I may have little to say this weekend.

Or at least little ability to say it.

Hurricane Ike is on a path to reach North Texas at least as a tropical storm.  Warnings and watches for the area already have been issued, but the precise impact won’t be known until it reaches us.

If we’re on the dirty side of the storm (the east side), it will be very bad.

If we’re on the west side of the storm, it will be less bad but still problematic.

Based on how quickly it gets here, it should weaken to a tropical storm before it arrives.  Hopefully.

Anyway, here’s what NOAA says at present:

THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN TO TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH AS IT MOVES INTO NORTH TEXAS BUT HIGH WINDS…HEAVY RAIN…AND TORNADOES WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE. FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO BE A THREAT AS SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN ARE EXPECTED TO FALL IN PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS.

For now, we’re under a Tropical Storm Wind Watch with anticipated power outages and structural damage to go along with the flooding and tornado potential.

It all boils down to this: Where will it actually go and how quickly will it get there?  If the storm moves a bit faster than anticipated or strengthens more than predicted right now, it could reach North Texas as a hurricane.  If the track shifts a wee bit to the west (as some models are now indicating), we might find ourselves on the dirty side of a rather large and nasty storm.

Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, I’m making a trip to the store in an hour or so to gather a few essentials to help me make it through the weekend in case something bad does happen.  Since I’ll be prepared and didn’t bother to wash the car, though, the storm will miss us entirely (that’s how these things work, right?).

This coin has another side.

Unless Ike takes a drastic turn somewhere and misses the current track entirely, either DFW will get the smackdown or the family farm will.  I can’t win for losing in this case.

I’ll be checking in with my parents to make sure they’re prepared, and then I’ll be staying in touch with them throughout the weekend to make sure they’re okay.  A trip to East Texas is not out of the question based on Ike’s impact.

And finally, to add insult to an already injurious weekend, Kazon is having dental surgery today.

He will need company and care during the weekend no matter what happens with the weather.  If there are complications, that situation could become critical without warning.

The vets and I have concerns relating to his immune system and his previous reaction to anesthesia; nevertheless, this had to be done.  He has a cavity at the base of one of his canines.  If it’s not extracted, it could cause the tooth to break off at the base.

Needless to say, this is shaping up to be a wicked weekend around the xenogere homestead.  One more bite of drama on my plate and I may well try to drown myself in a teaspoon…

[Update] We’ve been upgraded to a Tropical Storm Wind Warning and a Flash Flood Watch.  Ike’s track seems to be shifting to the west and more in our direction.  This could be interesting.

Also, I’ve spoken with my father and they’re as prepared as you can be.  I’ll keep in touch with them throughout the weekend as this situation develops.

[Update 2] Kazon has been sent home without the surgery.  His condition deteriorated too much.  He had a significant inflammatory response and developed an acute fever in the few short hours he was there (due to stress).  His CBC is all over the place and shows what we feared most: his already overzealous immune system is attacking his own body in response to an infection.  The tooth cavity appears to be a symptom of that.  He’s on strong antibiotics and steroids for two weeks, after which he needs more testing.  And that assumes his condition doesn’t continue to go downhill (he lost 3/4 of a pound [1/3 of a kilogram] just since he visited the vet three weeks ago for his annual exam).