Hunkering Down for Ike

Things sure were easier for this big snail to get ready for Hurricane Ike than for us! He just hid in the corner near our front door!

Let me back up some... Joe's parents (Tom and Gloria) and sister Emily came up Thursday afternoon from a Houston area that was on mandatory evacuation. Joe left work early Thursday and went grocery shopping for us, a HUGE help! Joe and I (along with all of A&M) were given Friday off - woo hoo! So the five of us are here at our new house getting ready for a storm.

Joe and his dad (with a very little of my help) moved all the loose pieces of stuff (from trash bins and window shutters to a koi pond and basketballs) from our yard into our garage. They also took off the screen door and nailed some wood over the doorway to our garage. Even with as bad as some of the wood looks, I couldn't watch them nail plywood to it - our "new" house! At the time we were expecting a still category one hurricane to hit right at Bryan / College Station.

the lawn

Last Thursday night we had another first - Joe mowed the yard! Yes, we've owned the house for over a month, and this is the first time we (the royal we) have mowed. If you'll remember, Michael did mow the yard for us a little while back, but it had gotten fairly unruly. It was a whole evening affair. Thanks to Britt who is letting us use his lawn mower while he's lawn-less this year, and Ross who let us borrow a gas can at the last minute. Oh, and Expert Village for letting us know you don't need to use special oil made just for lawnmowers - just 30 weight (hey, we're new at this). It look a while to get going and a couple of refills on gas, but Joe mowed until it was too dark to keep going (and only a little patch in the back was left). Thanks Joe - you did a great job! Joe says we have a really big yard. :)

We did some work this weekend, so stay tuned for more pictures soon!