Income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf...

The newest item in camperville I have to report is that we now have a "horse" to pull our "buggy" with. We are no longer reliant on others with trucks to pull or move or level our home when we need it. Now, scarily enough, we are reliant on us. And I have to admit that scares me a little. I'm also a little scared that we have another vehicle to take care of, though I did laugh when I called the insurance company to add on the truck and told them "approximately how many miles" the truck will be driven. I told them "less than 5,000" and that might have been stretching it. In reality, it will probably be driven less than 2,000 each year. Heck, in a week it's been driven.....home. That's pretty much it. But it makes a pretty driveway decoration!
We are also under precautionary severe weather alert for tonight and tomorrow. When I hear that all I can think is: what time will the children be crawling into bed with us because of the thunder? Cause I know at that point my good night's rest is over. So I wait with baited breath to see what kind of "bad weather" will arise. Good thing we have a generator. You know, just in case.
Our three year old has figured out how to get to sleep in our bed without us marching him back to his: he waits up until we have fallen asleep then sneaks up and falls asleep with us. Usually neither of us notice until well into the night- if at all- until morning that there are little fingers in our nose or little toes in our tummy. The little devil.
We live in a circular campground which the kids love to ride their three-wheelers (big wheels, not mechanical ones) around at high speeds. The four year old has loved riding his so much that the front wheel is actually flat- so he rides it and it goes "ba-bump ba-bump!" (I don't think I've ever spelled that sound out before...) We had no idea you could actually make a thick plastic wheel get a flat! The things your children teach you...

We used cat food to feed the catfish....

I love technical issues. They make my day much fuller than expected and always cause general mayhem in my head. Once I get something set up, such as the pc or printer, I expect it to be that way for life or until I choose to replace it. That does not always happen. My hard drive on the netbook crashed last week, taking pictures and documents into cyber graves with it. Wonderful. On the upside, it was still under warranty and shall be replaced soon. On the downside, I now have our desktop (behemoth) set up on the dining table. There's literally nowhere else for it to go. So alas, one more inconvenience.
Life has since begun spinning in the correct direction following the storms and the Texas/Florida trips. We are getting back to normal, back to prison showers and tiny spaces. The RV park filled up since we last were here. I believe there are one or two available spaces, but still everyone keeps to themselves. Some of the new guests are FEMA workers, which I find ironic seeing how they showed up to work two weeks after the disaster. Amusing.
It's cold outside. It's mid-May, why are we still wearing long sleeves and jackets? Did the hemisphere move? Are we in Canada? The Earth must be off her axis. I'm not amused.
So a funny story here unrelated to our camper, though I find it amusing and worth sharing. While we were at my grandparent's house in Texas I was discussing horses with my grandmother. As a kid I always wanted one, and recently told my husband I wanted one if we ever had enough land. I just like horses. So one night my grandfather comes into the house from down at his boxcars (yes, the ones that go on trains) and says, "we got that horse you were talking about." I thought I had heard wrong, but no I had not. A pony had wandered onto their property (30+ acres) and was wandering in the fenced in garden (fenced in, no actual gate). So during a thunderstorm my grandfather and I go out into the garden and manage to grasp the pony's bridle. We lured him up to the house (carrots worked nicely) and my grandmother made some calls to find his owner. He broke his chain during the night and wandered off, but the next day was back out in the garden! The kids got to pet him, and I was told his owner eventually showed up for him days later. But I love God's sense of humor to send a pony on a day we had been discussing them. My grandmother jokingly told me to take him home, though where would he go? In the back of my Edge to be stabled at the Space Center RV Park? That would be funny.
My refrigerator is quite bare, so I am guessing I am in charge of refilling it. That's fine, I enjoy grocery shopping. And that, my friends, is the statement that will get me into the funny farm!

If you look like your passport photo, you probably need the trip...

