I'm sitting in my dad's living room watching The Weather Channel, it is 1:04am and there is a long night ahead of us.

Here is a recap of the last 72 hours or so...

Wednesday:
Had a great lunch with my girls (Jodie, Sandy (with Sage), Kim, Alexa, and Mel), most of lunch conversation was talking about evacuation, if each of us would leave and such. We were all hoping IKE would still turn some. We all are addicted to StormPulse, we now use it as a verb. LOL
I headed over to console at 2 and within a few hours things started to change for the worse, IKE decided to turn more East towards us, soon after that they announced we were under a hurricane warning and the center was beginning shut down procedures. It was mind blowing quick, it was all happening so fast. I closed up console and rushed home. Once again the Rhodes' family came to my assistance and helped me board up the house. I debated back and forth about leaving vs. staying, Chicago vs Statesboro, what to pack up vs what to leave behind. It was so overwhelming, I can't describe the range of emotions that go thru your head. I full out screamed at Joel when all he was trying to do was help give me some options. If I yelled at anyone or was rude, let me take this chance to apologize--I'm very sorry.
So I finally decided to pack up as much as could--pictures, jewelry, clothes (that still fit me) and important papers, grabbed the boyz and headed out. I turned one last time and looked at the house, said goodbye and headed to Beaumont.

Thursday:
I drove to Beaumont, leaving the house about midnight, I wanted to get out before the
mandatory evac started. I caught some very poor zzz's, got up about 7am and started for GA to my dad's house. That the wisest place for me to go, especially with my boys. It was a long 14 hours, and it didn't help that I listened to ch 247 on XM most of the way.
I arrived at my dad's about midnight. He gave me a big hug, made me some eggs, I took a shower and then hit the bed.
Whatever... I didn't sleep well at all.

Friday:
the boys got up early and had to go out. I got up with them, there was no way I could lay in bed any longer and toss & turn. I turned on the tv and saw that things were already getting ugly, the acid in my stomach churned even faster.
About 1 I just had to take a nap, i needed to lay down, my head and stomach was just killing me. I ended up taking about a 5 hour nap--it was awesome, it was the most sleep that I've had in the last couple of days. My dad reported to me that he was watching the reports and things were getting pretty bad and the storm was still hours away.
After dinner, I just had to get away and I ran over to WalMart just to clear my head. Oh! gas stations were packed here and they were already price gouging, it was ridiculous.

The saving grace of all of this is that I'm with family and that I'm in contact with friends. Jodie and I are probably 1700 miles apart, yet we still are texting and even tried to IM (LOL).

It is now 1:46am. I can't watch anymore, I'm just sick to my stomach.
Most of you know that I'm not a religious person, but I can guarantee that I will be saying a prayer tonight for everyone, for Sandy's family who stayed behind, for all of us to find the strength to return home and tackle what is waiting for us.