I sit in darkness.

Ok, not really. However, it makes you want to read more doesn't it? Monday night a nasty storm came through the Chicago area. Here's my version of the story.

My family and I were all walking peacefully through Costco on Monday night. Picking up a few diapers and other necessities. We walked right by a generator for $1000. If we had anywhere near that amount available to us at the moment, we may have been tempted. As we continued around the store, I heard what I thought sounded like a tornado siren. However, no one else seemed to be noticing the sound. We continued shopping. 2 minutes later, I turned to Benson and said, that *IS* a tornado siren and its really creeping me out, we need to go. So, we checked out. As we were walking out, I asked the nice man who highlights my reciept if the sound really was a tornado siren. He said yes, I think its bad out west. It was still clear and light as we continued to walk out the door. Then I turned around.

I've seen blue skies, red skies, purple, orange and even ominous green skies. The sky behind us was none of the above. The only color I would describe it as is BLACK. And I could tell it was coming up on us FAST. So, I grabbed the girls hands and said, in my calmest "I'm actually scared senseless" voice said, "ok, lets run to the car". We jumped in, got the purchases thrown in the back, and buckled in just in time for the rain to start coming down . . . sideways. My poor little sweetie is just horribly scared of storms anyway. This was NOT helping. We sat in the car at the parking lot of Costco for about 20 minutes. My kids all took turns saying prayers. As images of the movie "Twister" shot through my mind, I said my own prayers too. After the 20 minutes was up, we decided we could see well enough to start the venture home. The lightning show was more than just a little spectacular. It was just stunning. As we drove home, I wondered if I would have a home to go to, or if our large old trees had survived.

If you watched the news, you know there were 3 tornado's that touched down with this storm, and none were near my home. (thank heaven) The lightning knocked out power to nearly 600,000 homes, including mine. We all slept by candlelight that night. Let me remind you, this storm was monday, and today is wednesday. We are currently still without power at my home. I am lucky enough to have my parents living close by, and they kept power... so we've set up camp over here now. Hopefully power will be restored soon and we can go home to clean things up.

In the mean time, I'm sure grateful that no one was hurt. I'm grateful our car was not swept away by a tornado from Costco's parking lot. (maybe that's implied in my first statement) I'm grateful my kids know to say prayers when they are scared. I'm grateful for the knowledge this has left me with about how much more prepared I need to be in case of an emergency. I'm grateful my house is standing, even if it is with a stinky fridge full of rotten food, and standing water in the crawlspace. And I'm especially grateful for my parents and their generosity because I might not feel *quite* as grateful if I was stuck in my powerless home for the last few days.