Houston, Sunday, September 25, 4:00 pm

SARAH: OK, my last post. Things are pretty much back to normal here. We've got all the duct tape off the windows and are busy unpacking the valuables, antiques, irreplaceable books, etc, that we had packed up to take with us. Clint and I are both going back to work in the morning. I've even made a trip to the Kroger to get us set up with food for a few days.

The one really good thing to come out of this experience is that we now have a much better grasp of what to do the next time. I started planning a hurricane preparedness kit after Katrina, but did I actually go out and get the stuff for it? Of course not, but now I will. I've discovered I absolutely must get a cat carrier for Mojo once they're available again, because the thought of carting around a very fat, pissed-off, sharp-clawed cat in a pillowcase is a little frightening. And of course, now we all realize that the dangers in evacuating may well be worse than the danger of riding it out. Hopefully the next time the upper Texas coast is threatened, we'll all have a better idea of who should evacuate and who should stay put, and how to handle any necessary evacuations.