The Day After...

Turns out yesterday was a major landmark day for me in more ways than one. First, my friend left for Philadelphia yesterday morning. I had to say goodbye the night before, which was not has difficult as I had originally anticipated. He went out of his way to make the goodbyes easier for his friends. That is not to say that I did not cry all the way home in the car. I did -- buckets. He hit the road yesterday morning but had asked me to supervise the movers loading up his stuff from the storage unit. Apparently, there was some question as to what was going and what was staying. I had a list that was vauge. I think I sent more stuff than he was acutally wanting, but the movers said they would bring back what he didn't want to keep. That was really hard, watching all his stuff leave...much harder than saying goodbye.

So I go to work and try to make it thru the day, which turned out to be very interesting. I go to court (since I work in the criminal justice system) and walk into the courtroom to see if anyone on my side needed any help. I am sitting on the front row, working my crossword and minding my own bidness and the judge asks all attorneys to approach the bench and then excuses the jury from the courtroom. I was told that my uncle was on the jury and passed a note to the judge saying he knew me. I NEVER saw him in the box, becuase I looked, as I always do, to see if there were any cute jurors (there weren't). So they bring him back in and the judge questions him as to his realtionship with me and if he can be fair and all that. Blah, blah, blah, yank, yank, yank. He said he could. Then the prosecution and the defense argue... about me. Then motions are filed...about me. All I wanted to do was to finish my crossword and go to lunch. But I decided since I caused all this drama simply by walking into the room, I better not leave yet. My uncle was eventually excused from jury service and the public defender was so apologetic about wanting him kicked off. I assured her it was no big deal. I completely understand why she had to do it. Finally I got to eat lunch. All this to say there was not a lot of time to miss my friend at work.



THEN -- the tornados came. Got off work in horrendous conditions and had to stop at Home Depot to get a flashlight because I don't have a good one at home. Sirens are going off meaning there is a tornado on the ground somewhere in the county. I go in the store and they are about to lock the front doors and they WANT TO LOCK ME AND OTHER CUSTOMERS THE TRAINING ROOM!!!!! Awwww hailllll naaawwww... I absofuckingloutely REFUSE to be found dead in a pile of bodies in a back room at Home Depot. I said I would take my chances in the storm. I hauled ass, got my flashlight and got the F outta there. I raced home, changed clothes and grabbed candles, flashlights, and most importantly 2 bottles of wine and proceed to drive to my friend's house. (I absloutely HATE to be alone in a storm like this -- makes me crazy). I have a history of waiting till a tornado is close by and then get in my car to go somewhere. Yesterday was no exception. Sirens still screaming. About halfway to her house I started to get really scared. It stopped raining and the sky looked really bad. The clouds were very low and spooky and it had gone green in a matter of minutes. I have never seen conditions like this. Even the lightning was different. It was almost like it was raining lightning. I kept thinking "why in the HELL do I keep DOING this?" I finally made it to my friend's house and the news said there were two tornados in our area, one relatively close to her house. That one could be seen on tv by a camera on top of a nearby hotel. It damaged a nearby shopping mall pretty bad and killed three people just further south in Memphis. It was only this morning that the news showed the extent of the damage. They are anticipating that tornado to have been an F3. The news this morning also said that what happened was not only the hot air in the south meeting the really cold air from the north, but there were two jet streams, one from the west and one from the south collided over our area and started everything spinning. And it spun hell outta control. It was pretty scary. One tornado tore up some dorms at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee which is just a hop, skip and a jump from us up the interstate. No one was killed there, but Jackson in a tornado magnent. This is the third time in just a few years they have been hit by a tornado. Scary.



Again...not a lot of time to feel bad about my friend leaving amidst all that...I did talk to him and he had made it about halfway there and requested that if we got "blown away" to be sure and call him and let him know... I think I said something ugly in response. Hopefully, today will be less dramatic...I am making plans for my birthday, which is next week. The big 39. That will be kind of bittersweet. I am going out to dinner with a large group of friends and for drinks after with even more. But one wont be there. Anyway, long road ahead of me and I have just started it. Wonder what today will bring...