The meteorologists in Arkansas were predicting a pretty significant ice-storm on the day after Dave and Shelley's anniversary party. It was only fitting, since 25 years ago when they married, we all drove back to our respective homes ON A SHEET OF ICE. And we had two babies at the time! Eeek!
So, as we were getting ready for bed after we got home from the party, Jim said, "Moose (that's what he calls me), I think if we leave by 8 in the morning, we'll be okay." I said, "Okay...I'm good with whatever time." And then, we sat around talking with our family and someone asked what time we were leaving in the morning, and Jim said, "I just told The Moose that if we are gone by 7, I think we'll be good."
I'm not kidding...he said that.
After we had showers and got in our jammies, I spent some time packing my bag and gathering my belongings into one place so that it would be all together in the morning. And then I made a quick run through the house, looking for any stragglers...chargers, hoodies, shoes. You know, basically what moms do. I told the boys to be prepared to leave quickly in the morning, or even in the middle of the night...if their dad started getting calls or alerts about the weather (Jim works for the utility company). As we crawled into bed, Jim said, "Moose, I think if we're gone by 6 a.m., we'll be okay."
I just mumbled, "mmmm...kay."
I woke up at 5:15 and just laid there quietly for a few minutes...and then I popped up and got ready. Joshua sleeps in our room at my sister's house, and he heard us stirring around and he got up and started getting dressed. I woke up Clark. Even tho we tried to be quiet, I think we ended up accidentally waking up Holly and Aaron's dog, Marley...who woke them up...and we all ended up leaving around 6 a.m.
And, I feel like I need to share this, since I made an issue out of Jim and his jug of milk. He got in the car to go home with that same jug of milk. He had put it in my sister's refrigerator when we got there, and brought it in the car when we left. We all think he was just trying to prove a point because we all had made a huge deal out of it when we left. So, in the first 50 minutes of our trip, Jim ate 1 cup of cereal, and drank 1 cup of his rotten milk...that even HE said was "borderline." He also drank 1 cup of Orange Juice and 1 cup of coffee. IN 50 MINUTES.
Not even kidding.
During our 6 hour drive, we experienced below freezing temps....and temps as high as 69 degrees. We drove through fog, rain, drizzle, thunder, lightning, crazy hard winds, and beautiful sunshine. We got to the meeting place, and Jim and Joshua headed down to my in-law's house to pick up our dog. Clark and I headed home.
When we got into town, I headed straight to the grocery before we even came home. I wanted to get a few essentials for the week...and in case we got iced in for a day or two. And then we ran by and picked up a family dinner from Chicken Express. I figured that Jim would be in such a hurry to get home before the icy weather started, he wouldn't take time to get lunch for him and Joshua.
When they walked in about 20 minutes after we finally got home, they were carrying cups from McDonald's. Arrrrgggghhh. They had already eaten. Well, that's okay. But then they went back out to the car, and brought in bag after bag of groceries...all the things that Clark and I had just gone IN THE RAIN to pick up at the store.
My mother-in-law does usually send home groceries with us, but, like I said...I knew Jim would be in such a huge hurry, that he wouldn't take time to get anything.
WRONG.
On the upside: we now have milk and juice and yogurt to last 3 weeks. And my refrigerator is full.
We weren't home an hour before Jim had to go to his office. We are having rain, sleet and freezing rain today/tonight. The meteorologists have predicted a pretty significant ice storm. So, as tired as Jim was, he headed in to work. Because he was afraid he wouldn't make it to Little Rock this morning, he went ahead and went last night...and stayed in a hotel.
Pray for those who are affected by power outages...and pray for those who are working hard to restore it. It's not just the men and women in the trucks and those working on the lines. There are a lot of people who work behind the scenes...whose own families may or may not have power...who may be sent to another city or state to help out. Then there are the emergency responders who have to be out in the weather...and the ones from the highway department who are salting the roads. Everyone is working together.
And there are the ones who hold down the fort at home while their loved ones are out working hard.
"...to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.'" Job 37:6
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