My weekend wasn’t extravagant or anything, but it was blissful. I didn’t open my laptop once the whole weekend. It stayed hidden away in my computer bag. What a relaxing way to spend the 2 days off. Friday night, we hung out with hubby’s cousin (S) and her friends. When we got home we had a message from his sister, saying that his parents house went from bad to worse. They were apparently hit by a bad storm Friday that ripped the tarps off their roof and poured 4 inches of rain on a leaky roof. They just knew they were in trouble when the ceiling threatened to collapse. Fortunately it didn’t and they quickly got a dehumidifier in there to help dry everything out.

We also bought primer and new paint for the kitchen cabinets. We are one step closer to being finished. The primer we got is going to work wonderfully as a prep for painting. No sanding!

Saturday was spent watching the first college game of the season. Woohoo! Football season has officially begun. It was especially fun because ESPN was doing a behind the scenes show on what it takes to air a game live. It was crazy and I truly admire and respect the folks that make it happen. I wouldn’t want their stressful job. I was getting stressed just watching them work. But it was great that they were able to show us just what all is involved and how the people work together to get every little detail on the mark.

Sunday we had planned on priming, but instead chose to spend the day out of the river with S and friends. It was great fun and my husband finally got to wakeboard. We got sunburned and rained on, but enjoyed it anyway. When we got home we cooked up some tacos and watched the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics.

A relaxing, enjoyable weekend. I only once looked at the computer and that was to check on the Charmed episode for Sunday. That was the only computer activity I did. Oh yeah and I played a game with S for a few hours Friday night, but to me that doesn’t count. I was still hanging out with friends.

I picked up Harry Potter Year 5 on paperback this weekend also. Now I’ve got the complete set so far. My MIL gave me the first 3, then I bought 4 way back when. I’ve been waiting for 5 to go paperback so it would be a matching set. Now I look forward to years 6 and 7 and at some point I do plan to re-read 1-5. I just first have to finish the many books sitting on my bookshelf still unread.

All is well. My parents didn’t suffer too much damage. The roof on their rental needs replacing but that was an issue before the hurricane. My grandparents lost some shingles and aluminum siding on their house. They also had to have some branches on one of the trees in their backyard cut down.

My parents Miata had a huge dent in the trunk when a storage roof fell on it. My in-laws need a new roof. Theirs was already in bad shape and the hurricane made it worse. They have a few leaks in the roof that are holding up because of the 5 tarps covering the roof. The majority of the trees in their yard were either cut down or will have to be cut down. The finally got power on Tuesday afternoon. But the rest of the week, the power kept browning since the rest of town was slowly getting power back. My grandparents finally got their phone service back up on Monday evening. But no one yet has cable back. Overall, they were all very lucky.

We drove around town and were just heartbroken over some of the damage we saw. Houses completely crumbled to the ground. One house had the complete roof laying in the front yard on top of 3 vehicles. Another mobile home was on it’s side with the roof slammed into a tree. It was just heartbreaking, but the number of people that came out to help was just amazing. The power was restored at my in-laws by a power company from Mississippi. We passed caravans of power trucks from West Virginia and Missouri. My husband said he also saw power trucks from Oklahoma and Texas. There were comfort stations all over town handing out hot meals and providing bathrooms and showers for those that didn’t have power or water. We saw a disaster relief group from Georgia, Alabama and Texas.

Police and national guard personnel from other areas in Florida arrived to relieve the local officers who worked round the clock directing traffic and helping with cleanup.

We really do live in a great country. In times of need, the whole country comes together to help each other out. It makes you feel good to know that in times of need, people reach out and do what they can to help.

Just an update. I will be away from my computer for the next week. My husband and I are going to Florida. We are going to lend a hand to our family members who are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Charley.

His parents suffered damage to their home. My parents suffered damage to their vehicles. Fortunately my parents weren’t there when it happened so they were safe. They are in Texas since my sister just got back from Spain. So they are currently relying on family to let them know what damage they have, so they do not know for sure what other kind of damage they will find. They are anxious to get back home as soon as possible.

That’s the extent we know right now. We will know more once we get down there, but they are in need of supplies. With the continuing rain, it isn’t over and we are all anxious to get down there and do what we can.

I will post when I can. There is no power down there right now, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to give another update. We may be back by Wednesday or Thursday, but we are not sure. It all depends on the extent of damage and what needs to be done.