A Week of Surprise Gifts

It is the changes that are hard to see. Like the one from the beach we go to.
Stewart Beach during our summer visit

Stewart Beach post Hurricane Ike.

The shore line has changed.

I know I keep talking about this but it really is hard to watch. Everything is different. I remember talking with Mr. Amato about this before. It becomes hard to list the specifics and do get used to curfews and such, but it is different. In our area things will revert back within a few months. Places like Stewart Beach in Galveston might be changed forever.

Like I have said before, we are settling into a new normal. It depends on which store and what time you shop to determine if you can find fresh stuff or not. Frozen foods are back. Everything is on a tight schedule to keep with curfew and many places are closed due to rain/wind damage.

Our local schools started back this week. This is received with mixed reaction. Many are still without power so it it hard to require much homework. We were glad that most friends went back by Wednesday. This allowed us to try to resume a normal school day. I am still waiting on some book that I am afraid got lost in the hurricane. The libraries are not really open yet in our area. We tried but one did not have power. they took our returns but were closed. The other two we tried to visit were both closed due to storm damage. Our favorite will be closed for several weeks.

Silly kids get away from that transformer, your going to get hurt!

Our power is blinking still. It was out yesterday for a few minutes and we got scared that it was gone again. Today two huge transformers were dropped off in our neighbors yard. That doesn't seam god for us considering we already have power. I went and asked if they had the right street and they laughed at me. I did thank them as they came all the way from Louisville KY to help get our lights back on. It looks so strange in our neighborhood. Most are still out and we have had crews of at least 50 trucks on various streets.

Too late! They are really good at this acting thing, don't ya think?

We got a delivery from BIC yesterday for supplies for a trade show that J is in. The driver laughed when he drove up. He said it looked like he was in a war zone. "I thought my neighborhood was bad until I got here, this is awful, everyone OK?" One good thing is that in the South people are friendly. We seam to greet each other with "Do you have power back?" "Any damage to your home?" and "How are the kids taking things?" These are questions to total strangers all around you. Everyone wants to share their story also. If you have the time to listen, you do. Our neighborhood has been voted "most damaged" in our area. We are so proud but still trying to repair quickly.


The bugs are horrible. I have never seen mosquitoes this big before. The poor baby is just the right size. As soon as he walks out they attack him. The flies are better now that the garbage is gone. The piles of debris are everywhere still. Each mound is between 50 and 100 bags and then the piles of trees are everywhere. They say they are working on it but it is a hazard.
Our house is on the left side of this picture, after the second huge pile of debris in far back. Not the best shot but it does how how dangerous it it. It becomes very hard to see when driving. I am not encouraging outside play right now. Between the bugs and the limited site of the drivers I think they are safe inside reading a book, oh that's right the library is closed, so watching TV. Thank goodness our cable is back we have watched some very cool shows on the discovery channel on energy and the human body. Cool stuff and a good distraction.


Now to the gifts.
They just keep arriving. I have not had to ask for anything. My mom sent a gift card and my dad and his wife sent some money. Those two generous contributions have helped us to restock the frig. Thank you Grandpa Dyer and Miss Anne. Thank you Mimi. You all have proven to once again be very generous with all that you have. The grandchildren are most happy and full.

The BIC family has been so kind to us. Every single day J talks with a different person in the company making an offer of sending supplies to us. People in departments he has not met in person are sending well wishes and prayers. The kindness that we have received from this family are so heart warming. When the hurricane first hit a group of us were talking and Jason was asked if his company would understand. He is the only one in Houston after all, so the expectation from his friends was that no one would understand. The locals all had time off because they couldn't even get to their workplace. Some of his buddies warned that he might be pressured. That could not be the furthest from the truth. BIC as a company has bent over backwards to allow Jason any consideration he might need. Luckily he didn't waste much time even without power. J was a real trooper checking messages and making phone calls those first few days from any spot we could find a signal. We have the Internet again so he is back up and running. Now his task is checking on clients that were in the storms path as well.

The gifts have included other things from the BIC family. It is so overwhelming as to how kind these people are. The Amato family that we mentioned earlier have done more than anyone should. They even sent a wonderful pasta dish last week. Miss Allyse sent the package last week that was a life safer. It came just when I was having a melt down. Then another package came from Miss Teresa a few days later filled with supplies and goodies to make s'mores. We couldn't even buy those as everyone was craving them around their camp fires.

This week has not ended our surprises. A package from J's buddy in Chicago. Chuck and his family came up with a very cleaver way to make sure we had fresh milk. I wouldn't even have thought about it, but is will some in handy for sure. The Sohn family sent us several cases of the milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated. It has really come in handy as it can be hard still to find things at the store. I was told that as electricity comes on people shop and empty the shelves. Anyway Mr. Chuck is Jumba's God Father and he made sure that his god child would not be without his bottles. The milk has come in handy considering I always seam to miss the stocked milk.

Then another package of goodies arrived from the Albert family. Mr. Tim, Mary and little Connor made sure we had everything we might still need. It included a case of water. The kiddos quickly rushed that out to the freezer. Our goal is to freeze several cases and keep them on hand until the hurricane season is over. It will be a standing practice from now on. The frozen bottles were great to use in the coolers and then each day we had a fresh supply of ice cold water. You can not even imagine how much of a treat that is when you don't have ice, but can still drink an ice cold water. They also sent crackers, and cookies, and even remembered the all important peanut butter and jelly. Those are two more items you can not find in the stores yet, still too popular.


Thank you to all of our dear friends that have taken the time to pray for us, to send us surprises, and to offer to take care of us. You all have helped us make it through a difficult time and we will not ever forget your kindness. Our hope is to pass on Christ's love with that same generosity. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!