Friday, Taysom and I had a 'date' to meet at the Y to swim some laps. On my way there the sky began to darken, the wind started blowing, and the rain began to fall. On the radio there was an emergency weather broadcast talking about the storm moving in. As I was listening to the storm report, the tornado sirens started going off. I decided to head home instead and was relieved to hear that the sirens weren't going off due to a tornado spotting, but because of strong winds. I thought Taysom was still at the hospital where she works. I knew I needed to call her to let her know I wouldn't make our "date" due to the weather. Not surprisingly, it went to voice mail.
The closer I got to home the harder the rain pounded - coming in sheets or curtains moving quickly up the streets. Taysom called in tears. She had gotten off early from work and was home alone. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten my message and thought the sirens were due to tornado sightings. She couldn't hear me - I think cell service was having problems. Come to find out later that evening, Ilah was also in tears - in a storm shelter at Memorial Hall with her volleyball team. Tucker was in the basement of the old Memorial (now the 9/10 HS campus) with the high school football team. Mike and Henry were in the basement of North Middle School with the North/East Middle School football team. The guys all knew that the siren was for strong winds and weren't as worried as the girls.
When I made it home, I found Taysom, kneeling down, phone in hand, in the basement - black rivers of mascara cascading down her cheeks. Molly was locked up in her kennel, barking. I sat down on the floor next to her and felt her anxiety and fear. After about 1/2 hour, the storm had died out - only leaving a steady drizzle and a shaken up community.
The football game wasn't cancelled, however. We donned our rain ponchos, grabbed our umbrellas, and headed over to Junge Stadium. The power was partially out - no scoreboard or concessions stand.
It was a crazy game.
Here is a link to the Joplin Globe article:
It didn't end like I wanted it to, but at least Tucker (#94) made the front page of the Sports section.
Unfortunately I don't have awesome photos like this from Henry's first football game and Ilah's first volleyball game. I do have a couple of pics from my phone, but I haven't figured out how to get them to my computer yet...
Henry got to play a little bit on the A team. He was part of the kick off team. For B team he played fullback and outside linebacker. It was the first time he has ever played outside linebacker so there was some initial confusion, but he ended up sacking the QB! The final score for B team was 0-0.
Ilah's volleyball team ended up winning a close one. I think they will be a force to be reckoned with this year! Ilah had a couple of great blocks at the net and at least one spike. She is also much more consistent this year with her serve.
Taysom and I were awesome cheerleaders at all three games Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Throw in returning from Ames on Monday, the upstairs air conditioner going out on Tuesday, and a young women's activity on Wednesday and you have the highlights of our week.
Wonder what we have in store for us this week...
