I wrote your name on a piece of paper, but by accident I threw it away.
I wrote your name on my hand, but it washed away.
I wrote your name in the sand, but the waves whispered it away.
I wrote your name in my heart … and forever it will stay.

Today is National “I Love You” Day. Hope it’s your best day ever!

This is a picture of one of my favorite TV shows … Alias. Tonight was the new season premier and I am bummed out over it. They killed off one of the main characters! His character name is Vaughn but his real name is Michael Vartan. Bummer! What a cruel, cruel world! (By the way, he’s the one in the picture just to the right of Jennifer Garner, who happens to be standing in the very front.)

A Mafia Godfather has a bookkeeper who was deaf. (Hiring a deaf bookkeeper was considered a mob benefit since it was assumed he’d never have to testify in court inasmuch as a deaf bookkeeper would not be able to hear anything.)

The Godfather finds out that 10 million dollars is missing. The Godfather questions the bookkeeper about his missing millions. He has his attorney with him. The attorney knows sign language.

The Godfather asks the bookkeeper: “Where is the 10 million bucks you embezzled from me?” The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the 10 million dollars is hidden. The bookkeeper signs back: “I don’t know what you are talking about.” The attorney tells the Godfather: “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Godfather pulls out a 9 mm pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper’s temple, cocks it, and says: “Ask him again!” The attorney signs to the underling: “He’ll kill you for sure if you don’t tell him!”

The bookkeeper signs back: “OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo’s backyard in Queens!”

The Godfather asks the attorney: “Well, what’d he say?”

The attorney replies: “He says you don’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

Well it’s good to be back home. Mostly we had tree branches down. Nothing fell on the house, so the roof is okay. The windows were boarded up and if anything flew at a window, the board(s) didn’t show it.

We were thankful the hurricane missed us but sorry to see so much of east Texas get hammered like it did. Ironically, in trying to flee the hurricane, we were right in it’s path! But like MikeD said, it was downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it hit landfall. Since it made landfall east of La Porte, we were spared being on the “dirty” side.

Saturday morning the storm was headed to Longview … and of course, that’s where we were staying. People up there were in panic mode … Wal-Mart’s shelves were pretty much empty. Mike made the decision that we would gas up our cars Friday evening just in case Longview lost power. Then Saturday morning the rains came. But we decided about 1:30 that afternoon, after seeing that it was mostly rain with some occasional wind gusts, that we would leave and head back to La Porte.

That was also a good decision. Although we drove through what was left of the hurricane (probably a Category 1 by that time), we made good time getting back … 4 hours which is about normal. There was hardly any traffic on 59 headed south which is the way we chose to return. I’m glad we left when we did because by Sunday morning part of 59 (in Lufkin) was closed down due to the Trinity River rising. I guess they were afraid of flooding. People who left then spent a lot more than 4 hours getting back to the Houston area!

Mostly what we saw on the way back, especially when we got to parts of east Texas where the storm had already gone through, were tree limbs down. There are a lot of pine trees along 59 and many of those were broken in half. We also saw upwards of about 40 cars scattered here and there on the sides of the road. We guessed that they probably ran out of gas and had to head for cover somewhere since they were parked neatly here and there on the road. It wasn’t like they were tossed around.

I’ve always held the notion that you prepare for the worst and hope for the best. In the case of Rita, that was the right thing to do because when we left La Porte Wednesday evening, we were expecting landfall between Matagorda and Galveston with Rita being Category 5. We weren’t real sure if we’d even have a house left to come back to. But we were spared and I’m so thankful.

Anyway, the internet has been down awhile so that’s why I haven’t posted. Hopefully things are getting back to normal now. Talk to ya’ll later.

Sara, I was glad to see the storm was shifting away from you guys at least a little although its not good for the people in its path now. The latest update said it was down graded to a category 3 now, so hopefully its gonna wind down quickly. My uncle lives in Longview and I know people are frantic there. I keep checking the weather.com website for info and everytime I go and put in La Porte the projected wind speed keeps going down a little each time, so hopefully the damage will be minimal. Our prayers are with you and your family, try and stay safe.. If we can do anything let us know.

Mike

Now the hurricane has shifted and Longview is expecting wind and rain. People around here are in panic mode. Wal-Mart doesn’t have anymore bottled water or bread or peanut butter, etc. The apartment complex has asked their tenants to put away lawn chairs and outside objects that might fly around. They tell us we might get as much as 30″ of rain here. I can’ t believe we traveled 13 hours to get out of the storm’s way only to have it follow us here. But on the positive side, it will mean less problems for Houston than where it was going in before. Now whether we can get back to La Porte when this is all over … is another question all together.

