Will I ever get used to this?

I don't think so! Here's the story . . .

This past Monday, we were under a tornado 'watch' for the majority of the day, meaning the weather conditions were favorable for a tornado. I stayed calm the entire day. My heart didn't race once and I even made a trip to Target during the 'watch.' (This was a huge accomplishment. Last summer, I practically had a panic attach each time we had a storm and wouldn't leave the house, or my televison screen. Why? It's a long and embarassing story.) When the tornado 'watch' ended around 6:00 p.m., I thought to myself, "Good job! You stayed calm. Maybe you are getting used to this." Boy was I wrong!

Last night, as we were watching "Lost," a weather warning ran accross the bottom of the screen, informing us that we were under a tornado 'watch' until 4:00 a.m. I turned to Mark and said, "Well, that ruined my night." I could handle the tornado watch during the day, but the thought of being asleep in my bed, when a possible tornado could appear, scared me to death. My heart started racing and I got a huge pit in my stomach. We finished watching "Lost" and then I went upstairs to read in bed, hoping reading would calm my mind. Twenty minutes later, I could hear the winds picking up outside, so I turned on the television in our bedroom to see if there were any weather updates. Regular television programming was no longer on. Twenty miles west of us, a tornado 'warning' had been issued, meaning the people in that specific area needed to prepare for a tornado by seeking the proper shelter immediately. This was the real thing. There was no way I could go to bed now. I went back downstairs to find Mark asleep on the couch. How on earth could he be sleeping through this? (The thunder and lightening were pretty loud.) I woke him up and explained what was going on. He casually said, "Wake me up if our county gets a tornado 'warning'." He then rolled over and went back to sleep. I was so jealous. I wanted to sleep, but couldn't. I was glued to the television, watching the path of the tornado 'warning,' until 11:30 p.m. when the 'warning' was finally lifted and the weather seemed to be calming down. I figured I could now go to bed, but could I sleep? No! I did finally start to doze off around 1:00 a.m., but then heard more thunder and lightening, and was again wide awake. I quickly turned on the television, but no new warnings had been issued. We were just having a thunderstorm. Once the storm passed, I dozed off again, but was again awakened by thunder and lightening at 2:30 a.m. Still no warnings though. I eventually fell into a deeper sleep, waking next at 5:30 a.m. I looked at the clock and thought, "Oh good. The 'watch' is at least over." I slept until I had to get up with the kids. Now I am a zombie, looking out my window at the calm, blue sky, wondering, "Were there really tornado 'watches' and 'warnings' last night?"

Nope! I am never going to get used to this!