to help clean up there. Josh and his friend have done a lot...it's still a mess out there but you can tell the progress. My neighbor/friend, her daughter came over this morning and worked for several hours and then Jennifer did a lot as well. So much to do. Will probably make another stop tomorrow after we do the beach house run.
I will keep you all posted through this blog...when I know something I will post it. It's nice staying with Jen and Paul and being in a comfortable home.
God Bless you all...Much love...Robin
Earlier this morning I posted pictures of not only my beach house but the area, if you haven't seen them yet please scroll down the page to the 3 different slide shows. It's so much different seeing everything in person than on TV but I will say it wasn't as bad as I had thought with everything I heard on the news....but it does get bad as you go up the coast...but still it's bad. I would think clean up would take years. The debris is awful...I can't believe how much and things that washed away.
As you can tell by the pictures of my beach house pictures I was pretty lucky. I have a few shingles missing from the roof...the roof is still in tack...a few boards missing...my beach walk over gone but the thing that's worse is all the ground (sand) that has washed away from underneath the house, it's not the foundation but just a concrete parking area.
The main thing I lost was my lot that was in front of the beach house....it has washed away and the beach has taken over more than half of it....that is something you can't recover or insure so your just out the property and it's value. There is so much beach erosion it's hard to believe.
No water came in the house at all. The storm surge wasn't as high as expected and my house sits up higher than the surge. It looks as tough all that extra property in front of my house actually helped protect it..which means next big storm I don't have that protection.
So...the beach house is fine...minor...but the area isn't pretty anymore...it will take time for that to happen again.
Jennifer and I are planning on making another trip tomorrow to the beach house to clean out the frig since the island is out of power and will be for months. I think this time I'll walk to the beach and see how it looks looking at the house. Before from the beach it was hard to see my house because of all the protection and dunes but now that's not there anymore...it's all open.
Today we went to my house to help clean up there. Josh and his friend have done a lot...it's still a mess out there but you can tell the progress. My neighbor/friend, her daughter came over this morning and worked for several hours and then Jennifer did a lot as well. So much to do. Will probably make another stop tomorrow after we do the beach house run.
I will keep you all posted through this blog...when I know something I will post it. It's nice staying with Jen and Paul and being in a comfortable home.
God Bless you all...Much love...Robin
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Before Ike
This is the back yard before Ike made his visit
Joshua and friend putting up boards on the home
This is the front porch all boarded up and ready for Ike...all porch furniture has been put up
Sorry...I posted this picture twice and can't figure out how to delete it without deleting everything and starting over...Please look at the following post with pictures after Ike and my update on what happened during and after Ike.
I will post again when I have something new to report.
The latest report is that Jennifer has power so I think tomorrow we are going to leave Corpus and head to the beach house and then head back to her house. I will stay with her until my power lines and power have been restored.
After Ike Part 1
An up rooted tree in the back yard...The hole is so big you could bury someone in it...I can stand in it and it almost comes up to the bottom of my butt
Trees done in the back yard...this was our hardest hit area on the property
Another view of the back of the property
Back of the property
This is the front side part of the property...not too bad but lots of limbsAfter Ike Part 2
This is part of the tree that fell down across the entry to the property you can barely see the top of the tree resting on the front gate
This is the same tree but a view from the other end...the truck...pulled up by the roots...this is also the tree that took out the electric line that feeds power to the property
This is Joshua standing in front of the tree...it's just a little visual to help show you the size of the tree
The tree across the front driveway entrance...hides the view of the house
This is a view front the backyard ... this tree blocks the view of the back of the house...it is also lined with trees on both sides and then behind me....There are so many other pictures but I think you get the point.After Ike
We Prepared...We Waited...We Saw...We Left...
Ike has since left Texas but his aftermath will be felt for some time.
First let me say ...I have really no news on my beach house. From what I know I can't get in and the roads are not passable. I have heard from the reports that the area is devastated so I'm not really expecting the house to be standing. In all honestly I would prefer that instead of dealing with a home full of water that needs repair. I'm hoping to be able to get into the area on Tuesday.
Our Governor has said regarding the West End of Galveston...don't come back, there's nothing here...it will be a couple weeks before you can get in. My beach home is only a few miles up the coast from that area. A nice 20 minute drive.
