I have done it...

I find it very arrogant or obnoxious and sometimes both when people claim that they understand the forces of nature.

Last night we had the tornado siren go off in our community at 3.55am. We were up scrambling to put our munchkin out of harms way. I even convinced G to sit with me in our under stair safe spot. He was cramped and after three minutes he wanted to take nature head on. The siren also turned off in a few minutes and we tried to sleep as much as we could to start the following day.

When I mentioned this to a couple of people, they both phoophooed my worries away and it made me angry. I wonder how they feel so confident to have figured out tornado just because they lived in the tornado alley. By their logic:

1. Can the residents of SFO claim that they understand all earthquakes?
2. Do people next to the volcanoes say that they have control over the mountains?
3. What about the people who lived by the beach that lost their lives in the Tsunami? A lot of them lived by the ocean their entire life and still did not understand what was happening when the water receded.
4. Or what about the residents of Mumbai who are used to their regular downpour but could not handle 37+ inches of rain when it came down on 26 July 2005?

If we are so cool to heed to the weather information then why check the weather before stepping out? Would you not know on an average with your experience of just "living" what the weather is expected to be on the 6th day of May? These arrogant people and their attitude about others fears annoys me.

I am not from tornado valley, I am more of a cyclone person, never seen one but been through many depressions and I still don't get it. Heck, even the meteorologists don't know what is going on when they declare a holiday for schools and see bright sunshine when they had predicted 4" of rainfall and crazy winds. So people with the "I am from Tornado Alley attitude and I will determine if it is a tornado or not" STFU.

Phew! Once again ranting here feels good!!!

Cheers

ARTornado!

Another Year Slowly Crept By

I had no idea how fast time is moving. I was so busy with work, family, work, friends, work that I completely lost track of life. My life, my family life. I feel like 2015 was me running around asking everyone to adjust with me and my craziness. The worst hit were ofcourse G and Babs and my parents and of course me!

I invited my parents to spend a couple of months with us and I left them alone at home most of the time because I was working crazy hours. I spent very little time in the two months they were here. I could feel their soothing presence around me at all times. I chatted with them before bed and briefly in the morning. They were there but never once made me feel like I was ignoring them. I really had a good time with them though only in small spurts that when they left I was left crying for them. I missed them when I walked into the house in the evening. I missed them when I drove out in the morning to work and see dad taking a walk, or mom going on her evening walk when I was riding back home from work. I missed mom on Thursdays when I would rush home to take her to the temple...I simply and plainly miss them!

In between all the work madness there was Babs birthday. She turned 8 and she handled an absentee mom with patience. She allowed me to be a part of her simple plan for her birthday party that she put together all by herself. She chose 3 girl friends to spend the day of her birthday and have a sleepover with. It was all set, easy plan. I, on the other hand had only slept for 2 hours that day, I was in a high crank mode. I ran around trying to get the whole birthday set up last minute. The friends came and we cut cake, went bowling, ate dinner, then the sleepover. I was exhausted with just 2 hours of sleep under my belt and the kids were reluctant to sleep till it was 2am. I finally sat outside like a guard dog until they crashed. I felt horrible doing that but I needed sleep at some point. Sorry kiddos!!!

The next day the kids put up the most amazing show for us, with tickets, autograph signing and photos, and all that. It was amazing to see them grow up. Babs enjoyed it every bit while she also had to do some growing up and learn to share her friends. It was all good. We finished up and I still had some energy left on Sunday. I was glad that she had a long birthday celebration and I still kept my sanity. My friend's daughter told her mom that I was just like her, "strict." My friend told her daughter, "and that is why I send you to her house, and only her house." Made me feel so nice in spite of being called strict. One day these little ones will learn that it is called, "Being a Mother."

And through all this my parents patiently stayed in the background, helped out when needed and stayed away when they knew I was getting overloaded. While the kids were busy playing I spent an hour lying down next to my mother when she mentioned that this was the first time I had laid down with her in her entire stay. I felt so sad to get up and go from there...

Slowly but steadily another year has crept by, another Halloween with my Goddess Athena, and a couple of months with my parents. I am getting older too and I feel it in my bones and as much as I complain, I like the work and working. It is crazy but I like it! Oh Well! Eating the cake and having it too...never happens!

Love
Motherly ART