More travel, storms, family news

I rode over to Borger yesterday with a coworker from the Decatur office with the intent of getting a truck here and driving it back for use in the Decatur office. That part is going to work out well. Today I will travel most of the day visiting my staff in Guymon, OK and Dumas, TX. Tomorrow will be in Elk City, OK and then home. It is the second week I have been out of the office and away from the farm and Mama.

Last night I texted Chase but I did not think he texted me back until this morning when I saw his reply. It would not have been a good evening to get together. There was a storm blowing through the panhandle with very fierce winds. Amarillo looked like it was being swallowed up in a sand storm as I drove in late in the evening yesterday. The real storm came through after 10 p.m.

I left one of the windows in the hotel room open a little to watch the storm as I lay down to sleep. My room is on the fourth floor of the hotel facing west. I was wakened at 11 p.m. or so by the tornado alarms sounding and the violent rain beating against the window. I learned this morning that no tornados touched down in Amarillo although there were numerous funnel clouds spotted. I am still not sure how that is done after dark, but that was the official report. The real damage was done by softball sized hail.

The forecast for the farm is for the same storm to strike there today as it tracks slowly east. I do not know if the intensity will be the same but I do hope the rainfall will be as heavy as it was here. I did not hear how much rain fell but I am pretty sure it was over an inch. As I drove in this morning, there were multiple signs set up to warn of high water – which had run off since the signs were originally set out. It is not the most comfortable way to get rain but it seems like the most common in this area.

Brittany and Andrew are now in Mississippi at his new assignment. I think it will be a four year stay. They are very happy about the housing they have and the proximity to Cori and Nate makes it an easy trip to go over and hang out with them in Pace, FL. They were all at the beach yesterday and Mama was very jealous. I am not sure how the beach would be for her right now but I have a feeling she would make due – recent surgery or not.

She got her stitches out yesterday so she feels free of the constraints they imposed on her to keep them dry at all times. Showering was her biggest concern so now she can do as she pleases without the additional worry. She is attempting more range of motion but has to avoid any twisting or pivoting on the knee. We are not sure how long that motion will continue to hurt but the constant nagging pain of the joint is gone. Recovery is on the way.

I hope to concentrate on the apartment over the next several weeks and set a move in date for the first week of July. Considering I have been working on this for about a year the whole occupancy thing is kind of anticlimactic.  It will be nice to have a comfortable place of our own. Maybe Mykenzie, who was not at all impressed about the past two places Grammy has been living – the rental house in Amarillo and the mobile home on the farm – will feel better about this home for her Grammy. Grant and Blake could not care less about where they eat or sleep. They love the play opportunities the farm gives them.

Viva la difference!