Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

This is the story of how my daughter lived through her first tornado.

Friday was a hot day, but in a good way because lately I'd been thinking of building an ark. Honey had said we were going to get a thunderstorm later in the day but the blue sky made me think differently. In the afternoon after hanging out with the Lovie all day I decided I needed to leave the house. So I went to Kohl's. (Let me pause for a moment in my tale to tell you that every single time I go to that place it rains. Every time. Somehow, I thought Friday would be an exception. Remember I mentioned the blue sky.)

The trip was uneventful and when I left the sun was still shining over the store; I thought I'd been spared the rain that accompanies my my trips but large dark clouds were quickly forming. By the time I got down the street to my next destination (to get dinner supplies) the sky looked like the apocalypse was coming. So what did I do? I went into the store to buy fish. BIG MISTAKE. Had I just gone home I would have been safely inside before the storm came and I wouldn't have had to just throw out the fish that sat in an unpowered fridge for two days. I've gotten off the subject, main trial.

I made a mad dash to the car and a quick trip home. As I walked from the house to the car I'm pretty sure I saw the Wicked Witch of the West ride by on her bike. The wind and rain had picked up and the lights were flickering. Honey and Lovie were quite content watching the storm out the windows. I dashed around to close all the open windows and that's when it came. The hail. Or more appropriately, large frozen golf balls. The lights went out. The rain was coming down so fast that the gutters overflowed and water started pouring in the kitchen window. Lightening, thunder, tree limbs, leaves, and small dogs blowing around outside (Ok, not the small dogs, but you get the point). It was bad. I can't remember the last time I had seen a storm that bad.

I was enjoying watching it all unfold until I realized I was holding Lovie. She was blissfully happy watching as well but my mother instinct kicked into overdrive. What would happen if the big giant tree in our backyard fell on the house? That was when I asked Honey "Should we go to the basement? Is this a tornado?" Suddenly watching this didn't seem like so much fun anymore as I figured out it had the potential to hurt my kid. No sooner had the words left my mouth that it seemed like the storm was letting up. Five minutes later it was over. Well, not exactly. The power was out for 25 hours and we had to throw out everything in our fridge. We also learned the hard way we only have one working flashlight.

Now, two days later, the National Weather Service has confirmed that we did in fact have a tornado touch down with 85 to 100 mph winds. I believe it. Some town residents have lost their homes, some are still without power. Honey, Lovie, and I made it through with only branches and limbs to clean up. That and a new found respect for my mommy instincts, a greater understanding of the need for electricity, and a to-do list that now includes making an emergency preparedness kit.

I guess I got distracted.

Back in November I set out to write daily. So I lasted four days, who's counting? The title of my blog has real significance in this situation. My day to day life of work and home with Honey and the Lovie is chaotic; it distracts me from the other things that make my life whole (like regular pedicures) and some things that don't (like scrubbing the kitchen cabinets).

In the time I've been away lots has happened. The Lovie is now almost 11 months old. She crawls and giggles and smiles big to show off her two teefies. The Honey worked hard to accomplish the goal of earning his Master's degree. It arrived unceremoniously in the mail on Tuesday without the expected pomp and circumstance. Rather than don cap and gown to celebrate, we went out for ice cream. I decided to take a big step and try out a small business opportunity in the hopes of walking away from the 8-4 grind of working in a school after a year.

November to June wasn't all fun and games though. Honey and I stumbled through the grief of his mother's death as it greeted us unexpectedly from time to time. Christmas was particularly difficult for us both. The last day of the school year was tough on me too. In September I was watching Honey go back to work at the high school and my mother in-law was calling every Tuesday to sing Happy Birthday to the Lovie. But when June came, the last day of school greeted me with an article in the paper about the family friend who replaced Honey's mom in her well-respected role as a figurehead for a non-profit organization. The wind was knocked out of my sails.

Now a week later, I sit down to reflect on where I've been since November. The easy answer is to say I was distracted. The truth is I was living life. Honey and I watched Marley and Me the other night. I thought it was supposed to be a cute movie about a dog and his family. It was that, but it was also a tale about the twists and turns of life. It made me think. And it made me sit down at the laptop and start blogging again. This is important. It makes me feel good. So I will once again make a vow to myself to try to be less distracted by the chaos while I live among it, and I will do my best to share it here.