To my sister, if you’re reading this: We’re doing fine. Hope ya’ll are, too. Cell phone networks are busy and most of the time I can’t get through so don’t worry. I’ll check in when we can.

Later guys …

Hello everybody! We finally made it to Longview. I say “finally” because it took us 13 hours to travel 270 miles! And that’s only the first part of the story …

We left La Porte about 7:30 pm Wednesday night. First you need to understand that the coastal area is divided into 3 “zones” for evacuation. Each “zone” has a specific route out of the Houston metropolitan area that they are supposed to travel.

So … we got on Highway 146 and headed north … our evacuation route. We had to cross the Fred Hartman Bridge which for those of you who don’t live around here, is one of the country’s highest suspension bridges. It crosses the Houston Ship Channel so it has to be high because of large vessels coming and going. So anyway, this bridge is about 3 miles from our house. Well, it took us an hour and a half to get from our house to the top of the bridge.

The next 10 miles took us an additional 4 1/2 hours. I’m not kidding! By 1:30 am Thursday morning we had only traveled 13 miles! Man, I was so glad we left 2 days early. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for people who left today or will even leave Friday morning.

We decided to be “rebellious” and not stick to the evacuation route once we reached Interstate 10. So we headed east, toward Beaumont. It was a good decision because once we headed east on I-10, the traffic flowed pretty good. It was still heavy but it wasn’t stop-and-go like before. It was 8:30 am Thursday (today) when we rolled into Longview.

Talk about tired! Ha! What made things worse for me is that I have a standard … 5-speed Mustang … and my left leg is so darn sore today from spending 6 hours never getting out of 1st gear! I told Erica and Mike if I ever say I’m buying a new car and considering a standard … beat me severly about the head and shoulders!

More tomorrow …

Okay folks, this is pretty much my last post for a few days … at least I think it will be.

On the news at noon they said Rita has SUSTAINED winds of 140 mph right now. Those could be as high as 150 mph when she hits landfall late Friday night/early Saturday morning. I don’t need to tell you what several hours of sustained winds at those speeds can do to a brick home. I don’t even want to think about it! Up until now I’ve been keeping my mind busy with deciding what to take and what to leave behind … now the reality of a storm of this magnitude is causing me to really think about what may or may not be left when we get back. I keep telling myself that it’s only a house … a building of sorts … and that’s true. But as I looked around the last couple of days, trying to decide what really needed to go and what I thought I could live without … it was difficult. How does one prioritize like that? Obviously we take important documents and family pictures. But so many things in my house remind me of people in my life because they were something I either got for a birthday or Christmas or whatever. Oh well …

But anyway, the house is boarded up and boy, is it dark inside without lights on! We brought all the patio stuff around to the garage and will be putting it in there before we leave. Mike has some things he wants to try to put up off the garage floor also. We’ll cover that stuff with a tarp. We hope to be on the road to Longview by 9:00 or 10:00 tonight.

So … with this, I’m signing off for now. The computer is going night-night … maybe permanently, who knows.

This may be my last update for a couple of days. It’s 7:15 am, Wednesday .. woke up to FOX news telling us that Hurricane Rita is now a Category 4. Mandatory evacuations begin at 6:00 pm tonight. Since, for all intents and purposes, we live on the coast, we have to make sure we’re out of harm’s way.

Category 4 hurricanes do extensive damage. They can level a brick home right off it’s slab. Katrina was a Category 4. Granted, New Orleans is below sea level, but La Porte only sits 25 feet above sea level. The storm surge, which is what we worry about as much as wind strength, will probably reach 40 or 50 miles inland. I mentioned before about the “dirty side” of the hurricane … that simply means we will get the strongest winds, the heaviest rains and the biggest storm surge. When Tropical Storm Allison hit the Houston area in 2001, there was extensive flooding … and she was just a tropical storm, not a hurricane. Fortunately our house was spared being flooded. But it would not surprise me with Rita if we end up with several feet of water in the house.

As for those of you out there … please keep us in your prayers. Pray that we will have safety in traveling. Pray that the damage in this area will be minimum.

Until later.

