"I woke up with the power out, not really somethin to shout about"

I tried calling but I can't reach any of my friends in Houston. At least I know that Priya and her family are ok via her blog. I hope Marion and Jordan are okay as well.

My family is ok. I can reach them by cell phone. Several branches fell on our roof; one pierced the roof and crashed in our attic. That allowed a good amount of water damage to the ceiling between our living room and the attic and has weakened the ceiling. My parents are really concerned about that collapsing so they have moved everything out of the room. The only other pressing issue really is that almost all of Houston is without power, and I'm reading estimates that it will take a few weeks at least to fix it. I hope my neighborhood gets power again soon, because without it my parents have no way of charging their cell phones.

On a cuter note, I'm sitting on the edge of the sofa and Stella has fallen asleep with her body wrapped around my butt.

[update]: Yesterday a lawn crew tried to remove the branch threatening our roof, but when the supporting branches were cut away the whole thing fell straight through our house and landed in our living room. My brother tells me that the hole in the ceiling is about six feet wide, and is pretty close to the ceiling fan. My dad and the crew put up some tarp and hopefully that will keep the rain out.