Life after Hurricane Ike

I decided last year that I was too busy to keep up with a blog. Now I decided I'm not. Writing is therapeutic. It's worth the time. Everything is a big mess since the hurricane, but it hasn't been all bad. We've spent a lot of time at home picking up branches and sticks and leaves. I finished my Texas jigsaw puzzle. I got all my CD's and videos organized. We've been listening to a lot of radio. It's been good to have the kids out of school again for a little while. We still don't have any power at home, but we do at the Birth Center. My husband and I and our two boys are staying at my birth center for now. There was an electric truck working on our street today. We were hopeful. We have a water well at our house, so when we don't have electricity, we don't have water. We have a small generator, but it's not big enough to run the well or the a/c. We kept the refrigerator going long enough to use up most of our food. It's good to cook and eat at home. We do have a gas stove, so we've still been able to cook things.
We had about 12 big trees down on our property (none on the house). That's been the biggest mess. We've got about 4 more to get cut up and hauled out to the street. Bonham got into some poison ivy while we were cleaning brush. He got it on one hand and arm and then on his face. One of his eyes was swollen shut yesterday. Got him some steroids and it's a lot better today. We also had two bad leaks in the roof from the driving rain. It was a good thing we were there to out a bucket under it. Collected two buckets full of water.
I helped with two babies the day before the Hurricane (Sept 11th). We were all relieved that those babies were born before the storm moved in. More info about their births is at my other blog (www.bayareabirths.blogspot.com). My husband stayed home that day and washed clothes and got the house ready for the storm.
I way underestimated how strong the hurricane would be. I thought I could still travel to someone in labor if I absolutely had to. There was no way I could have. It would not have mattered if they had been two doors down, I could not have gotten there. That 110 mph wind was super strong!!! From now on, if we ever have another hurricane, I will tell any client who is close to being due to come stay with me, or go far, far away.
We delivered another baby since the hurricane on the 18th. She started out at home, but ended up transferring to the birth center and we were thinking about going to the hospital, but the baby finally came out. We were so happy!
My boys and I drove down to LaPorte today. It looked terrible. I feel so sorry for the people there and further south. They got wind damage and flooding. I went down there to see one of my clients/friends. She wasn't there. All my clients are all scattered out. Some are still far away waiting for power to be restored.
Every night when it gets completely dark, we all get sleepy immediately. I kind of like life w/o electricity in many ways, but not being able to flush the toilets is a pain.
Jackie