Aftermath of Ike

Our house made it through the storm! A sweet friend called me to tell me about the damage to our property. We had two trees on our house in the backyard, TONS of limbs and leaves on the ground in both the frond and back, and our back fence is down in two places. (Pictures will be posted soon.) We had no flooding, no major roof damage, and no broken windows! We didn't come back down here until last Wednesday because we didn't have power. We thought we had power on Wednesday, but it turned out that we didn't. So our awesome friends, Chris and Jerica, let us stay at their apartment with our crazy 65 pound lab!! THEN, Chris recruited a friend who got a gas chainsaw from his parents and the two of them helped D cut down the two trees in our backyard on Thursday!! We have some seriously great friends! We are INCREDIBLY blessed!!! They thought nothing of it as if we just borrowed a stamp or something. We knew they were awesome before now, but we were completely blown way by their generosity! (We love you Chris and Jer!!)
So D and I raked the leaves up and took the board off the windows this weekend. We're waiting for the insurance company to come check out our roof and fence. Meanwhile, Coop is really unhappy because his doggie door privileges are obviously revoked. Needless to say, they would be with or without the fence because the mosquitoes are horrible!! Several factors are playing into this: we don't think the city has been able to spray recently, plus there's just a ton of vegetation and such all over the place. I went to the mailbox, which is right across the street, and got 2 bug bites! So taking Coop out is pain! The bugs are bothering him too! Needless to say, he will be VERY glad when things get back to normal!
School has been cancelled now for two weeks. Teachers finally go back on Friday and then school resumes on Monday. It's been kind of nice to have a few weeks off, but we're wondering how this will impact our schedule. We have nine weeks tests that everyone in the district takes. Those are thrown off. Science Fair due dates have passed. Plus, we might end up going to school until the third week of June now!! Yuck! Hopefully the state can forgive some of these days!!! I'm not trying to complain...well I guess I am...I really do like my job, it's just overwhelming right now! And, as my loving hubby would point out, I'm a planner. I've gotten MUCH better about going with the flow since we've been married, but uncertainty just really unnerves me sometimes. Especially when 165+ kiddos and their parents are looking to me for answers about school deadlines and such. Actually, I've just been pretty overwhelmed with "starting over" in general. It's an adjustment...new grade level...new subject matter...new school. I know it'll all work out and I'll get used to it soon!
Slowly but surely our city is getting back to normal. A company came to pick up our tree limbs this week! That was exciting, but they didn't get the ones in the back. We're not worried because they didn't get take anyone's in the back. They said if it wasn't all taken the first time around, then just be patient and they'll pick the rest up soon. We are just so thankful that our house is ok!! Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and our house! We know that all of your prayers were answered! Our God is a great God!!! Please continue to pray for the community of Galveston and all those who have been affected by Ike.