In Harms Way...

It is a nice cool day here in Minneapolis, MN. That's where Mark and I have been since Sunday. He is here for a VA conference and I tagged along. I have never been here. The cost of living must be really high here because all the restaurants are sky high!!! Anyway, tonight I am going to finally get my sushi!!! Actually I had some on Monday at TIger Sushi at the Mall of America. Oh my goodness....that mall is unbelievable. Mark and I are going back on Saturday and SUnday. Then we will be going home.

Ok....my family, which consists of my parents, sister and brother-in-law, brother, neices, nephews, cousins, great nephew...basically ALL of my family are in Houston. My parents actually live 75 miles north of Houston, which is where everyone is going to head...or are already heading that way. My brother-in-law refuses to leave his liquor stores. Stupid. My sister asked him if he had ever been through a hurricane, and of course he said no and she said well, I have and the one that we went through was only a Cat 3. He told her that everyone is blowing this out of proportion. She said that she was not staying and that their son could live without one parent but not two. He has decided not to stay at their house though. He will be sleeping at one of the stores.

So I am waiting for my mom to get on the AOL Messenger so we can talk and I can see where everyone is. The traffic coming out of Houston is terrible. MOm said it is taking people 12 hours to get from Galveston, TX to Huntsville, TX which is about which is about 150 miles apart.

My brother Ricky works for Exxon in Baytown, TX which is a suburb of Houston. They are starting their shut-down today but it takes a long time. Hopefully they will be done by Friday but may not be. He is scared to death. He isn't worried about the wind but he is worried about the storm surge and drowning.

Just talked to my mom and everyone made it there. Neice and her husband and son took 7 hours to get there from a little suburb outside of Houston called Deer Park. It is usually about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive, on a good day.

So, please pray for the victims of Rita. She is going to be a nasty girl. I will let you know how it turns out. Just think...I was thinking about going down there this week while Mark was in Minn. Glad I didn't.

Take care!