Restored

Well, *Sigh* so now you know I have a bit of a temper.

Conrad and I have tried to really maintain our normal behavior through these very abnormal experiences. The traffic is CRAZY- the tollroad has been free for something like 12 days now, so it's absolutely packed everyday. We have had to go to work even though we didn't exactly know where we were going to sleep or shower that day. We had to eat out for every meal, which is expensive and gets old ... it's so hard to see your neighbors sitting in their garages being eaten alive by mosquitos ... at 7PM it's dark, candles make the house HOTTER and the mosquitos are outside, there's nothing really to do but lay in bed. I think we did ok the first week. After day 7 we were really angry with the water company. The day after they said we would be restored, was terrible. We were both snappish. I cried a lot. It was hot, he was calling Center Point Energy and when he wasn't, I was ... it was a really bad time.

I would never expect ANYONE except maybe my family in SC who went through Hurricane Hugo in 1989 to understand how hard and sad and frustrating this has been ... but I would at least expect SOME compassion and to say that from some people all I have gotten is judgement would be an understatement. There are people I talked to everyday when I lived in Dallas who haven't even called or emailed or responded to MY update email to see how we were doing. A full week had passed before I sent the first update. It looks like a diaster movie down here. If you're watching your televisions, what you're seeing is TRUE and it stretches about 90 miles north of Galveston. We were in some dire straights and the night OF the storm, was a nightmare I don't know if I will ever forget. I'll never forget how the wind sounded, how the house shook, how it sounded to hear debris hit your roof or how it felt to look at your ceiling for almost nine hours PRAYING it wouldn't peel off. That's a lot to go through ... and there are about I'd say five to seven people I really thought by now I'd hear from- even if just a brief "are you ok" phone call ... but so far, nothing.

NOT at all to say that family and friends have not contacted us. Oh gracious, our parents and our siblings and friends from high school and fellow bloggers have checked in us and it's been so comforting. We have gotten LOTS of email from Dallas .... just a few I was expecting, never came ... Our friends here in Houston, after power was restored to them have offered their homes and showers ... it's been really nice and we have felt very supported. I am just saying *I* had several close friends in the Dallas area that I expected to hear from and have not. So to say I am a little hurt and very disappointed and slightly offended would be putting it mildly. I guess all that came out yesterday when I did finally have SOMEONE contact me and berate me and tell me I had mental problems. I suppose when you reach out for contact, sometimes you get what you ask for.

Power was restored as well as water sometime yesterday. It was on when we got in from work. I washed clothes, ran the dishwasher, dusted and cleaned for hours. It was a good night.

Kah