Better & Worse

Because I seem to be full of the good, the bad, and the ugly these days.

Let's start with the bad and ugly this time, shall we. We had major major storms last night. I don't know if the national weather service was making up for the lack of notice and lack of sirens from Sunday morning or not, but the sirens literally went off from 7:00pm through 9:00pm. If someone missed them, they've got other issues. The kids had a slumber party in the basement. Before they laid down I asked them if they wanted to stay there or go to their own beds later. They wanted to stay, and so they did. I was happy about that given the uncertainty of what was still ahead of us.

We had Flash Flood Warnings and Tornado Warnings. Thank goodness our basement isn't flooding (thanks to our sump pump) and we had a safe place to go. Our yard was a different story. I'm sure other folks were greatly affected by both. Just how does one seek shelter in the lower level of their home if they are up to their eyeballs in water?

The storm was incredible. The clouds were incredible. It brought stillness, sudden cool weather, winds, tons of rain (that has nowhere to go), and tons of hail. We do have noticeable hail damage. Thank goodness our neighborhood and immediate surrounding areas didn't experience more tornado damage. Unfortunately, other areas weren't spared and the devastation is incredible... physically and emotionally. There were many areas hit by the storm, but this area is understandably getting the most attention. My heart just breaks for these families.

The good... if it is at all possible to follow up with good after that. The kids all seem to be rebounding nicely. I don't know if they didn't experience a "bad" outbreak of HFM or if other stories I've heard were a bit dramatic. In any event, it has been quite manageable and it felt like we had all new kids this morning. I'm ready to see more of those smiles, hear more of those laughs, and get back to our usual silly selves. May the cycle end here, please.