It's been a while since I last recounted the "goings ons" of life, and since then the world here in the Tennessee Valley was dealt a very severe blow. I never thought when I began this blog that the weather would become such a key character, yet she very much is. So parts of this section will be sad and some will be humorous. But as my husband said, I can't leave it out.
Even before April 27th showed up on our calendar, the (sometimes correct) weather people were predicting bad weather. I do believe one recount stated, "a week before that week they were predicting a severe weather week." Or something like that. "Severe storms" and "tornado threat" came up once or twice prior to the day. So on Tuesday night as we tucked away to bed I took the internet phone with me and placed it near my head so should there be tornado warnings I could wake up to the alert. At 5:30 that next morning it was indeed raining (thundering, lightening, the works) yet no word from the weather alerts had come through. Kids, dog, and cats were all in bed with us...the dog shaking the whole bed. Such a coward. I got up and turned on the television to see we were indeed under a tornado warning, and then the phone and sirens went off at once. The path looked ominous for our area so I woke the husband and kids and we all got dressed. By the time we had prepared the path of said tornado had shifted so TJ laid back on the couch and went to sleep. I proceeded with my day, already decided that the four year old would stay with me all day. Schools were delayed to start, and I just knew we'd be called in to pick them up if the storms continued. I kept my eye on the weather to try to stay as informed as possible, then we left for the gym as usual. While at the gym the weather alerts continued, and the storm team showed a very dangerous cell moving due east toward us. My boss came to find me, inquiring as to how much longer I planned to work out, and then she remembered what we lived in! So it was decided the kids and I would remain at the gym for safe measure, though the gym is just a large metal shed...not much different from here now that I think of if. Sure enough, as we looked outside we saw clouds spiraling and the warm temperatures were very foreboding. Karrah (being a mother hen) protectively shepherded us into the trainer's room for safety. Well, she tried. A tornado was on the path for us (or as it turned out right down the road) so we bundled into the center of the gym to wait for it to pass. A few of us could not resist going out front to watch the storm form, watching the clouds rope around at dizzying speeds. Finally, after wind, hail, and rain the storm moved on. As it passed through it took down a few trees outside the gym. The coloring in those storms was beautiful, and I feel bad saying so but it is true. During the following lull the kids and I head for home between the cells and I get them settled into my bed for a nap. TJ comes home for the day, and we watch as several more tornadoes are announced between Mississippi/Tennessee/Alabama, just one cell after another with just minutes in between each storm. My friend Kenny sends a text from Jasper, AL telling me of a massive F5 twister that is tearing a path from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, and of another that decimated Cullman and Arab (both towns were hit with another twister just hours after the first one). If I were a better writer I would have the perfect words for description, but the sky was heavy with dark colors mixed with lightening, thunder, wind and hail and were followed by bouts of sun peeking through. The hubby and I decide that being in a camper is maybe not the safest at this point, so we head to Harvest to a friend's house. We took cowardly dog with us and wished the cats good luck. During the ride over the world turned an eerie green, very fluorescent in color and we watched boards, signs, and other debris spinning in the air in an updraft. I was captivated by the scene, and when we arrived at the Moore's house we heard that a tornado had ripped through Harvest between the Moore's and our gym (where we had just driven through). So that explains the green tint. More and more tornado reports came through the internet phone and on the radio, so we buckled in to ride out the remainder of the storm. We grilled a feast on their grill in the garage (door open during storm breaks), and let the kids play. We lost power about 5 o'clock, and none of our phones worked correctly much after that. We did learn that the tornado sirens had malfunctioned during all the alerts so we were on our own without information. A few phone calls were intermittently received where we were warned of other twisters that were on the ground nearby around us. I am not exaggerating one iota when I say the whole day resembled the movie Twister (life imitating art). We stood outside watching the clouds during rain breaks, but staying indoors as hail pelted outside in various cells. As darkness (and after what we learn to be the last cell) falls, we pile in our car and head home. Harvest is in ruins. No power, destroyed homes, buildings, and gas stations. Downed power lines and an unaccounted loss of life. We pass by a home engulfed in flames, with spotlights shining on it as firefighters douse it with water trying to put out the flames. The entire city of Huntsville is catapulted into total blackness. No traffic lights, no business lights. Nothing. The only sounds to be heard are emergency sirens through the night.
I'm so glad we decided to live in a camper in an area riddled with tornadoes.
The report said something like 244 tornadoes were reported in 24 hours. Over 350 people lost their lives that day. The destruction was total and it was devastating. But the next day the sky was blue. It was as if nothing had happened...unless you looked outside the campground. Ironic isn't it? Who would have thought we would be safer in our little camper than at the house we sought safety in. Our neighbors here in the park said they stood outside and watched the various cells and twisters pass by on either side of town, safe here. No wind or hail damage. It was as if our little corner of the world was protected under a bubble.
We were without power for a total of seven days. I did buy a generator while in Texas (whew! That's a $400 sticker shock we were not prepared for!), so from Sunday evening until yesterday we ran our refrigerator, limited lights, and a fan. I'm so grateful that our refrigerator was basically empty when this happened. Replacing that madness gets pricey! And can I just vent how I'm so glad gas is almost $4 a freaking gallon! And guess what generators run on? Nope, not wishes and hopes...freaking gas! Ugh. At $4 a gallon you really do decide what's important energy wise!!!
I know I joke around about the sirens, the wolf criers, and how we never know what to believe. I do know that even if they only work ten percent of the time, at least that is something. But seriously, malfunctioning on the biggest event of their existence?!" It's like when professional football players fumble the ball or miss a field goal kick. Seriously?! It's their ONLY JOB!!! It frustrates me. Guess it's a good thing I don't coach sports... Or predict weather... Or build weather sirens...
I took my kids to Texas for a week and came back on Sunday. My husband said the house would be clean, though to be honest it was a bit of a wreck. I thought perhaps a twister had come through the inside of our camper. In his defense I guess it is hard to vacuum with no electricity, though that's the only reason I'm letting it slide! The boys really didn't understand why the adults were all freaked out last Wednesday, and they were running around the gym saying, "it's the tormadoes!" Leave it to children to make us smile.
TJ asked, "I wonder if that weather guy was here that day." I said, "Who? Jim Cantore?" You know, that's a really good question...
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To all my friends and fellow rats from the gym I am so thankful for your safety and I pray for your sanity and good humor as well as mine...
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(Side note: For anyone who doesn't know, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel shows up in the worst weather locations. He has for years! If a hurricane is even remotely predicted, wherever he goes is where will get the hardest! People hold up signs saying "Go away Jim!" and "Not here Jim!" Snowfalls will be the largest wherever he reports from...It's amusing...)