Up until yesterday, Austin was bracing for the tropical storm remnants of Hurricane Ike.  I was checking out this very informative and highly engaging storm tracker on a regular basis to see where Austin fell in Ike's mighty path, hoping that we'd at least get a decent amount of rain; we badly need it!  However, we are no longer in the potential 1-3 day track.  Instead, it looks like it's heading straight on toward the Galveston/Houston area.  Already, we know of families who are making their way out of Houston, likely facing interstates jam packed with thousands upon thousands of others fleeing the fierce storm, which is said to be the size of Hurricane Katrina.  And then we know of families in the northwest part of Houston who are staying put to allow others with special needs or who live in the mandatory evacuation areas to escape the furry, in hopes that they and their households will be spared heartache and destruction. We hope and pray they would be relieved from such experiences. 

We still might get some showers and wind; at the very least, Hurricane Ike will reintroduce Austin to cooler weather and the official onset of fall.  That, Internet peeps, we will embrace wholeheartedly, certainly not wanting to at the sake of others, though.  On the docket for this weekend or next, depending upon the weather and my Daddy's need to be on-call for the environmental project he oversees along the TX coast, will be hosting my parents for the first time since this spring.  We are so excited, and we are putting them to work!  Oh yeah!  We will paint the nursery, set up the crib and armoire, hang part of the window treatments, pick out fabric for the glider, and celebrate my Daddy's birthday.  His birthday was the week after Gaga's passing and so we didn't get to celebrate much; in other words, he hasn't had his birthday cake yet that I make him annually.  The cake he chose this year:  a decadent Chocolate Citrus Cake.  It is truly heavenly!

If their visit gets pushed back to next weekend, Matt and I will likely go on a few dates and have romantic conversations about such things as wills, health directives, etc... this weekend.  I SO hope you're picking up on my tongue-in-cheek tone, because ICK to talk about all that.  So here's to hopin' my parents come this weekend so we can put off such disheartening, albeit necessary, topics to discuss until next week.  Or, maybe it's better to just get it over with?  Either way, at least we'll have an awesome time this weekend or next getting Polka's room set up!