Yesterday was a day I will not soon forget. When the morning forecaster said we would get "shed-tumbling wind" he wasn't kidding. Except in our case, it was a trampoline and a swingset. It was really windy all day long, and that's an understatement. At one point I saw the trampoline kind of scoot over and a ladder to the swingset flap up. Then it started to get really bad at about 5 o'clock, and that's when we looked out the windows just in time to see the trampoline pick up, slam into the swingset, and fly out of the backyard, landing upside-down on the fence. And we laughed. Sort of. After the shock wore off a little, I took a bunch of pictures, and then realized that my van was in firing range of the trampoline if it decided to pick up and move again. So I moved the van to the front of the house and was almost blown away trying to get back to the house.
So, later I was making dinner (it was a miracle that we never lost power, like so many others did) and the girls yelled that the trampoline wasn't there anymore. My heart flip-flopped as I looked out the window and sure enough, no trampoline.
So I looked out the east side of the house, and there it was, sitting upside-down in the far corner of our property. The shocking thing about it was that I thought the wind had calmed down a bit after our earlier tragedy. I sure am glad I moved the van!
This day reminded us of a day, also in May, 3 years ago when we lost our swimming pool to a funnel cloud. So, we lost our whole back yard, even the fence is damaged, along with the roof. Plus, we live right by the sand dunes, so everything inside is covered with a thin layer of sand, and our allergies have been acting up breathing the stuff. And to top it all off, both girls have pink-eye plus Mikayla has had an earache, and Lane is on a business trip in L.A. and had food poisoning! Plus, the realtor was finally supposed to come over today to take pictures and put up the sign to make it official (we are ATTEMPTING to sell our house), but needless to say, that has been put off for a little while.
Now let me just say, that as easy as it is to let all of this get us down, we actually have laughed about it more than anything. And it could have been worse. We could have lost our car, our house, or much, much worse... I am just grateful for what I still have, especially for my family, and that everyone is getting better. The girls are finally going to school tomorrow after Makenzie missed 2 days and Mikayla missed 5. It's really funny how moments like this in our lives make us grateful for the most simple and important things. Life is still good! We just may never buy a trampoline again...
