Hurricane Ike

I just saw footage of Galveston on the news and parts of the city are already flooded... and the main force of the hurricane hasn't even hit yet. Sounds like the city has been pretty thoroughly evacuated, but yikes!

It also sounds like all my friends who are in the path of the storm have either evacuated or are well-prepared for what's coming. And it goes without saying, but I hope you all stay safe and dry!

Quick update from the Tri-Cities

I made it to Pasco, WA earlier this evening after a really nice drive across the state. Absolutely gorgeous weather. At the moment I'm still waiting for my mom to get here (she lives about two and a half hours away, but wasn't able to leave until late evening) and then I'm planning to hit the hot tub!

My dad was able to talk to my grandmother and he says she's doing well... and is a bit crabby about the fact that they won't let her eat or drink anything (although I'm seeing this as a good sign, since over the past few years she's actually complained about not ever feeling hungry, which I'm now suspecting may have been related to this particular problem). They're keeping her off food for at least three days and then will start reintroducing things slowly.

They ended up having to remove a portion of her intestines... but it sounds like they think she'll recover okay. The surgeon gave her a rather lengthy lecture today about letting things go for so long... he apparently rather firmly believes that she was within a day of dying.

She'll be staying at the hospital through at least Monday, so I've got plenty of time to get there... although I'm still planning on driving all the way through on Sunday, if I can.

I just feel so incredibly relieved...