'Tomato' Season

Thursday, when I picked up Alexis from day care they had just finished a tornado drill. "Mommy" she said "I'm scared of tomatoes. You have to hide from them in the closet." We all thought that was adorable and went about our business.

Friday, a tornado came through Norman and touched down just a couple of blocks from the home day care she attends. She is fine, but maybe she was right to be 'scared of those tomatoes.' Who knew we would ever have one in Norman?

The day was surreal. I took off to volunteer as a testing monitor that morning and then took Tristan out to lunch for his birthday. He has wanted a guinea pig for years and has kept his room clean for 6 months to prove to me he can make a safe home for it. Needless to say, we picked one up this afternoon. His name is "Charlie." We went straight from Petsmart to our house to get him settled in.

"Charlie" is a baby and after checking out his new digs, munching some hay, and drinking some water; he settled in for a nap and Tristan and I went downstairs. Tristan was playing Minecraft while I checked Facebook. Much to my horror, my wall had just exploded with "Tornado on the ground in Norman! Seek shelter!" At about the same time, Tristan and I could hear a helicopter over our house and a quick glance at the TV confirmed it was a storm chaser. I raced to the bathroom. Tristan raced to "save" Charlie.

We found ourselves in the small bathroom with as many pillows and blankets as we could find. A few minutes later we got the all clear. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we heard the storm chasers explain that the touchdown was "north of I-35 and Highway 9" when we live south of it. And then, we looked at each other in horror when we realized that meant it was touching down where all four of the girls were and that we had no idea where on I-35 Dave was since he was still driving home from work.

We tried to call him and couldn't get through. We tried to call Natalie and couldn't get through there either. The TV kept mentioning intersections that were only 1 or 2 blocks from Natalie's school and Alexis' day care or places that were close to where Elisa and Caroline attend an after-school program. After 30 minutes of not knowing (that seemed as if it was much, much longer), a text came through from the day care. The kids had paid attention at yesterday's "tomato" drill and they were fine. I couldn't get through to Dave, but he was able to reply to the group text from the day care and I read it. Shortly after that, the after-school program called and put Caroline on the phone to tell me she and Elisa were fine. Twenty minutes later, Dave texted to let me know he had Natalie and Alexis with him and would have to circumvent the damaged 24th St., but would be home with them when he could.

The waiting and not knowing was far worse than the 10 minutes or so Tristan and I spent barricaded in our downstairs bathroom, but ultimately we were all fine and reunited by dinner time.

But I think I agree with Alexis' assessment of the Thursday "tomato dwill." "I don't wike tomatoes and I don't wike da closet."

Neither do I.