As far as my country home. It looks like a war zone. We lost around 20 tress, not too mention lots of tops of trees, branches and just tree limbs everywhere. As far as clean up, my home got the worse in the neighborhood. My only damage is one of the roll down doors on the shop and then the freezers and frig and all the contents.
We also lost power lines and I also lost the line that supplies power to the house. They are thinking 2 weeks before it is fixed. Needless to say not a fun thing to be without (A/C) in the state of Texas. The front part of my neighborhood (an acreage area) has electricity but not the back part of the neighborhood, which of course I'm in. It's like night and day from the front part to the back part...they barely received any damages....by the front part of the neighborhood you would of never known a storm rolled through.
I had a generator going to help my freezers and frig but then it starting leaking gas this morning...which of course needed to be turned off. By then I had, had it...I called Jennifer and said...do you have electricity yet...her reply no and I'm hot...I then said...are you ready for a road trip? She was like...where are we going? I said anywhere with A/C .She was game but Paul elected to stay behind. I packed a bag by flashlight, loaded myself in the truck, told my neighbor I'm leaving if you see looters shoot first then ask questions...called my brother in Jacksonville and said I'm heading 59 South towards Corpus or Mexico see if you can find me a place to stay. Which he did.
Jennifer, Howie (her dog) and myself are now in a nice Holiday Inn with A/C on 65, a shower and right now...life is good. The hotel gave us a 20% discount since we are "evacuees...which was nice but also weird at the same time to be considered an evacuee. There is no one here in Corpus, it's like any other day here. Know one left town this way along the coast...after all, it was thought Ike might make his stop here at first.
I've tried to load my pictures of my home but for some reason they won't load so I will have to show you later. The pictures are just unbelievable. Clean up will probably take us at least a month if worked on daily.
Today we have rain and more is expected so that doesn't help. Here's a little countdown of the last few days.
The Ike Countdown:
Wednesday 9/10 boarded up beach house
Thursday 9/11 got wood for country home started boarding home
Friday 9/12 finished boarding home and waiting Ikes arrival(and Happy Birthday Tammy)...that evening around 6 the wind starts rolling in, leaves blowing everywhere ...as the night goes on more winds.
Saturday 9/13 2:30 am we loose power..3 am power comes back on...3:05 am until 3:15 we loose power on and off..at 3:30 we loose power completely (apparently that is when the tree fell across the power line...the winds are loud and the house sounds differently...at 5 am, I can't stand it, I have to know what is going on, I look outside and all there is ...is blackness since there are no lights and the wind is strong...I turn the flash light on a look at the back yard and all I see is a line of tress down in the yard and I'm over come. At 6:30 there is finally light outside and I open to see I can't believe my eyes the devastation in my back yard and then I go to the front which is not as bad but still a mess...and then I see a huge tree that is across my drive at the entrance and leaning on and across the gate blocking the way in..or other words..."No Way Out" and power lines down. My son, a neighbor boy Joshua's age and a neighbor man moved the lines and cut the tree down so we could get out. The rest of the day is just unbelief.
Sunday 9/14 after sleeping one night without power left for Corpus and now happy with A/C but very curious to to know and see the area surrounding the beach house and having the question answered..."Standing or Not Standing" I need to know for sure.
I will keep in touch and hopefully will be able to post pictures soon. Hopefully I can figure that out with this lap top...my home computer will be down for some time.
Love to you All and thank you for your love, prayes, concern and phone calls.
Ike has since left Texas but his aftermath will be felt for some time.
First let me say ...I have really no news on my beach house. From what I know I can't get in and the roads are not passable. I have heard from the reports that the area is devastated so I'm not really expecting the house to be standing. In all honestly I would prefer that instead of dealing with a home full of water that needs repair. I'm hoping to be able to get into the area on Tuesday.
Our Governor has said regarding the West End of Galveston...don't come back, there's nothing here...it will be a couple weeks before you can get in. My beach home is only a few miles up the coast from that area. A nice 20 minute drive.
As far as my country home. It looks like a war zone. We lost around 20 tress, not too mention lots of tops of trees, branches and just tree limbs everywhere. As far as clean up, my home got the worse in the neighborhood. My only damage is one of the roll down doors on the shop and then the freezers and frig and all the contents.
