...when you learn the hard way you need a tornado shelter

Many nights lately I have been irritated that my tv shows have been interrupted for hours so a weatherman can explain in great detail about storms moving through other parts of Arkansas. Yesterday afternoon I glanced up at the tv and noticed it was OUR part of Arkansas! Our neigbors Bob and Wanda called to check on us and invite us over to their storm shelter. A few minutes later we went and we are glad we did! JR was upstairs and actually saw the funnel cloud. We didn't get the worst of the tornado(s) but we lost some trees. This morning I drove a couple miles down the road and it looked like a bomb went off. Since we expect to be without power for at least a few days we bought something new!

My fabulous husband wired it to the whole house and we can't even tell the difference between generator and city power.

This is the back of our neighbors house.

Our new "bendy" tree.

Our uprooted "leaner".

This is the war zone a few miles down the road.

We will be looking into installing a tornado shelter in the near future.

Stay tuned for round two expected tonight!

...your backyard is beautiful!

The past three weeks!

I have been keeping a journal of the past three weeks with the intent on starting this blog. I just had to figure out how to start a blog (with limited internet) first. So here it is! When you get to the bottom be sure and click on "older posts" because there is more. Enjoy!

The highlight today was being evacuated form Walmart. Bomb threat. Can't say that has ever happened to me before. I was escorted to my car by a policeman.

…you find the place where you need to get your drivers licence and it is called “Revenue Office”.

You walk in and there is no line. The lady that helped me was very nice and the guy that took my picture was just as nice and very helpful when I asked how to get new plates on all our vehicles. Then, while I was talking to him he whips out my new license! Texas can't do that!

Prograf

This one is for all my transplant mommy friends.

I called every pharmacy listed in the yellow pages and found one that said they could make Prograf. When I transferred the Rx they called and said they can't get the brand name. Ugh. There was one other pharmacy that said to call back and he would check and see if they could make it. I called (with only a few days left of Prograf) and it was a Friday and they were gone for the day and would be back Monday. I ended up ordering it from College Station and having them ship it. It wasn't cheap to ship it with an icepack. I did call back the other pharmacy on Monday and they can make it! Yay! Next month will be better!

…you are eating at a restaurant and realize that they didn’t put the usual end of the deer on the wall! The kids loved that one!

…your neighbor has the cutest baby ever! I didn’t take these pics at the time of day that I wanted to but I had to share before the baby gets too big.

…your husband comes home with tales of people he meets while he is on the right of way that make you crack up. I told him he needs to start a journal.

He has started a journal now so I will post them as he tells me about them. Here is the first one:

Last week he was in northern Arkansas and he came across a little old lady and they needed to move her car. They got to talking about the weather and about how cold it was. The sweet little old lady then told him "it's because the world is coming to an end...God can come down and wipe us out at anytime. So you better be right with the Lord or you will burn on a lake of eternal flames". JR replied "Yes ma'am. Pleasure meeting you. Gotta go."

…you go to the local post office(not just around the corner)to figure out how and where you can install a mailbox and it is closed for lunch from 12-1

…your daughter’s new favorite beach does not include the Gulf of Mexico.

...you can dine at a restaurant on a lake and see the bottom!

They even had a machine to buy fish food. Nick LOVED this restaurant. Everytime we cross the lake he asks if we can go to that restaurant.

…your daughter asks “why can’t I say “ain’t”? All the kids in my class say it!”

…the school still uses corporal punishment according to the handbook

...your neighbor invites you over to hang out with cute chicks and the kids love it!

...when the local swimming pool has no chlorine

...when the waitress at the restaurant sits down for a smoke before serving the same table their food

Do you think she knew I was taking her pic?? Classy!