We survived the storm!

Well, we did it. We survived the unthinkable. The storm came, took it away and we lived. I mean, we can't believe it but we actually lived without the Internet (and home phone line) for 1 whole week! Seriously, I can't believe how dependent we are on the net. It used to be that we would sit and wait for the "8s on the hour" to try and catch our local weather. Nope. Not anymore. We just click Accuweather's bookmark and its there in an instant. What, did people really used to sit and watch the stock ticker at the bottom of Channel 64, trying not to blink, because they don't want to miss their favorite stock price or why even have phonebooks anymore?? The only reason I am keeping ours is to teach Lakin and Gage how to drive, before she can actually see above the wheel. I mean, that's what Grandma Doris did with them. How did people use to stay in touch?? When I first created my Facebook account, I can remember typing in every "Friend" I met in Carbondale and sending them a "Friend Request". Oh the fun it has been, reminiscing about wild nights or where they are living now. Gotta love the net! But is it a little addicting and are we a little too dependent? Maybe. I love the story that my neighbor recently told me happened while their family was at the kitchen table.

Son - "Dad, where is Mom?"

Dad - "She is on the computer. She signed up a new Facebook account."

Son - "Oh no, you know what happens next, don't you?"

Dad - "No, what?"

Son - "Next, she stops cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. She will get really cranky too because of staying up too late. I've seen it happen to all my friends' moms."

So, thinking back at this last week, it was so nice to sit at the supper table a little longer than usual, since we couldn't run to the computer to check our e-mail. And truthfully, it wasn't really missed that much after all because we still have it on our phones.

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THE BIG STORM

I woke up in the early morning hours of June 22, 2010 to a big banging noise. I had fallen asleep in the bed in Gage's room and heard something hit our roof. I put Gage in his crib and noticed it looked very bright outside. It was as if the moon was a strobe light. I went to wake Mark up and we both watched the storm for a minute out our bedroom window, then ran to another window. We ran from window to window for about 10 minutes, not believing the winds we were seeing. (When truthfully, we should have been running to the basement.) After it ended, we all went to the front porch with flashlights to see the destruction that the straight-line winds had caused (some still say it was a tornado). Our town was such a mess. Trees and powerlines were down everywhere. We were lucky enough to not have any damage to our house. Many others, not so lucky. We're very blessed that no one in town was hurt. People really worked together to get things cleaned up and help those left without a place to live. A special thanks to the American Red Cross and especially all the City of Beardstown employees who worked day and night for many days! We still hear chainsaw noises all day long!

The first picture is Lakin taken in Butch and Cindy's front yard (Mark's parents). They were so lucky this tree didn't hit their house! The second picture is in Jeff and Connie's backyard (Katie's parents).