Hurricane Ike

The last several days have felt like an eternity. We weren't worried about the hurricane until it began heading directly toward Galveston. The mayor of Galveston suggested a voluntary evacuation for the island on Wednesday but then issued a mandatory evacuation Thursday. Because the surgeons didn't cancel their surgeries, I worked four hours on Thursday morning while Justin was helping to evacuate the ICU patients at his hospital. After work, I quickly and frantically loaded my car with all my photo albums, extra clothes, and my beloved collection of recipes. With my car full, Molly and I headed for Dallas. Traffic was already very congested, but we eventually made our destination 8 hours later. (It normally takes me 4 - 4 1/2 hours). Justin was able to leave the hospital, and he left Galveston 2 hours after me. We stayed the night with Justin's grandparents and drove together to Oklahoma this morning. it was so nice to see our family. We changed our travel plans a little and plan to leave for Colorado tomorrow morning. After all this, we definitely need a vacation! Watching the latest reports of this storm has been difficult. Parts of Galveston are already flooded, and the eye of the storm is still 4 hours away. It's tragic that our friends' homes will be completely under water soon. We live about 30 miles north of Galveston, but our area is at risk of flooding also. We'll be glued to the TV wondering if we'll have a house to come home to. I know God has a plan, and if we have to start over, then that's what we have to. We'll make it with his strength. Keep us and all the residents of the Gulf Coast in your prayers.