Well, I decided to write a post about my week. Mostly, it was in response to caring friends on here voicing they were glad I was okay after the devastation of Hurricane Ike.

LOL, tis true. WmWB has a few more ways of checking in with me LOL. Yes, I am positively okay. I heard from my guy yesterday. He is physically okay, but emotionally drained. He still has no power at his place, meaning no hot food, no hot water, no hot showers, which is kinda necessary in Houston to get rid of that smoggy, humid filth that just clings to ya down there.. *shudders* When he could get his pc charged up, he couldn’t find a place with internet service.. and vice versa. I am thankful he was able to finally contact me, meaning able to also finally contact his family overseas to let them know he is okay as well.

My sorority big sis wasn’t as fortunate (and it was a service sorority, not the regular Greek type for those who I just made wonder). To save money, she lives at home with her mom since she is a single woman on a teacher’s salary. Unfortunately for them, Hurricane Ike blew the roof off of their home, allowing for some major water damage in areas. On top of that, she’s been sick with a bug going around, and they still don’t have power either. She was able to contact me after some places were nice enough to let people come charge up their phones/computers so they could get in touch with concerned family and friends. She’s lucky enough to own an IPhone, so could actually email from her phone.

I am simply happy to have learned that my guy, my friends, and my family that live in the Houston/East Texas area, are all physically okay. Emotionally, I have to say, most everyone I know has been walking around like zombies in shock. I, myself, have been experiencing this overwhelming sense of devastion. I cannot tell you how many times I have cried and gotten goosebumps this week. Plus, it did NOT help that one of the computers at work decided to fry itself and take the whole pharmacy interface system with it. Being a very busy pharmacy, it was REALLY rough having to fill prescriptions with what we refer to as “old school.” Meaning, we had to separate EVERY single prescription into its own basket along with the drug, and the rx the doctor sent for new ones. When you are busy, it is difficult trying to track down that medicine stock bottle in a sea of baskets and prescriptions. Plus, when people came in to pick up prescriptions BEFORE their pickup time, we had NO way of figuring out where it was without searching 40 plus baskets at a time. *Sigh* Just imagine trying to get all the filled prescription papers back in order after doing that for 2 days.. that equaled approximately 400 new prescription papers to put BACK into order, and who was the lucky one chosen for that job? Your reading her blog as we speak. Not to mention the flu shot clinic we had on Friday.. and yes, people are starting to freak out because the flu is actually beginning to run rampant here. Not what we needed with so many frazzled folks..

As for my zombie state… My parents couldn’t afford many extras when we were growing up, which meant few vacations for us. So, for a weekend getaway, about every other summer, they would take us to Galveston while my younger sibling and I were growing up. Almost everything I know and loved in Galveston is completely and utterly gone. Few people you talk to from North Texas are not feeling this same sense of loss, because there are quite a few people whose families did the same as mine did. Nothing is left along the Seawall except the Flagship Hotel, and bits and pieces of it are gone as well. Huge chunks of the Seawall are gone too, the 17 foot concrete Seawall erected after the 1900 hurricane that killed thousands on Galveston Island. Hurricane Ike actually hit on the anniversary of that 1900 Storm disaster, also known as Isaac’s Storm. About the only things left standing are the Moody Gardens, the Strand, the Historical District (including downtown), UTMB-Galveston, Texas A&M Univ.-Galveston, and a couple of new major hotels that were all built to be well above the 17 feet the Seawall already was. A few newer homes that built well above the 17 foot wall were also spared, although almost all of the above mentioned places have many broken windows and LOTS of water damage. Other than that, the whole west side of Galveston is gone, Port Bolivar is gone.. it looks like the aftermath of the tsunami that hit southeast Asia several years ago.