We also lost power lines and I also lost the line that supplies power to the house. They are thinking 2 weeks before it is fixed. Needless to say not a fun thing to be without (A/C) in the state of Texas. The front part of my neighborhood (an acreage area) has electricity but not the back part of the neighborhood, which of course I'm in. It's like night and day from the front part to the back part...they barely received any damages....by the front part of the neighborhood you would of never known a storm rolled through.
I had a generator going to help my freezers and frig but then it starting leaking gas this morning...which of course needed to be turned off. By then I had, had it...I called Jennifer and said...do you have electricity yet...her reply no and I'm hot...I then said...are you ready for a road trip? She was like...where are we going? I said anywhere with A/C .She was game but Paul elected to stay behind. I packed a bag by flashlight, loaded myself in the truck, told my neighbor I'm leaving if you see looters shoot first then ask questions...called my brother in Jacksonville and said I'm heading 59 South towards Corpus or Mexico see if you can find me a place to stay. Which he did.
Jennifer, Howie (her dog) and myself are now in a nice Holiday Inn with A/C on 65, a shower and right now...life is good. The hotel gave us a 20% discount since we are "evacuees...which was nice but also weird at the same time to be considered an evacuee. There is no one here in Corpus, it's like any other day here. Know one left town this way along the coast...after all, it was thought Ike might make his stop here at first.
I've tried to load my pictures of my home but for some reason they won't load so I will have to show you later. The pictures are just unbelievable. Clean up will probably take us at least a month if worked on daily.
Today we have rain and more is expected so that doesn't help. Here's a little countdown of the last few days.
The Ike Countdown:
Wednesday 9/10 boarded up beach house
Thursday 9/11 got wood for country home started boarding home
Friday 9/12 finished boarding home and waiting Ikes arrival(and Happy Birthday Tammy)...that evening around 6 the wind starts rolling in, leaves blowing everywhere ...as the night goes on more winds.
Saturday 9/13 2:30 am we loose power..3 am power comes back on...3:05 am until 3:15 we loose power on and off..at 3:30 we loose power completely (apparently that is when the tree fell across the power line...the winds are loud and the house sounds differently...at 5 am, I can't stand it, I have to know what is going on, I look outside and all there is ...is blackness since there are no lights and the wind is strong...I turn the flash light on a look at the back yard and all I see is a line of tress down in the yard and I'm over come. At 6:30 there is finally light outside and I open to see I can't believe my eyes the devastation in my back yard and then I go to the front which is not as bad but still a mess...and then I see a huge tree that is across my drive at the entrance and leaning on and across the gate blocking the way in..or other words..."No Way Out" and power lines down. My son, a neighbor boy Joshua's age and a neighbor man moved the lines and cut the tree down so we could get out. The rest of the day is just unbelief.
Sunday 9/14 after sleeping one night without power left for Corpus and now happy with A/C but very curious to to know and see the area surrounding the beach house and having the question answered..."Standing or Not Standing" I need to know for sure.
I will keep in touch and hopefully will be able to post pictures soon. Hopefully I can figure that out with this lap top...my home computer will be down for some time.
Love to you All and thank you for your love, prayes, concern and phone calls.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ikes Effects
Just another little update while I'm able to do so...we are just starting to feel the winds from Ike where we are...the winds aren't real strong, maybe about 25 miles but leaves are blowing of the trees and such....it actually feels good. The trees are moving back and forth and Josh and I are picking out which trees we think are gonna fall. We should have a nice clean up project here. Of course as stated before...we expect to loose the beach house...most houses in my area are close to having water inside and lots already do...you can't get in or out unless it would be by boat...the area is completely flooded. Will post again when I can. Take care!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ike Update
Just wanted you all to know that I'm not having my permanent home in the country boarded...the eye is suppose to come right next to me and at a Cat 3 so we're preparing...I have also decided to shelter in place so I won't be leaving. Josh and Jessy are staying here at the house as well. Not sure when the next time will be that I can get on line. I plan on loosing electricity sometime late tomorrow night.
The beach house is going to almost take a direct hit the way it looks right now. the area is closed and they expected the water to be over the Hwy in front of my house this evening. This should be very interesting...2 homes to worry about. I guess as my blog say..."It Is What It Is"!
