Tornado Warning...Again

9:35 p.m. We're under a tornado warning...again. I was in the bathtub with Hannah when the tornado siren sounded. Yeah. I was ready.

Now we're all outside, listening to Carl's truck radio as rain lightly falls, thunder sounds, and dogs bark nearby. The Presbyterian church next door is a city shelter and I can see people in the light of the basement, waiting in fear.

"You need to be in your shelter right now. Do not wait. If you are in Labette county, please continue to stay in your shelters," the DJ is warning. "This is a very dangerous storm." We're in Labette county, but, well, yeah, yeah. I don't feel cavalier, just jaded. I went to the cellar once or twice in my youth for no reason. The cellar, with it's imagined snakes and spiders, frightened me more than the weather outside.

"You're blogging???" my girls continue to ask. Yeah, I'm blogging. I'm trying to capture this experience from the perspective of someone who has lived through hundreds of tornado watches and warnings.

"Buckle down. The Parsons police department has confirmed damage in Dennis, KS," the DJ just reported, a direct quote.

Heavy, heavy rains nearby and power is out. The safest place to be is in a basement, but we still sit outside, smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley.

Hailey's fourth grade teacher just came over from the Presbyterian church because she saw us sitting outside. She wanted to see if I was watching the storm on my laptop (I was). Her son is a DJ on the radio station we're listening to, which they could hear from outside the Presbyterian Church. Small towns. I love it. We talked about the summer, about Hailey's new sunburn, about the turtles Katie had in a box, ready for a rush to shelter.

UPDATE. Our town has just been named as being in the line of the storm, with 70 m.p.h. winds. We'll see. The air remains eerily calm here. Hannah is laying on the concrete on her Spiderman beach towel with a pillow. She's nearly asleep amidst the danger.

It's now 10:19 p.m. an the all-clear siren is sounding, along with every dog in the neighborhood, to tell us the we are safe from tornadoes once again. I think I'll go inside, finish my gin and tonic, and relax. Whew. What excitement! Welcome to tornado alley.

Blue Girl Solo

What is it with Hannah and the color blue?

Katie and Hailey made their first summer trip to the pool with friend, Jenna, today. Hannah was still sleeping when I drove to pick up the big girls. When I returned, I asked Carl, "Is Hannah still napping?"

"I haven't really been in to check on her, but, yeah, I think she's still asleep." Sure enough, the house was quiet. About ten minutes later Hannah emerged from her supposedly silent room.

Have you heard of Blue Man Group?







Hannah's not nearly that cool, but she makes me laugh. Again. And again.

and her legs...





This time it's blue paint. Katie pushed a stepstool up to Hannah's closet to retrieve her swim suit from it's winter location on the top shelf. Katie left the stepstool, which Hannah later climbed to reach the blue paint. I think we'll be finding blue flecks in the tub for days to come.

School Year Summary

If I hadn't been painfully present for their births, I might not believe that my three daughters came from the same womb. Their differences have been a life lesson to me: I have less impact, power and control than I thought.

At the end-of-the year awards assembly Hailey received nine (count 'em--NINE) awards, including the annual citizenship award for her classroom (I'm happiest with that one: intellect is largely inborn, but citizenship is earned), the math award for having the highest math grade in fourth grade, the music award, and on and on. I'm proud of her, happy for her, hopeful for her. She strives to succeed and, if her Wii behaviour is any indication, she dislikes losing.

Katie couldn't care less. Give her a critter and she's happy.

Yes, folks, that's a crawdad. One of nine she caught that day. Nine seems to be the number around here.

Then there's Hannah. Sweet Hannah Savannah. I received her quarterly progress report. Her annual goals began November 30, 2007, so we are ¾ of the way there. The school doesn't count the summer months. She has already met her annual goal for physical therapy, which reads "In 27 weeks, Hannah will ascend and descend a small flight of stairs unsupported, marking time up and down on two out of three trials for two consecutive PT data days."

Her physical therapist wrote, "[Goal is] met. Hannah ascends and descends stairs unsupported, MT [does that mean 'most of the time?']. She is gaining confidence with this skill. Running, jumping, galloping have also improved." WOO-HOO!!

However, Hannah has regressed when it comes to following two-step directions. In March she was 60% complete with this goal, but as of May 15 her teacher wrote, "Hannah has dropped to 42% on this objective from the last nine weeks. When we give a direction, she will just look at us, or when I give a group direction and the group gets up to complete the direction, Hannah is still sitting. It does not seem to phase her that the others are up doing what they were told."

The teacher used snack time as an example of the direction-following process. When snack time is finished, she tells the students to throw away their milk cartons and go to their chairs in the adjoining room. While sixteen other preschoolers make a commotion chattering, pushing their chairs in and throwing away trash, Hannah sits and watches, unfazed. Her teacher has even continued class in the other room to see what Hannah would do. Nothing. She remains seated until someone tells her specifically to get up, throw away her trash and return to her seat. Grimace.

I've been trying to find a tidy way to wrap up this post, but it isn't flowing. School is over. Summer is here. More later...

The Healing Summer

BROKEN [broh-kuhn]
out of order, broken down, not working, busted, kaput, conked out, wrecked, had it, shattered, cracked, smashed, damaged, ruined, destroyed, defeated, dejected, crushed, dispirited, without hope

HEAL [heel]
cure, restore to health, make well, nurse back to health, mend, repair, make good, settle, patch up, reconcile, set right, restore, rebuild

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Summer provides me a better opportunity than January 1 to start anew, to gently move my life along a fresh path. One previous year I felt led to have a "hidden summer" during which I spent much time in seclusion (as much as I could get with three children and a husband), renewing my spirit and focusing on my priorities.

Summer 2008 will be The Healing Summer.

In the past these themes have taken on lives of their own and this year promises the same. For example, hiding can effect many aspects of life and can be both good and bad. Healing can be physical, mental or spiritual. I've already discovered pieces of my life to heal, parts that I didn't realize were broken, wounds that were scabbed over but not yet scarred.

What elements of your life need healing?

What a Week!

Last week was so crazy that I didn't write. I didn't read. I just made it through the week.

Today my last house guests departed and I'm breathing a sigh of relief. (Note to self: next year spend Memorial Day weekend without guests.) Carl's mom visited Monday through Wendesday, so I didn't post any blog entries. I feel rude when I bury my face behind my laptop screen and tap tap tap the keyboard when people visit, especially out-of-town guests. Besides, I wouldn't want my mother-in-law to know think that I sit on my butt writing while her son works hard for the money.

As this week progresses I plan to post entries about:

• my natural-gas-leak scare
• Katie's and Hailey's awards assembly, as compared to...
• Hannah's quarterly progress report
• a two-night visit by Carl's extremely-neat-and-clean sister and two kids and consequently...
• my love-hate relationship with living nearly three hours away from family and...
• what is the yardstick for your life?

I feel a rant coming on, so I'll stop there. I'm reeling from sharing my house with in-laws for the last week and need to get my bearings. Tonight I'm going into veg mode.