it took everything in nature's power to stop me from boarding that plane to columbus for my birthday celebration....from my hair stylist forgetting my appt, to a $600 car maintenance setback, to a crowded airport & no parking spots to mandatory evacuations due to hurricane ike!!! but i made it!

but i soon found out, u can run, but ya can’t hide…

…on my weekend 'b-day getaway' outta h’town….‘Hurricane Ike’ found its lovely way to me. sunday afternoon ‘ike’ came blowin’ into columbus ohio, knockin' down trees & leavin' me stranded with no power and no flights back to houston for 4 more days! i was really starting to feel what it’s like to be an evacuee. each day I checked on folks back home. i also wondered if my car (which was parked on the roof of the hobby airport about 42 miles southeast of galveston) was alright, but at the same time i was thinking “thank goodness i wasn't there!” well…little did I know that coming home would be no picnic.

in the early part of my trip, i lost my wallet and thinking i would never see that wallet again, i cancelled all my credit & debit cards. now, not realizing my trip would be extended for 4 more days due to 'ike', i was quickly running outta cash....but thank goodness for mom’s who send b-day money to wherever your vacationing!!!! : )

getting back to my arrival in houston. i first had to find a gas station that was open, not damaged or out of fuel. hmm....didn't happen. next i just prayed i didn't stall out on the freeway. so far so good. when i got home i realized my place flooded….and since i had been away longer than expected….due to no ventilation, the carpet dried up as the mildew and mold festered along the baseboards and walls. as a matter of fact, the entire complex took a beating. shingles were everywhere, the leasing ofc collapsed, trees were down and bricks had literally caved in. WTF? and don't even get me started on trying to find food in grocery stores. if they were even open, u were shopping in the dark for non perishables only....while getting a whiff of mad cow disease from the meat that had warmed up when the power went off. lol i can only imagine what the folks in galveston were going through.

well after spending just one night in my mold festering place, i knew i had to get the hell outta there! i began sneezing, wheezing and coughing. i called FEMA, the corporate leasing office and my insurance company. after a lotta lotta…..oh…did i mention lotta lotta ranting & raving, my insurance company came thru with an ALE check, which affords you funds to relocate when your place is uninhabitable.

now comes the real trip!!!! my complex can't find another vacancy to place me in (yeah right) and apparently due to some misappropriation of FEMA funds/vouchers provided for the hurricane katrina survivors, getting a hotel room (if u can find one) is like asking for someone’s firstborn. they won’t take cash or checks (which is what the insurance company sends u), the hotels only take credit cards (which remember, due to the lost wallet i cancelled), they also want definite dates of arrival and departure and ALL the money for your entire stay is charged up front! although i am grateful i have A.L.E., JUST HOW LONG WILL THE FUNDS TAKE TO EVEN GET HERE? and as for FEMA.....it seems that process will take some time...IF U GOT TIME! so the way i see it is, i can either stay in my place and become one with the spores or i can start hammering out this sheet rock myself…U TELL ME?

all in all, i guess i’ll be alright. i now have power, whereas a lot of Houstonians still are without. my car was not blown off the roof at the airport. someone found my wallet cancelled cards and all....but more importantly, i thank God I was away with loving family at the time of the storm & i'm definitely grateful that all my friends are all safe and still have a place to rest their heads at night!