Tornado cleanup and painful gas

Doesn't really have anything to do with each other, except that I was thankful to not have the latter this morning so I could do the first thing better. :)

Bryan and I took advantage of having our girls at his parents' house until tomorrow. We went to help some friends who had some extensive home damage. We mainly just boxed up things from the most damaged rooms and some clothing and other items they'll need if they move. They're kinda in limbo now waiting for a visit from a structural engineer to see what their insurance will do.

It was hard looking at the surrounding neighboorhood and our friends' home. Harder still to imagine that no one was injured there in the storm. One 83 year old woman in a nearby home hid in her bathroom and the rest of her house was blown away--only the bathroom she was in was left standing. Miraculous.

I can't believe that so much damage can occur in just a few minutes and some wind. Broken glass everywhere, neighbors' belongings and home debris scattered all over. You can't tell what's what in the piles outside. I can't imagine how everyone there must feel...their homes and memories scattered with the wind. All the years of work and love they put into their homes gone in just a few minutes. However, true to our community and church family, there were lots of volunteers out to help with cleanup and bringing food to everyone. It's good to feel such Christian love during such crisis times.

Being nine months along, I wasn't able to persist longer than a few hours, and no heavy lifting of course, but it felt good just to go be doing something to help somebody. My main contribution was bringing donuts--I think if you're shoveling debris out of your house, you're entitled to donuts.

The stomach bug is still hanging around. Bryan and I went out for a date last night while the kids were gone. We saw the movie "Cloverfield", which I don't recommend unless you like to feel nauseated from shaky camera views. Ugh. After that, some Olive Garden. I loved just going out alone and being able to fix my hair after 2 days without power.

Unfortunately, the gas pains hit and I couldn't eat much. I picked up some Gas-X on the way home and got some in me, but it took a few hours to work after I tried to go to bed. I couldn't stay out of the bathroom until at least 1 am. It was horrible! It is not natural for a human being to produce that much gas--I've defied physics or something. I was ready to call a doctor when it finally died down and I was ready to sleep.

Tonight, trying to keep food bland and hydrate myself with electolyte water. Hopefully this will be gone before I go into labor--that's hard enough without stomach problems to add to it.