Hurricane Ike = Vacation (not by choice)....

Most of you know that I evacuated from Houston to Austin for hurricane Ike. I packed my car over a week ago with my dog Hana, my son and myself and we headed to stay with my step-sister Lori in Austin. I never anticipated the storm was going to be as bad and devastating as it was-and I never thought we would be gone from home this long.

We arrived at Lori's house a week ago Thursday evening, after driving a nearly six hour trip that typically takes 2.5 hours. I know it could have been a lot worse than 6 hours and I'm thankful it did not take any longer than that length of time, especially have Hana and Dominic in my little Mini Cooper. We stayed at Lori's all week and I just felt horrible for our extended stay. I should tell you that Lori is 37, and she has not been around small children much. She did seem to really like Dominic though. He's a great little guy, most of the time. Last Sunday, we all met up with Lori's friend Jenn and a restaurant in Austin called, "Freddies Place". This pic is of Lori and Jenn and if you click on the pic, you can read about Freddies Place (Lori, my step-sister, is on the right and Jenn is on the left):