Spiders and Severe Weather

Yesterday as I was getting the girls into the car to go to Target, I saw a Brown Recluse (Fiddleback) spider on the wall of our garage. I killed a Black Widow several months ago. I'm freaked out simply because we just got shelves up in our office/den, so I'm ready to move all of my craft stuff in. It's all been stored in moving boxes in our garage since we moved. Brown Recluses love hiding in boxes, and they especially love cardboard. Ugh. Tonight I sprayed all around our house and garage (inside our garage too). Here's the eerie part: I was making Cora's bed this morning and there was a spider under her quilt. It was a harmless garden spider, but for real. He's dead.

I went real grocery shopping for the first time in a couple of weeks. I'm a pretty regular once a week shopper. Usually on Wednesdays because it's double ad day at Sunflower. Anyway, today I also picked up the goods for our emergency kits. It is Spring time in Oklahoma, that means severe weather (and spiders). It contains things like water, non-perishable food items, a whistle in-case we get stuck somewhere. It also has diapers/wipes, sanitary items, copies of important documents (I need to make these!), a coloring book and some crayons. If you've ever been through a tornado warning, you know it can involve a lot of waiting. This year during the storm season, I'm going to keep our helmets attached to the bags all of our emergency stuff is in for extra protection from falling debris.

I've also made several plans for shelter based on how much warning we have and none of them involve riding it out in a bathtub. Dot has no interior rooms. But after last year's tornados, I'm getting underground every time. My worst fear happened to a mother in Piedmont, OK. She took shelter in the bathtub with her three children. The tornado destroyed their home and sent them all in various directions. They rushed her and two of her children to the hospital. One was missing. They found him a few days later in the pond across from what used to be their house, and his brother died from his injuries at the hospital. I just can't chance it.

If we have plenty of warning, I'm heading for the fortress that is the basement of the music school at OCU. If I don't have the car or it's in the middle of the night, I'm heading to a friend's basement in our neighborhood. And lastly, if it's a major emergency, I'm breaking out the basement window of our backyard neighbor's house. He's hardly ever home, but he did give me permission to take cover there if need be. I'm not going to lie, I hope I never have to do the latter. According to the forecast, Friday through Sunday will be very favorable for severe storms. I want to be prepared for them the best I can.

And onto some less frightening stuff: that gigantic rosebush in our backyard has started blooming. We have beautiful lipstick colored roses.

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