The Storm!

We had quite the adventure yesterday! A storm hit us starting at around 4am and didn't stop till after 10pm. We had lots of rain, wind, lightning, and thunder. The wind gusts at times were about 50 miles per hour and the rain was coming down at an angle.
By the time we woke up, we already had a lot of problems. Our back windows (facing the ocean, the direction the storm was coming from) wouldn't close so one of the screens was blown right off the window and mud was getting blown into our house. In fact, we had mud all over the walls (from floor to ceiling) and all the way across the dining room and into the kitchen. Everything in our kitchen was covered with mud. The storm had calmed some so I (Megin) started cleaning the mud off while Mike started trying to figure out what to do. And of course, as soon as I was done cleaning, the wind and rain picked up again and before I knew it, everything I had just cleaned was covered in mud again! So then we were scrambling to come up with some ideas on how to keep the mud and rain out. Poor Mike had to go out in the middle of the storm to work on closing and replacing the broken windows! He came in all muddy and in need of a shower but we no longer had mud getting blown into our house! Then we took a sheet and nailed it so it was hanging from the wall above the window to help keep the rain out. We also found a spot near the door where water was pouring in from outside so we had to keep towels there to soak up the water. We finally felt like we could just relax and enjoy the storm, maybe watch a movie... then the electricity goes out. We were without power for almost 10 hours. So we found different ways to entertain ourselves... we played games, I read, Mike played guitar, etc. Unfortunately, whenever we would get the chance to relax, we would find some new problem that needed to be taken care of...like the iguana room flooding. Mike had gone next door to figure out where the hurricane window protectors were when I noticed that there was water flowing into our living room. It was coming from the iguana room (a room that has no roof and is open to the sky and is in the middle of our house with a door to the kitchen and a sliding door to the living room). The drain in the iguana room was plugged up so the room had flooded and started to flood into the living room. So I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket and started bailing the water out of the iguana room. I would fill the bucket and then run it to the bathroom where I poured it into the bathtub to drain. By the time Mike had returned, I had drained about 40 gallons of water but hardly made a difference in the flooding. So Mike grabbed the plunger and plunged the drain. Thankfully that worked and the water began draining again. Then Mike went out across camp to find the hurricane protectors only to find out that the protectors weren't the right size and couldn't be used on our windows. (Makes me wonder what we'll do if a real hurricane comes!) This was how our day went... just one problem after another. It was exhausting but an adventure. By the time the electricity came back on, we were starving because we couldn't eat much throughout the day without a microwave to warm it, a stove to cook it, a fridge to keep it cold, etc. We were so thankful for electricity! Then we spent the evening relaxing and watching a movie. What a day it had been!

On another note: We were so thankful for the surprise that we got this weekend! My mom came to visit! It was a great surprise and a lot of fun! It was great to be able to spend some time with her! We also appreciated the encouragement that she was to us, the wisdom that she gave, and the adventures that we had! Thanks Mom! And thanks Dad for sending her... sorry you couldn't come too!