I have been busy and just to dog tired to check in but I did today and WOW! get outta there! I have been sorta watchin the updates on the weather and all the Hurricane updates but I for some reason didn’t realize it was headin for the big T. Man that is scary stuff I will be keepin a closer eye on it now. Yes I am far away from all that, all we have to deal with really is Earthquakes. The weather everywhere is getting strange. Today we are having thunderstorms and it is like 90 degrees outside…and its September! If you guys need anything let me know, I can’t do a whole lot from here but I am sure I could do something!
Mike a.k.a. MDAVEY

I’m a busy little beaver, aren’t I … posting all this stuff? Anyway, the place I work will be closed Thursday and Friday, at least the office area will. The terminal side will remain open although no vessels will be arriving and no tank trucks will be loading or unloading because the Houston Ship Channel will be closed until after the hurricane passes. Right now I’m waiting for Mike to get home from El Paso. His flight lands anytime now. I’m packed with 3-4 days of clothes as is Erica and Granny Beth (Mike’s mom). Mike will still be packed from his trip to El Paso because he packed for a 5 day trip and was only there 2 days.

The weather forecasters are talking about Rita bringing possibly as large as a 15-foot storm surge with her. Our particular part of La Porte sits about 23 feet above sea level so unless something drastic happens like our roof blowing off, I think we should be okay as far as water goes. The strength of Rita’s winds, however, may be a different story altogether. A Category 3 hurricane packs winds anywhere from 115 mph to 130 mph … those are sustained winds, not gusts, as far as my understanding goes. At any rate, I don’t plan to be here.

So I’ll make one last post tomorrow sometime before we head out.

Here I am again … the NBC channel just broke in with a special report on Rita from the mayor of Galveston. She’s asking voluntary evacuation now and mandatory evacuation will begin at 5:00 pm Wednesday. The storm is still predicted to be a Category 3 (winds 115-130 mph) when it makes landfall and is expected to do so in the wee hours Saturday morning. However we’ll begin to feel the effects Friday mid-day as far as rain and wind. Landfall will still be somewhere between Matagorda County and Harris County (Galveston). Matagorda County is only about 50 miles south of us. Like I mentioned in the previous post below this one, that puts us on what is called the “dirty side” of the storm. It would be better if the storm actually moved in a little east of Galveston but that’s not going to happen.

Our (the Urich family, that is) current plans are board up the house tomorrow morning and evacuate tomorrow evening. Stay tuned and I’ll update whenever I can.

Mike checked NHC this morning and it looks like MAYBE Houston/Galveston might be spared a direct hit … Rita may go on land around Port Lavaca which is south of us. But then that puts us on what is called the “dirty side” and depending on how strong she is, that could be just as bad.

Mike got a flight out of El Paso that gets him back here about 7:00 tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. By that time we should know more about Rita and her path. However, FOX was saying this evening that the best probability is still Houston/Galveston. I checked online at the National Hurricane Center site and it looks like Rita is moving a little faster than she was earlier today. I’m thinking that could be good in one way because the faster she moves once she gets into the Gulf of Mexico, the less time she has to get stronger. BUT … the faster she moves means the less time we have to get out of here. I guess it depends on how you want to look at it. At any rate, if we decide to leave we’ll be boarding up the house Wednesday morning and hitting the road Wednesday evening.

Just got official word from company I work for that we will shut down Thursday and Friday. Forecasters say Rita will be a Category 3 by the time she makes landfall in the Galveston/Port of Houston area sometime Saturday morning.

See post below this one.

More updates coming …

Oh my goodness! These hurricanes are becoming a pain in the beee-hind!

Now we’ve got Rita headed to the Gulf of Mexico … the national weather service says her path will most likely be straight into Galveston so that means evacuation for us here in La Porte and surrounding small cities. Of course, hurricanes are fickle and she could change her course at any time but the weather service isn’t holding out for that. Galveston’s Mayor has already declared an emergency so he can call into service whatever he needs including the National Guard. I figure Houston’s EOC personnel are also planning what they’ll do.

As for where we are … La Porte has mandatory evacuation if a hurricane is a Category 3 or higher and forecasters are predicting Rita may be a Cat 3 or 4 by the time she hits land. (Those hurricanes just LOVE that warm, Gulf of Mexico water!)

At least evacuation for us shouldn’t be anywhere like the problem it was in New Orleans. WE HAVE A PLAN. First of all, we’re 26 feet above sea level instead of below sea level. That won’t help a lot with a storm surge that’s of any size but it’s better than being BELOW sea level. And La Porte people will head north on Highway 59. Deer Park people will head north on Interstate 45. Pasadena people will head west on Interstate 10. That should help with congested highways.

Mike is in El Paso this week and isn’t supposed to be home until Friday but he’s cutting his trip short. He’s planned ahead really well and we already have plywood for our windows so we’ll prepare the house as much as possible for the storm, gas up all 3 cars, load important papers and other things into the cars … including 4 cats which should make any trip SO enjoyable … (sarcasm) … and head north. Fortunately Chase lives about 4 hours north and we’ll stay with him.

