We stayed. We weren't in one of the mandatory evacuation zones, so we stayed. It was only a catagory one. My dad said that because we were far from the coast, we weren't going to get hit as hard. We filled containers, and the bathtub, with water, stored our outdoor belongings, and video taped everything for the insurance, incase something would happen. As we drove around our neighborhood the evening before the storm hit the wind was starting to pick up and you could see the storm bands in the sky. By 9:00 pm not much was going on, and I started to wonder if anything was going to happen. We all slept downstairs in the living room like we did during hurricane Rita. I woke up around 1:00 am and went to my room because I couldn't get comfortable on the living room floor. I awoke around 3:00 or 3:30 am to the wind howling outside. Just when you thought the wind was going to die down, another gust would come through. I went downstairs and stared out our back door. It was dark, but I could see the shadows of the trees swaying back and forth. The rain was coming down in steets. Somehow, even with the wind, I fell asleep again. 7:00 am is when I woke once more. I ate some breakfast, tried to clean myself off with the pool water, since our neighborhood water tank shut down, and waited for the rain to stop so that the clean-up could begin. Once the rain and wind stopped we went outside to see the damage. We had two trees fall down, a bit of fence damage, one of those vent fans from our roof had blown off, and some siding missing. It took us about a week to get everything cleaned up. As I sit and write this I think of how blessed I am to still have a house to live in. My thoughts and prayers are with those on the Gulf Coast who lost loved ones and don't have a home to return to.