I will keep you all posted as soon as I can. Be safe!
The beach house is going to almost take a direct hit the way it looks right now. the area is closed and they expected the water to be over the Hwy in front of my house this evening. This should be very interesting...2 homes to worry about. I guess as my blog say..."It Is What It Is"!
I will keep you all posted as soon as I can. Be safe!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Mandatory Evacuation
I woke up this morning with a text message from Tammy saying I just heard on the news that they are evacuating Brazoria County. Brazoria County is the county the beach house is located in. So, I jump out of bed to turn on the news thinking what the hell happened during the night while I was sleeping. I get the news on and they say Brazoria County has a voluntary evacuation but those in the zip code of _____ in Brazoria County there is a "Mandatory" evacuation. Which that was me. So I was thinking if this is mandatory I may not be able to get to the house tomorrow as I had planned so I better go now and take care of getting the house ready for Ike. So I threw on clothes and took off. It only took me a couple hours but I got it done ...but it did wear me out some. So if something happens I'm now prepared as much as I can be and if it doesn't then as the ole' saying goes better safe than sorry.
They called the mandatory evacuation because if Ike stays on track we will get the dirty side of the storm and they are expecting 13-15 foot storm surge. The storm could still turn north some and if it does it just brings it a little closer to my area of the beach.
So, for any of you wondering what's going on...that's it...I guess this one I won't be able to see until after it's over....no pictures of the wave action. I have Colton this evening so I couldn't stay at the house until tomorrow. It was a nice day today but hot. I'm hoping tomorrow if they don't have the town locked town I can go back for an hour or so and just see what the beach is doing. But I have a feeling that isn't going to happen.
I'll keep you posted as I know more. Until next time...Robin
They called the mandatory evacuation because if Ike stays on track we will get the dirty side of the storm and they are expecting 13-15 foot storm surge. The storm could still turn north some and if it does it just brings it a little closer to my area of the beach.
So, for any of you wondering what's going on...that's it...I guess this one I won't be able to see until after it's over....no pictures of the wave action. I have Colton this evening so I couldn't stay at the house until tomorrow. It was a nice day today but hot. I'm hoping tomorrow if they don't have the town locked town I can go back for an hour or so and just see what the beach is doing. But I have a feeling that isn't going to happen.
I'll keep you posted as I know more. Until next time...Robin
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Looks like Texas is about to receive another unwelcome visitor. I guess this is what it's like to have a place on the coast...watch..wait...see...prepare. Not one of my favorite things. It's a little nerve wrecking to ask...should I or shouldn't?
So...I think I should. I guess Thursday I'm gonna go to the house and put up the hurricane panels just to be on the safe side. Even if we don't take a hit the storm is predicted to be pretty big and we could get a lot of storm surge and stuff. Plus I have a busy day planned Friday and won't have time to take care of this and Colton will be spending the night as well so I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.
There's a part of me that would like to be at the beach house to see what the water and all will be doing but I'll have that grand baby and that won't be the place for him.
I will keep you posted on what is happening in our area and think of me as I'm putting up those hurricane panels Thursday....not a day I'm looking forward to.
So...I think I should. I guess Thursday I'm gonna go to the house and put up the hurricane panels just to be on the safe side. Even if we don't take a hit the storm is predicted to be pretty big and we could get a lot of storm surge and stuff. Plus I have a busy day planned Friday and won't have time to take care of this and Colton will be spending the night as well so I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.
There's a part of me that would like to be at the beach house to see what the water and all will be doing but I'll have that grand baby and that won't be the place for him.
I will keep you posted on what is happening in our area and think of me as I'm putting up those hurricane panels Thursday....not a day I'm looking forward to.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy Labor Day Gustav
Happy Labor Day!I'm at The Beach House still and it's very nice with what we're getting from Gustav...Nice wave action and a breeze. The sun is out now in full force. It's a nice day to spend at the beach.
So...I'll share with you what it looks like here.
The first picture is of my Grand-Dog Howie...he belongs to Jen and Paul. He's standing on the beach where normally cars drive...the water is coming up that high.
Here is what the wave action looked like at the beach this morning.
This what it looked like this morning while sitting on the deck with my latte just enjoying the morning. The sun was trying to break through the clouds.
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