I Thought I Was On The Discovery Channel

from TriCities.com

     As many of you probably all know the Southeast woke up to devastation this morning.  They think that this was the largest outbreak of tornadoes in US History.  I live in an area that rarely sees tornadoes.  This is the second time in a few weeks that area has been hit .  The previous time I watched  a tornado rip through my neighborhood, and while it was small, it left an indelible mark on the people who live here.  I believe that last nights tornadoes will be an experience we talk about for years to come.  I have the luck of living near the only alert system I know of.  I was able to use this, fb, and my cell phone to alert others that I know each time a tornado warning was issued.  Although, one time last night I had a text from a friend before the sirens even went off saying our part of town was going to be hit.  I lost count of how many times we had to hide.  One time our downstairs neighbors came to get us to hide in their closets.  Strangely enough it was my old closet I was hiding in.  Eventually I managed to clean out a small hall closet to put the kids in.  It was scary telling my 11 year old that if something came I would close the closet and he had to try his best to hold on to his 3 year old brother.  I thank God we stayed safe.  Unfortunately this morning there are at least 16 people dead, and many missing and injured.  There re over 200 confirmed dead across the South.  Keep these people in your prayers in thoughts to give them strength in hard times.

If you are looking for anyone the Red Cross may be able to help.
PS.  Excuse the choppy writing I'm a little tired and jacked up on espresso.

My Exciting Saturday

I saw it come right at me with my own eyes. I never want to see a vertical spinning wall of water and wind coming at me ever again. It wasn't bad, but there are several trees down at neighbors homes.  More to come.  These were posted on facebook from people near me. 

Zombies Have Devoured My Brain

Day?? Post Apocalypse.  I don't even know how many days ago I turned of the cable.  My brain has since turned to liquid and oozed out my ear.  The kids seem to be doing great thanks to the nifty Netflix on wii.  I on the other hand can't seem to be satiated by anything other than the good ol' boob tube.  Every time I come in my room and sit on my bed I grab the remote and turn the TV on.  NOTHING.  ARRGGHHH.  I miss you Brian William, Harvey Levin, and Judge Judy!  I think the lack of TV is rotting my brain.  I can't think straight.  I also can't seem to relax at night.  I just turn of the light and lay there.....yup...still laying there.......wide awake....do you get points and prizes for shooting the sheep jumping over your head?   As glimpse at the kind of sick , twisted, and demented sideshow going on  in my brain.  I don't know how I will make it until the end if August.  One positive attribute of no cable TV * drum roll* I wake up and look more refreshed.  I don't think the few extra minutes are helping me meantime mentally, but WOW my eyes looked pretty good for a post 30 grad student.  I saw bags, but NO dark circles   this morning,  I'm tired and if this makes sense in the morning,,,i'll be hornswoggled,    Night.

C Day is Here

     So it's C day.  I came home from school today and the boys were happily watching "The Suite Life on Deck".  I thought YES! My prayers have been answered!  Well,I was wrong.  We get 2 channels without the box (which is being returned).  Strangely enough the two channels we get in are BET and CMT. These are channels no one in the house ever watches. So I just turned the TV off.  We do have a digital converter somewhere in the house with an antenna, but It didn't do much for us the last time we used it.  I figured I might as well go cold turkey.
     Have you ever turned off the TV and noticed just how noisy it is?  We live in a neighborhood.  Now, I am not talking about a subdivision, but and ACTUAL neighborhood.  Tree lined streets with old houses, street parking, and one way streets.  We have music on sunny Sunday afternoons,  a neighborhood organization complete with a website, and a new community garden.  On any day there are lawn mowers, dogs, children, drunk frat boys ( a benefit of living near the university), cars, helicopters, firetrucks, police sirens, ambulances, people walking,  talking, and the list goes on.  I never realized how much the TV drowns out all the outside noises.  Maybe this has become part of the reason why we love our TVs so much.  They block out the outside world.  They leave us to socialize from a distance on our cell phones, Facebooks, and Twitters.  When we are finished talking there is no uncomfortable how do I get out of this moments.  We just stop texting back or turn ourselves to Go Offline.  I know personally, my people skills have declined over the years.  Do I really want to get them out for some fresh air and a jog?   Not really.  Hey!  One step at a time.  You can't cut a girls 400 channels off and expect her to transform overnight.

Julie at Yes Our Kids Eat Veggies has inspired me to go through my pantry and make a Pantry Clean Out menu plan for this week.