Lots of South Houston/suburbs/etc. were destroyed as well.. if not by water, then by trees or flying debris in 100+ mph winds. Technically, Ike was only a Category 2 hurricane… by 1 mph.. yes, I did say one. When it came onto Galveston, it was 110 mph. Category 3 is 111 mph. By the time the outerbands got to us in the DFW area that afternoon and East Texas, we were mostly experiencing Category 1/Tropical Storm force winds.  The hurricane itself was nearly the size of Texas.. no exaggeration required. Let me give you an idea of just how big Texas is. It takes approximately 6-7 hours to get to Houston from the Oklahoma/Texas border.. give or take a few hours. Houston itself is over 100 miles across, so it’s another hour to Galveston Island. From northeast Texas, it takes approximately 13 HOURS to get to El Paso or 8 hours to get to Lubbock/Amarillo. You can actually get to Chicago, Illinois from northeast Texas quicker than you can get to El Paso, Lubbock, or Amarillo. Fortunately, Ike moved will amazing speed across Texas, so although, a LOT of places sustained major damage from wind and trees, almost nobody else experienced the major flooding in Texas. Still, all of those of us who remember what was there in Galveston, feel an overwhelming sense of loss and devastation. We have all lost a little piece of us that we knew as Galveston, Texas.

For those morbid enough to want to see some of places I was speaking of, here are a few websites that show clips of before and after Hurricane Ike hit…

 

(above picture courtesy of the http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2008/09/16/after-ike/)

http://www.photohouston.com/galveston-texas-photos/Texas-gulf-coast-pictures.html

http://www.texasgulfcoastonline.com/News/tabid/86/ctl/ArticleView/mid/466/articleId/115/Default.aspx

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/multimedia/m/20925159/beyond_galveston_seawall_lies_destruction.htm

Well, everyone may be wondering where I have been. I have simply been getting out and about. After the crap I went through with CS, I needed to get out and be by myself to simply find my inner-self again, and to regain self-confidence. I am too nice to block him from my IM/phone.. yes I know, but that doesn’t mean I have to talk to him. Although, recently he had the audacity to ask how his D city girlfriend (referring to me) was doing.. I told him I didn’t know, I hadn’t met her yet He really has NOT gotten how I HAVE moved on, although I had actually TOLD him so.. several times now.

I am seeing someone else now, someone that likes me for me, and makes me happy. He doesn’t just use me as a chauffeur or a way to make new friends. Yes, he is from another country, but I tend to notice I have migrated toward dating foreign guys because they still practice manners.. manners seems to be a forgotten art among many American men, or it could simply be the area I am from. My friends are very happy that I have gotten away from CS, and are pulling for me to keep positive attitudes and thoughts. They are also quite happy for me to have met someone, even if it was by chance online through facebook.

So, what do I like best in my new guy? Honesty, politeness, happy outlook on life, he makes me smile.. alot, and did I mention he is way hot?!? LOL hehe. I just keep thinking how lucky I am right now LOL, but I do not want to jinx it or anything. A girl broke his heart that couldn’t commit, so he moved on.. sound familiar? I told him that perhaps, we both had to go through bad stuff with other people to simply be able to see a good person shine out when they came into our lives. So far, he has hid nothing from me, including his ex begging him back, and he telling her no, he’d moved on.. kind of the same as I had to do with CS. I believe that CS does not want me, he simply doesn’t want anyone else to have me either though. Well enough on those matters…

I will probably definitely be missing through the weekend though. There is a major hurricane called Ike, bearing down on Texas. No, I do not live on the coast, but unfortunately, the predicted path is to bring it as a tropical storm or depression straight through my area of north Texas. That means LOTS of rain and wind.. Rita came through here the last time. My city is notoriously known for flooding, although where I live *knock on wood* is not. It simply gets crazy up in the DFW area when a hurricane comes toward the Texas coast. All the roads from the south will be turned northbound only, congesting EVERYTHING up here. I was supposed to be off of work this weekend because I was supposed to go on a date with my guy. Well, he got his notification that it is his turn to go get his stuff together for his US Citizenship application, so the date is temporarily post-poned. We’ll see what happens since he does live on the coast, and may have to re-schedule regardless.. Perhaps I will get to see him afterall? hehe And if I don’t, I may go volunteer at the Red Cross Shelters here since I have nothing else planned at the moment.