{all is well}

Last Tuesday's storms brought lots of damage and devastation to Memphis. I think there were a total of 8 tornados, and around 55 deaths here in the Midsouth. There was one that touched down only 10 miles from our house. It ripped the roof off of a house and deposited it in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, it completely missed our house. Hubby's office didn't get so lucky. The worst tornado, in South Memphis, that destroyed one of our malls, also made its way through the International Paper headquarters, only a few miles from the mall. It kept Ed home for 2 days while they restored power. There was also significant damage to some of the buildings there. I haven't seen it in person yet, but Ed says you can see the path it took. It was a terrifying night, especially since tornados are my absolute worst fear (even though I've never seen one in person). I have nightmares about them constantly! I feel so blessed that we got so lucky. The power in the house flickered but never went out, and there was lots of wind and rain, but no damage. The sky above our house was a scary sight:



I hope that's the closest I ever come to a tornado!

Not only did we survive the storms, but somehow we managed to survive the flu! 3 of us were sick for a week, and Jessie ended up missing five whole days of school! Alex and Jessie just couldn't get over their fevers. We are all mostly well now, and I'm sure that it won't be long until we are back to normal! After sleeping for 2 whole days, Alex is running around again. It's very serious if it can keep that boy down!





I missed Ash Wednesday services because I was bed-ridden, but I am keeping true to the Lenten season. Fasting for Ash Wednesday. No meat on Fridays. The girls and I are all giving up some sort of treat. So tonight, since I didn't feel like cooking, we ordered Chinese, with shrimp instead of chicken. Yum! Not really much of a sacrifice, huh?



Well, that's it for now. Unfortunately, I have to now tend to the tornado that has hit the inside of my house while Mom was too sick to tidy up! Here's to weathering the storm! Cheers!