Tornado Sirens...

I am listening to the sound of a tornado siren, and I have to say, it would probably be the # 1 sound that I hate the most. The sound of it just makes me visualize a dark, green sky and the tornado falling out of it. When I was walking to my car the other day, someone revved up their engine, and the initial sound, sounded just like when the tornado siren starts to sound and it literally made my heart stop, and I think it was beating about 3 times faster then it was just 5 seconds before. It's amazing what the sights, sounds and smells around you can do. That's one sound I can't stand hearing, and I am pretty much guaranteed to hear it once a week. That's a bummer.

Can I have my money now?

I knew there was something I was going to share. Yesterday, my Mom and the kids and I went to Arby's. They each had kid's meals, and when we were done eating, Sofia stood up next to me, and said, "Mom, can I have my money now? I had no idea what she was talking about and where this came from. The lady next to us about choked on her food. I mean, a 3 year old, so seriously asking a question like that. Like it was time for me to pass it out. It took me a minute, and then I figured out that they had coins in their kid's meals! They were colored coins that you could stick together. At least we got a giggle out of it! I definitely don't go around passing out money to my kids!

The Ant Farm

So, Target had Ant Farms for $1 each. They were tiny little containers with colored gel in them. Apparently, the ants can eat that gel, and it is their source of food and water. They eventually start making tunnels.



Capturing the ants is another story. Those things are fast, and do not want to crawl on what you put in front of them. We managed to catch 4 for each container. They all look a little stunned with their new surroundings. The instructions said to make sure that you had ants of the same species in the container, because they may have an "Ant War." Everytime I would go after an ant, Darius would gasp, "No. No. No. They are from a different species and they will fight each other and bite, bite bite." This made me laugh because he was just so serious about it. It says it will take about 24 hours for them to start making the tunnels.

We'll see if we accomplish another successful experiment at the Auguste household!

Is reading this blog like watching paint dry?

I knew in my brain that I had decided to paint the basement. The walls were white and not very inviting. Darius had written his name in crayon in one spot. It was time that this was done. On Tuesday night, I did a little taping and began painting with a brush around the edges of the door to see the color. I liked it and wanted to proceed. So, on my to-do list for Thursday was to paint a large portion of the basement.

I started early yesterday, around 9:30am. (Yes, that's early.) I painted the first coat by hand, with a brush. Yes, this was rather foolish, but it was like, I just kept going and didn't have the roller ready, etc... I took a break and let the first coat in the large wall dry.

I sat upstairs for a little while, contemplating if I should start the other large wall. I decided that I would wait and totally complete the first wall, put everything back where it was, and then if I was still energetic, I would move to the next wall.

I completed the first wall and was ready to move on to the next. It looks great. Significantly more inviting and warmer than before. Now my arms are another story. I have been telling Ewan that I would like to do some weights for my arms. (I used to be able to wear a tank top and not feel self-conscious about my arms, but the last year has done a number on me.) I know I should hit the gym, but I don't have time when I am doing things like painting my basement.

I told him this was my new solution. Just take up painting! Well, I will have to rethink that, but I would like my nice arms back!

Saturday, April 25, 2009... Here's how it went down:

A lot has happened between my last post and now. Darius had his last soccer game, and they lost. They were undefeated and they lost! :( Oh well, they are only 6. Earlier in the day, Ewan had decided to till the entire front yard, making it a muddy mess. But, he insists that someday, beautiful grass will grow there. I hope for his sake, that this really happens. But, he is watering and loving the rain. We had all been up since about 7:50am because we awoke to find Ewan missing, and found him outside "tending to the garden."

Then, my tornado dream last week, led me to live my worst nightmare on this Saturday as well. Here's how it went down...

A usual Kansas strange weather day. Nothing really out of the ordinary. A lot of rain. It was Darius' last soccer game of the season, and we escaped rain during the game, but it began raining on our way to the carnival at West Indianola. We took our coats in just in case, thinking that some of the carnival may be outside if it stopped raining. Well, I ended up carrying 4 heavy jackets and my arm was tired.

We had been at the carnival for over an hour, and it was time to get rid of those jackets and get busy playing games. We had already eaten, and Darius had found his all-time favorite game...Marble Madness. We walked outside to get some air because it was quite humid in the building. I had decided that I would take the coats all the way out to the van, and it was quite a ways from the school. I got all the way to the car, and just as I was putting the jackets in the back of the van, the tornado sirens started blowing. I am surprised that I didn't pee my pants or pass out, since, this in fact, was my worst nightmare FULL BLOWN. (Except for if I actually see the tornado in real life, which, I see it in my dreams.)

As you see in my tornado dreams, I am not with Ewan or the kids. And right now, I was alone. Alone on the street, far away from anyone. I was looking at the sky, luckily I didn't see anything suspicious. But, I was still in a panic. I really had to calm myself down!