I’ll keep everybody posted. Most of the people who read this blog live close so they’ll know what’s going on. But a few of you live WAY away from here (MDavey!) and hopefully I’ll have access to keep you updated on everything.

Till next time …

I volunteered in the church office this afternoon to answer the phones again … from 2:00 until 5:00 the phone rang 3 times. Yes, things are definitely gearing down. Most of our families either already have other housing and are moved in or they’re in the process of lining it up.

Next weekend I will be at a ladies retreat in a small town an hour or so north of Houston called Cleveland, Texas. The place is called “Chain-O-Lakes” and it has log cabins. The cabins we’ll be staying in have 4 bedrooms each. Eight of us will share one log cabin … 2 per bedroom. There will be canoeing, swimming (yes, it’s still hot enough here to swim!), horseback riding, massages … and spending quality time with all my gurl-friendz. Horse drawn carriages will be available to take us back and forth to the main dining hall. There’s actually no kind of “schedule” to follow other than mealtimes. No guest speaker or anything like that. Just a nice, quiet time to do whatever we want to do. I plan to take some books and do some reading. There are lots of places to go to where you can be alone with nature.

I hope to sleep late Friday morning (not scheduled to work) and then drive with Linda P. to the retreat early afternoon. We want to be on the road by 1:30 so we can miss all the Houston rush hour traffic heading north. That usually starts around 3:00 pm. If Catherine W., Teresa S., and Nannett S. decide to stay up all night, I hope I’m able to stay awake and participate in their all night shenanigans. At one retreat they played hide-and-go-seek until 4:00 in the morning! And that was at the ranch we went to in Sealy. This place is WAY bigger and should hold a lot of good hiding places.

Well … night all. Check in when you get time. MDAVEY – how is the house remodeling going?

As I type this I’m sitting in the church office. We’re winding down the shelter activities and hope to have all our families placed in housing by October 1st. I volunteered to answer the phones this morning. Thank goodness it’s not as hectic and crazy as it was a couple of weeks ago! I’ve been here about an hour now and the phone has only rang twice. One was a church member telling me she was on her way up here and the other was a lady from the Red Cross calling to get a head count … which by the way, is 80 people as of this morning. That’s way down from the almost 200 we had at the beginning of all this.

(You know what’s REALLY sad about this picture??? I’ve actually used a shoe and a knife before!)

This is a picture taken by NASA … they call it The Eye of God … pretty cool, isn’t it?

Well anyways, speaking of eyes, today was the 5th eye doctor appointment for me in as many weeks. I went in for my 6-month check up 5 weeks ago so I could get my contact lenses reordered. My doctor decided to try me with a new brand of contacts that are supposed to be the best ever for eyes. They’re supposed to let in more oxygen than normal soft contacts and are supposed to be less likely to cause irritation to the eyes. Now mind you, I haven’t had any problems with the brand I’ve been wearing for 10 years, but my doctor just thought these “newer” kind would be better for the health of my eyes.

So she gave me a trial pair to wear for a week. A couple of days after I started wearing this new pair, I woke up one morning and my eyes were bloodshot. It looked like I’d been on a drunken spree the night before. So I called her office and since my eyes weren’t hurting or burning or anything like that, she said I could wait until my normal appointment a few days later. When I went in my eyes were still bloodshot. So she thought that maybe the curvature of the lens were what was causing the redness and she gave me a new trial pair with a different curvature. I was to wear them for a week and go back in. And yes, you guessed it, a week later the redness was still no better.

So, long story short, she put me back in the brand of lenses I was wearing to begin with because even though the new kind we tried were supposed to be “allergy proof,” we thought maybe my eyes were super sensitive or something. Well I went back today, after wearing my previous brand for a week, and my eyes are still bloodshot. Since I’m still using the same type of wetting solution, etc. we’ve ruled out the possibility that something like that would have caused the redness.

Now I have to wear my glasses for a week. She wants to see if the problem with my eyes is due to contact lenses or if there’s something else going on in my eyes. The problem is that I have a VERY OLD pair of glasses with one earpiece missing. So I’m waiting at home now while they’re “trimming down” the size of the lenses in those old glasses so they’ll fit in a new pair of frames. I’m hoping to get a call from them within the next hour. Hopefully my eye problem will clear up within the next week while I’m wearing the glasses. If not … well, I haven’t had the courage to ask her what the next step will be.