Heavy Discussions

We had lay-offs at work yesterday.  (I know, not a good idea to blog about work - but since that statement probably pertains to about 90 percent of companies in this country, I don't think I'm giving away any state secrets.)  We'd known it was coming since before Thanksgiving, but yesterday is when the announcements were made as to how many, and who exactly, would be let go.

One of the people let go is someone that I've worked closely with over the years.  I've become very fond of her and was sick when I found out that she had lost her job.  Last night, I was sitting with the kids as they were watching a cartoon, and I had time to think.  A couple of silent tears rolled down my cheeks, and unfortunately, Sammy chose that time to turn around to tell me something.

He was very concerned, and wanted to know where I was hurt.  I had to explain to him that I was sad, and of course he wanted to know why.  I thought quickly, trying to put it in terms that a 3-year-old could understand.  I decided to tell him that a friend of mine wasn't going to be able to come to work with me anymore.  He pushed it still further, asking "Why?" so I told him that my company didn't have enough money to pay her.

He thought for a minute, then got a big grin on his face as he came up with the solution.  "They'll just have to buy some more money!" he said and, having solved the problem, turned back to his TV show.  Gotta love the innocence of childhood.

Later I got to thinking and realized that our government thinks a lot like a preschooler.  No more money?  Just print some more up!  Add it to our debt!  

However, politicians thinking this way is not nearly as cute as when it's a preschooler.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, I was 108 8 months pregnant with Natalie. I was hot, uncomfortable, and cranky, and in no mood to cook supper. We ordered Chinese take-out, and I took Sammy with me to pick up our food. When we stepped out the restaurant's front door, there was a group of people gathered on the sidewalk, talking in shocked, hushed voices about a bridge collapse. When I got back to my car, I flipped on the radio to the news station, and waited to hear which bridge had collapsed, thinking maybe California had had another earthquake or some such thing.

I was shocked to hear it was the 35W bridge. The bridge that I'd crossed twice every day since 2001, on my way to and from work. The bridge that, just the previous week, I had crossed with my then-19-month-old in the car, on the way to the zoo.

Later, I was to learn that a pregnant woman and her 22-month-old daughter died in the collapse. I couldn't help but imagine myself in her situation. How panicked I would be as I tried to save myself and my children, and how difficult it would be to get into the backseat and unbuckle Sammy's carseat in time.

I've always been afraid of bridges, especially those that go over water. I thought it was an irrational fear, but was proved wrong by the events of one year ago today.

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Last Saturday, I took the kids to Fort Snelling, and returned home on 35E. The next day I learned that, a mere hour after we passed under this particular bridge on our way home, a 6-foot-by-9-foot chunk of concrete fell off of it onto a passing car. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt in that incident.

I am getting a bit paranoid to leave my house these days.

Enough with the storms already!

Since storms usually seem to hit around 10:00 at night, when I'm just going to bed, I never used to pay much attention to storm warnings. I'd rather be sleeping than be hiding out under the stairs until it blew past. Having kids changed that. And a 2-year-old in a neighboring town was killed by a tornado a few weeks ago, which drove the point home even more.

As most of you know, the Midwest has been battered by storms this spring. We've been incredibly lucky so far. The tornado from a few weeks ago touched down in the towns on either side of us, but we had no damage at all. Not even branches down.


Then last night, there was a severe thunderstorm warning, and the television said that major winds were a part of this storm. That was enough for me to decide to stay up and see what was going to happen. It started thundering and lightning, with a lot of rain. Then, very suddenly, the winds started howling. We ran around the house, shutting all of the windows, then glued ourselves to the TV. It didn't look like anything too major was happening, since all of the networks were still showing regular television, with just a little scrolling bar at the bottom mentioning the weather alert.


Then....a muffled thud came from the back of the house. Ron and I looked at each other, and said at the same time, "What was that?" Ron went into the kitchen to look out the window, but since it was dark, he couldn't see much. I checked on the kids, and both were sleeping peacefully. Just as we both came back into the living room, there was another muffled thud, and then a loud, earth-shaking thump.


Ron again went to look out the kitchen window, and this time he could see that our humongous oak tree which stands stood right outside the kitchen window was gone. That was when we knew it was time to hightail it downstairs. Ron scooped up Sammy while I grabbed Natalie. Not surprisingly, both immediately woke up, so we got to do bedtime all over again when we finally felt safe enough to come back upstairs. It took an hour to get Sammy back to sleep, since he was so wound up over the excitement.


Miraculously, the tree fell away from the house, and when we went outside to look this morning, there was not as much as a scratch on the house. Absolutely amazing. It's going to be a lot of work to cut it all up and haul it away or burn it, but we were very lucky. (And Ron's comment: "I really wanted to cut that tree down anyway, but didn't know how to do it with it so close to the house." It also ended up smashing an inground grill, which has always been an annoyance, and which I have always wanted to remove. So, two birds with one stone. Yay, Nature.)

My morning commute

I could see the smoke from two miles away. As I neared my freeway exit, I realized that the source of the smoke was on the exit ramp. I assumed I would have to get off at the following exit, and loop around and come back, but then I noticed the car ahead of me take that exit successfully. Just as I got on the ramp, I saw that the smoke was coming from a blazing car in the left-hand lane. I needed to turn right, but I was very skittish about driving past that car. I could picture the gas tank exploding as I pulled alongside, but I had no choice at that point but to keep going.

A state trooper waved me past, stopping oncoming traffic so I could turn. I was very thankful for that, as I could feel the intense heat through my closed window, and was getting more nervous every second.

By the time I got on my bus, the fire trucks had arrived, and they were no longer letting people through. Unfortunately, that ramp is the only way for the bus to leave, so we had to sit there and wait while the fire department finished putting out the fire. That resulted in me being about half an hour late to work, but I can't complain too much. At least my car wasn't on fire. Now, the owner of that car - he or she was having a very bad start to the day.

Nothing like a bit of excitement to start the morning.