I shut the back of the van and remembered that I was getting Sofia's shoes since I had traded her sandals in the van, and I couldn't let her go barefoot, so I actually went to the front of the van where the shoes were, and frantically grabbed them before I went running for the school. Now, once I reached the school, I wasn't any more relaxed. A) I had no shelter B) I still didn't know where my husband and kids were. I was running through the school. (Everyone probably thought I was crazy, since you could barely even hear the sirens from inside with all the chaos.) Someone asked what's wrong, and I said I couldn't find my husband and kids. They were like, "Yeah, sometimes that happens." and probably wondered why I was so frantic, I mean, I was just at a school carnival. I wanted to scream at them and say: "The freaking tornado sirens are blowing, I am separated from my family, and there is no basement in this place!" But, I walked (maybe ran) away and kept searching.

Now, had I known where this "tornado" was in the first place, I would not have panicked so much. I later found out from the fire department people that were at the carnival, that the tornado was SE and heading toward Lawrence. So, I calmed down and we were able to proceed at the carnival withouth leaving. Darius was having so much fun at the Marble Madness game that I couldn't take him away. Plus, we had to redeem his tickets for all of those fabulous "Chuck-E-Cheese" type prizes! We couldn't go home empty handed!

In church on Sunday, the electricity went out and a storm was brewing. All I could think about, was what Sofia was doing in Sunday School, and all Ewan could think about was the fact that the rain was pounding down, most likely washing away all of the grass seed he put down.

This was one long, eventful, exciting weekend.

How to eat fried worms...

So, when I picked Sofia up today, she had a bowl of slimy, gross, big worms. Her and Nanny found them while playing outside. She brought them home, and into the house. She put them on a plate and keeps "losing" the plate. Luckily they haven't crawled anywhere.

Anyway, she said she was going to play with her cooking stuff. I jokingly said, "Why don't you fry them?" Darius loves the movie How to Eat Fried Worms. The next thing I know, she goes and gets her grill, and it makes sizzling noises. She put them on there and was "frying" them! I love kids. They are so entertaining.

She finally set the worms free, but has already asked if she can bring some more home after she goes to Nanny's again. She said that they are under a can in Nanny's backyard. Great. What's for dinner?

This sucks. Literally.

Tornadoes suck. No really, they do. And, in my latest tornado dream, I could personally see the people being sucked out of whatever facility I was in. I still can't quite figure out where I was this time. From previous blogs, you will see that I am usually in Henderson on Washburn's campus trying to make my way down the stairs, but I am surrounded by the glass walls, and never get to a basement.

This time, it was some type of parking garage, only there were no cars, and the columns that hold the levels up, were skinny enough that you could sort of wrap your arms around them, because, that is what I did in my dream.

So, the tornado hits, and of course I see it first. (I have never seen a tornado in real life, but in my dreams, I always see them before I take shelter.) I see and hear the tornado, and head into this place. My Grandma and Mom are usually there, and my husband is never there. That's probably because I already know he is somewhere NOT taking shelter, because he believes that since he is from an island, that hurricanes are much more severe.

Yes, the damage from a hurricane may be more widespread, but if a tornado directly hits where you are, you are in serious trouble.

There are different levels in this garage and of course I am on the middle level, and my Mom and Grandma are on the level above. Now, I can see people literally being sucked out of the sides of the building. The sides that are open. I am right in the middle, where I have managed to hang on to these columns. Of course my feet are flying and my entire body is waving in the air like a flag. This time, I have no idea where my kids are in the dream. I usually end up finding out that my husband and kids are safe.

After what seems like several minutes, the tornado is over and I am quite convinced that My Mom and Grandma are dead. I try to make my way to the level above me, and I see my Mom. She's alive! I go running for her and remember falling at her feet. I didn't even hug her. I was so exhausted from hanging on and the stress of the situation that I had no strength to wrap my arms around her.

Here's where it gets bad. I assume that since my Mom is fine, so is my Grandma. My Mom tells me that she didn't die from the tornado, she had layed on a stretcher from an ambulance, and as soon as she layed down to rest, she literally laid down to rest.

These dreams totally freak me out because they are SO real, and there are so many details. We'll see when the next tornado dream will surface. Hopefully not tonight, because it is very disturbing! But, I will try not to complain. At least it's a dream, and not for real!

Tissue please

Do I seriously get this emotional over everything? Wow. Okay, so over the past few years, I have learned that I cry every single time I see a baby born on a TLC show, I cried watching 90210 when Dixon saw his Mom for the first time. I cry when people get a new house on Property Virgins. Icried on many episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. To me, there is something wrong. I mean, who cries over some of that stuff? Well, apparently I do.

Thanks for reading about my emotional craziness!

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And the Award goes to...

So, I ruined the surprise. I really did earn the $100 award for the past two months. Woo-hoo. But, I didn't realize that I wasn't being told because it was going to be a surprise. Oh well, either way, it is $200 headed right to my bank. A pleasant surprise on a Tuesday afternoon!