My aunt and uncle in-law evacuated from Lake Jackson, Texas this weekend ahead of Hurricane Ike. They, with their dogs, RV and truck, came to stay with my in-laws for the weekend. We do not often see Doyce and Shirley, but Ike did us a nice favor. We ate jerky, drank homebrew and they did their best to fleece us at cards.

We regularly visit with the in-laws one day a week. This weekend was an added bonus. My aunt and uncle, Doyce and Shirley were there, having evacuated from Lake Jackson, Texas ahead of hurricane Ike.

I debuted my latest batch of beef jerky with the family, and it went over well.

They had called their house (no one is there), to see if the answering machine picked up (a good indicator of whether they still had power or not), and it did. My wife joked light-heartedly that their phone/answering machine was probably sitting there untouched surrounded by a pile of rubble.

Dinner was delicious – grilled filet mignon, side salad with my father-in laws homemade dressing. Mmmm.

We played several rounds of Crimp-It (cards) and, I am sorry to say, we fleeced the evacuees! My Father-In-Law won one round, and my wife won the other. Overall, the evacuees were down four dollars for the evening!

I also debuted my homemade beer for them, and they both seemed to like it so I think that was a small price to pay for some good beer