Yesterday was my grandmother’s birthday. She’s been dead for several years, but I still think about her on the day of her birth. She was a kind, generous Christian woman who spent most of her life working hard and taking care of other people, including me. I remember many, many days spent at her house.
Yesterday should have been one of those ordinary days of going through the motions of work and home and dinner and a little television before bed. I might have paused a few times during the day to reflect on grandmother’s life and my own. I might have talked about her with a few close friends and family members. But that would have been too, too easy…
Instead, I started the day by missing the weather report. I missed the weather report because our converter box, purchased in February, quit working! And it was so cloudy that the satellite wasn’t working. So, I knew it might rain, but I didn’t hear anything about storms and severity. In fact, as I was leaving Gary asked me if he should close the bedroom window. I stood there on the walkway for a moment and looked at the dark clouds. “Yes, just to be safe. If you leave it open it’ll rain for sure.”
The children were a little rowdy yesterday morning, but we did most of our morning work and many finally “got” the concept of subtraction that we began on Monday. We went to lunch and were half way through the line when word came to abandon all other actions and get the children into the “safe room” (our cafeteria). Within minutes all of the children, pre-k through high school were in one room- talking, laughing, teasing, tapping their feet, and wondering what was happening. Half of mine were also wondering why they didn’t get to eat! I had to explain and reassure, and explain and reassure several times during the hour and ten minutes we were there! And you just can’t say “we’re here in case a tornado comes through town”. You have to be creative- “We’re here because the wind is blowing the rain very hard and Mr. J wants us to be safe until it stops.” A couple of older children seated next to mine said the “T” word and one of my girls started to cry and I had to move her and talk to her and calm her down and then give a dire warning to the older children. Most Okie kids are very familiar with tornadoes, but with little ones you just can’t start that conversation! Once we got the “all clear” to return to our rooms the plans of the day were pretty much gone. By the time we finished lunch, bathroom breaks, center time, and art, the day was over. Turns out much of the state was flooded by then. One town got twelve inches of rain!
On my way home I encountered a major accident and had to maneuver around debris that I didn’t notice until the last second. My new tires were saved by one quick turn to the right instead of the left!
There was a note on the table when I got home. The dining room ceiling fan had flickered, smoked, and failed- thankfully while Gary was still at home. So that’s something else to purchase and repair this weekend.
I called Robert to ask him to stop at Best Buy on his way home and buy a new converter box. (Of course I couldn’t find the receipt to exchange it! Are you kidding? I only have receipts for the dozen things that are still working and will probably die of old age!) It was raining too hard, so he just came home and switched the one on his television to ours. After all that effort the only television for an hour was the President! Lol
Karen called to tell me she had spent half the day at a very sad funeral for a friend’s young son. We talked briefly about her day and mine, and grandmother’s birthday.
It continued to rain for most of the evening. There is still no satellite service this morning, so I will probably not be able to post this until after school.
Note later: more clouds and rain today. At least our day was less eventful.
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