stormy night

Sorry about mis-posting/mis-dating Friday's post. Sometimes I do stupid things - no - I mean- a lot of times I do stupid things. I put the right date in Friday's blog.

I woke up to the girls getting ready. I found Gina was on the phone going through what credit card could be used. We've paid most of them off and closed them out. She said that she didn't have anything and that she needed to do school shopping this weekend. Everyone knows it's no tax day at all the stores this weekend. I was the only one with a card still in play and I told her that her name isn't on it. That only meant one thing - I was sucked into the shopping vortex all day yesterday.

We've been doing plenty of work at the office - constantly in motion but the money has only been trickling in from week to week. What we've made has gone toward rent and bills at the office. We look forward to paycheck soon - that is if somebody out there pays us what they owe. It's a funny thing about this business - we help regain a quality of life to folks that they had lost and many choose simply not to pay. I guess they think insurance pays us enough - but third party insurance only pays what they want to pay. You wonder what goes through peoples heads. It's obvious to the naked eye that Gina's scrubs are worn and faded, our cars are old and used, and it would seem obvious to most that we are not rich folk - just people trying to make a business work and eek out a living like everyone else...but I digress.

So yesterday I was sucked in to shopping because I was the keeper of the card - the card that ruled them all. Killing time two hours here and two hours there while the Gina and Katie decided carefully picked over blouses, pants, and shoes. We spent two hours in Acadamy. Now anyone that knows me know that I am not a sportsman- fishing - hunting - eating raw fresh killed meat beneath the full moon kind of guy. Throw me into the woods with a pocket knife and a poncho and you'll find me dead the second day. I am not interested in Alabama or Auburn - the logos sewn on hats and socks everywhere. That's Acadamy for you. Most guys wouldn't mind it but I'm a strange kind of fellow. I just don't like killing hours at a time in a store. I like to get what I need and make for the door.

We grew tired around seven o'clock and left the mall. Gina decided to head for home as the thunder was heard in the distance. The skies grew very dark and we could see the mountains fall beneath the shadow of Morador. We'll just have to hit WalMart tomorrow. The closer we drove to Southside, the darker the sky turned. Lightning was vicious and closer as we turned onto 77 from Rainbow Drive. It was pouring down rain by the time we hit the bridge and hail the size of moth balls began to pelt our car as we approached Green Valley Road. The traffic stopped and we saw blue lights on the hill. We sat there for ten minutes and the trees were bending and hail continued to hit the roof and windshield. Gina said, "Well this isn't safe". I told her to take a left and we navigated alternate ways back home. We drove around huge limbs and our way was blocked several times by fallen trees. It was as if out of a movie.

We finally found a clear way home amid the turmoil. Kelsey was frightened in the back and Katie had moved over to comfort her. The hail had ceased by the time we pulled into our driveway. The electricity was out but we were home. We slept by candlelight. The power stayed off through the entire night and we didn't get it back until 11:00 a.m. I thought I'd post a little before we go out again - back into the shopping vortex. WalMart isn't as bad as the Gadsden Mall or Academy - I just hope it's not for another two or three hours.