Yeah, It WAS that BAD!

Update time yet again!  Someday I hope to have moments of downtime to reflect and process so that my writing  will have some sort of common thread throughout, but for now, I write for the purpose of documentation purposes.  Here's a synopsis:

Last week we had some wild and crazy weather - Monday, a HUGE storm pounded us, but hit UT campus particularly hard.  Musta just been a warm-up, because last Wednesday brought national news making tornadoes and severe thunderstorms unlike any I've ever seen!  The kids did absolutely great through it all.  I was particularly concerned about Sam because he's been terrified of storms since he was a little boy.  Warnings were abundant throughout the entire day.  The superintendent made an announcement that "No teacher was permitted to leave the school and students would not be dismissed from the building in the event of inclement weather."  This sent the teachers into a near panic attack - "They can't force us to stay here!"  "I live in another county!"  "I've got kids too!" "I have to let my dogs out!"  ...Not exactly the calming effect we needed under such circumstances.  As it turned out, students were dismissed on time and no one was required to stay beyond the contract day.  Another morale blow however was that one minute prior to the end of contract time, the principal made an announcement "per the superintendent that all teachers in the building must send an email confirming that we didn't leave early."  Not exactly a "warm fuzzy" for some already aggravated teachers and staff. 

I headed home amid radio warnings of eminent severe weather.  By the time I got to Papermill, a tornado warning was issued.  I called Chelcie and insisted she get home immediately.  She headed to the UT library to "study."  I really, really wanted her home with us, but she's an adult now so I have to let her make her own decisions. 

We had heavy rain and powerful wind, but nothing compared to the hype...until about 8:00.  Once Addie and Sam were tucked soundly in bed, the hail started, mildly at first, but increasing dramatically until it literally sounded as if angels were pelting our house with baseballs!  Power went out about 8:15, but was back on about 10.  We all retreated to the basement and I kept in close contact with Chelcie via cell phone.  We got hit with three pretty intense rounds of rain, hail, lightning, thunder, and wind.   Thousands of people had roof damage.  Many lost windshields, and cars were dented all over so they resembled golf balls!  It was a wild and crazy night to be sure, but we were all dry, safe, and together.  None of us cared about the cars and still don't.  So what if they're dented?