Another Day in the Life

Yesterday was a pretty typical day in the life of the Moe family.

After getting the older two kids off to school, Ren and I headed to a city an hour away so he could have a myelogram. For those of you who don't know, a myelogram is essentially a spinal tap--a thin needle used to put dye into the spinal sac to get clearer pictures of what's going on in there. To avoid possible leaking of the spinal fluid (which would suck in all kinds of ways)  Ren was told he had to remain horizontal for 24 hours after the procedure.

Twenty-four hours with one man down didn't sound like much fun, but we were prepared. My parents came to stay with Stow and to run after school pick up. They also planned to take the older two kids to their house for the weekend. 

After the procedure, Ren climbed into the back of the minivan where he'd prepared his very own mini camp out, complete with sleeping bags (he tells me he wants to ride back there from now on). When I called to check in, my mom told me to hurry. Severe storms all around, but we seemed to have a clear path home.

We got to the house at 3:20 and Ren went straight upstairs to bed. My dad came in with Sky and Pink P five minutes later. After looking at the weather radar, Dad decided they could make it around the storms. I wasn't sure, but he tends to be conservative when it comes to storms, so we said our goodbyes, and I saw them off. Two minutes later, the sirens sounded. 

This was not ideal timing. First, I called my parents and told them to turn around and come back. Next, I yelled up at Ren to get into the basement. He's never really grasped the risk tornadoes represent for this part of the country--he's tuned into typhoons and earthquakes, but it's been difficult to put the fear of God into him about tornadoes. Several years ago, he spent a tornado warning taking a shower while baby Sky and I sat in the closet as a twister passed a quarter mile away.

I managed to get Ren and Stow into the basement where they made themselves comfortable in our unfinished laundry room by lounging (Ren completely flat per doctor's orders) on some cardboard. A couple of minutes later my parents arrived with the kids, and everyone (but me) went to the basement. (I went back up to grab our lantern and batteries--clearly we are not quite ready for tornado season this early in the year--and my iPad to track the storm). It was like a regular picnic with everyone hanging out on our cardboard "blanket" listening to hail pound the roof and wind buffet the windows.

The storms spared our town and the kids made it safely to Grandma and Grandpa's house, but I'm starting to think that insanity is our new normal.