Wild, Wild Weather

This past week bad weather from Wisconsin to Texas ruined our family's plans. Traveling Man came to town on Wednesday, but only after his flight was delayed due to 4" of snow. That night we were awakened by the tornado sirens at 3:30 am. We all rushed into J's room, which is in the center of the house, but alas, we found the tornado had already struck there and there was no room for us amid the debris. But on the good side, electricity was out in many parts of the city (good for us, not the people with no electricity), so we did not have to go to school. But of course, we didn't find that out until J had already left for school, and since I forgot to tell D., his alarm went off and he got ready for school only to walk out and find me in my jammies watching tv... It's hard to remember everything some days.

Well, lo and behold, Travelin Man's girlfriend was scheduled to arrive on Friday for a fun weekend at 6 Flags with the family, but due to winter storm advisories, her flight was cancelled. So, Travelin' Man spent many hours on the phone trying to get her a new flight (part of this time on the phone was during a professional basketball game he attended with youngest bro--so youngest bro was by himself inside the arena and Travelin' man was pacing out on the concourse, talking to the airlines).
But alas, it was not to be, and many hours later all flights, not just American, were cancelled due to a blizzard. So cute girlfriend did not get to come, and sad boyfriend wondered how on earth he was going to get home, because his flights, too, had been cancelled.

Friday morning dawned beautifully. But Travelin Man found a flight out and had to take it or risk not getting home at all. So, while Traveling Man boarded his flight (2 had already been cancelled), sisters boarded the new SUV and came home to see brother, who was already on the plane. I'm sure you see the problem.

Well, to make a long story short, I enjoyed seeing my children, even though it wasn't the planned for weekend. All the girls and I ( and cute baby boy) went to the bookstore, Sam Moon's, and two other stores, so we managed to somehow salvage the weekend. :) Shopping has saved many a day.

Even though there were 6 tornados in our area Thursday night, one did not set down in our neighborhood, at least that is what the National Weather Service said. You may decide for yourself when you view the pics below. All of these pics are very, very, very close to our house.


At the park two blocks away--the roof over the dugout:


You will need to enlarge the next two:

At a little store just down the street: the debris is the roof

See the dangling traffic signal? and the bent post on the left?



We were very fortunate not to have any damage other than a few branches blown down. Some people in our church were without electricity for 4 days.

I really enjoyed my family and I'm so glad I got to see all of the "away" children again. Hopefully next time the weather will cooperate. ;)