It's been a bad week, but I'm thankful

To be alive and to still have a home. Tuesday night, some 80 tornadoes struck through 6 states, and our little community was hit hard. We huddled in our basement as my husband saw the funnel cloud coming down not a 1/2 mile from our house, hitting the community just beyond the field and bypass behind our house.

We know several people who have lost their homes or had damage. A family of 3 died in a local trailer park. The only thing we've lost here was the top to our sandbox. And our power. But if you're a local and have seen any of the damage as you've driven by, you can see why. Power poles just uprooted and broken, lines down everywhere. Hundreds of linemen are out working around the clock to get power restored. Power has been restored to many areas as of this morning, but just not to us yet.

My dear husband wrangled up a generator for us to run our heat, refrigerators, TV, and my computer. We have to fill it with gas every few hours, but I'm thankful to have it to keep our food from spoiling and to stay warm. I had bought up and cooked up a bunch of stuff already to have for after the baby is born.

The only thing bothering me now is a case of diarrhea that I've had for 2 days now. It's weakened me even more than usual. We took our in-laws up on their offer to keep the girls for a couple of days. School is cancelled here for the rest of the week, so Megan won't miss any and I can use the break. I'm spending the day relaxing on my bed, watching TV, surfing on my computer, trying to keep drinking and eating so as not to become dehydrated.

It's certainly inconvenient to be without power, but things could have been so much worse. I'm so thankful that our home is still here and our family is ok.