The Christenson House Refugee Camp

Hurricane Ike took a toll on East Texas over the weekend. We were told we needed to worry about tornados mostly, but the biggest problem would probably losing power for who knows how long. The last time something like this hit this area, people were out of power for 11-14 days. So, on Friday night people started freaking out. Wal-Mart was taken over by people trying to stock up on water, batteries, food, etc. I tend to not freak out so much...I always think that nothing is going to happen. On Saturday morning, the coaches went in to watch film, leaving us wives at home to fend for ourselves in the hurricane-ish weather. About 4:00 the high winds started and the swirling rain began. We were all calling eachother and asking if the other still had power. We all did until about 6:30, then one by one we started losing power. The boys stopped watching film and came home about 7 or so, and power lines were already down all over the area. With all these tall, skinny pine trees, lines get taken down by the dozens around here. And they did. We lost power too. Courtney came home and we got to put my battery-operated lantern to the test. What a great purchase! It was the last one on the shelves at Wal-Mart and we had to hit the Tractor Supply Store to find batteries for it, but I stocked up and we got to use the lantern. We only lost power for about 3 hours, luckily and so we had a nice, cool night in our house like normal. Also, we were so fortunate that none of our huge trees in our backyard fell over. We lost tons of limbs but that is all.

Sunday morning comes and all is calm outisde, and we start calling the other coaches and wives to find out that we are the ONLY people that have power. Even the Warrens, who are literally one street over from us don't have power. So, over come the coaches and their families. By that, I mean kids AND dogs, because like us, the dogs are kids to a few of the couples. Marci and Monty brought their deep freeze over and everyone brought their frozen food over..there is just no sense in losing all that frozen food, right? We cooked up frozen pizzas and frozen pastas for lunch. It was so fun! Late last night, we all got the calls that both Queen City and Atlanta would not have school Monday and so we decided to have a great big SLUMBER PARTY! Over came the cots, sheets, blankets, pillows, and food. We put our food together and cooked up 2 mexican casseroles--without having to go to the store at all, I might add. Then we played Scrabble and Friends Scene It. We had such a good time last night!

I must say that no one got a lot of good sleep, considering we had 5 dogs and 3-month-old baby Jentri all under the same roof, but it was all worth it! What good memories were made!!

Power is slowing coming back on, but even our neighbors don't have power yet. It is so random for how it gets fixed. Out of the 6 coaches, 3 are still without power today. We are crossing our fingers for no school tomorrow too!! :)