Freaky Friday

Yesterday morning--Friday the 13th--Justin clocked in to work at 6:30 am so they could beat the heat.  They got off around 4pm and we were sitting outside talking about the day's happenings...the sky was overcast and looked like it could rain, which wasn't a surprise since we had a shower come through earlier in the day.  Out of the blue, the tornado sirens started blowing so I ran inside to check the TV--just in time for our power to go out!  Go figure!  And I'm not kidding, the wind went from non-exisistent to 93mph within a matter of seconds...we got Justin's Cadillac in the garage right as the rain hit.  As I headed to the basement, I grabbed the laptop and weather radio hoping we could keep up on the storm--but, duh, no Internet if the modem/router isn't juiced up and our weather radio wouldn't turn on!!!  And, please, let me mention that while I was bunkered down in the basement Justin was running around the yard and the house watching trees blow over, yelling "we're getting called out, we're getting called out!!!"

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Downed tree just at the end of our block

Right he was!  By 5:30 pm, they already had orders from Westar to meet up at the yard.  We had a chance to check out the neighborhood after the storm passed through and trees were down EVERYWHERE.  Thanfully, thankfully we had no damage to speak of.  But what a crazy way to spend Friday the 13th!

With Justin at work, I waited around to see if our power would come back on.  By 8pm I was hungry and decided that HyVee's Chinese Kitchen would be cooking supper...I came home, hung out with the animals and surfed the Internet on my phone before calling it an early night.  As the battery was dying, I realized I needed enough battery for an alarm in the morning!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sleep last night because the house was becoming unbearably muggy and Westar trucks were in the street off and on throughout the night.

Finally at 6am I gave up on sleeping.  I fueled up the car, plugged my phone in and headed to the office--we had families scheduled for supervised visits and exchanges today and I was hoping to have power back on...and we did!  Next came breakfast from Dara's gas station and then watching Malcolm prepare his breakfast.

Our church, on Poyntz Ave--their poor "centerpiece" tree!

Since it was still fairly cool out, I propped the back door open.  What a stupid idea.  Next thing I know, Malcolm brought in a half-dead bird and was trying to eat it on our white area rug!!!  I was beyond freaking out because 1) the bird was still trying to fly around, 2) I can't stand the site of blood and 3) I didn't want my rug ruined!  I went outside at this point and frankly have no idea what happened to the bird or where he finished breakfast...I'm sure I'll find a pile and feathers somewhere and then I'll know!

On Fremont, northwest of our house

Eventually things calmed down in our house--Mitzy and I hung out on the front porch where there was a cool breeze and chatted with the electric crew working in our alley.  We finally had our power restored around 11:30 am this morning, 19 hours after it went out!  Justin eventually came home around 1 pm but they have to report back at 6:00...they gave the guys 5 hours to shower and catch a nap, which is GREATLY needed  since he worked 30 hours straight with only a 1-hr break. We'll see what his motivation is like when he wakes up--my guess is being the workaholic he is, he'll find a way to go back out there until they get called off for good!

My tamale from the Farmer's Market--VERY justifiable since I had no way of cooking lunch!