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of our stuff was the furthest thing from my mind, as I was more fixated on basic needs. We obviously would not be staying in our house that night, nor for a long time to come. Hell, I didn't even know if the house was safe to BE in, much less live in!

      We needed to get the cats situated somewhere, we needed a game plan. We needed to figure out where we would be retiring that evening, when all was said and done.

      As reasonable as both sides sound on paper, we didn't handle it reasonably. We stood in our livingroom, making vaguely coherent arguments while screaming, crying. I was in hysterics. He was mad that I wanted to leave. I had "my" two cats in a very small carrier, and was threatening to get in the car and drive all the way to Canada, not looking back. He was trying to grab the cat carrier from me, blocking the door... it was the ugliest fight we've ever had. I couldn't believe that he was being so stubborn and unreasonable. It all felt like the end of the world.

      Somehow, between threats and screaming, we finally managed to come to a compromise - we'd take the cats to his father's house, briefly regroup, and then return to start cleaning up.

      The first logistical decision to be made was HOW to get the cats out. We had one small cat carrier that would hold two cats relatively comfortably, or we could *stuff* all four in. After some debate, we decided to take two, let them loose in the car, and return to the house for the other two. After calling and leaving a message for our insurance company, we were good to go.

      As we left the house, we did arm the alarm - having it run on battery power. We had no idea how long the battery would last, but felt better knowing that it was still working.

      We carried the cats for the three blocks back to the car, much more keenly aware of our surroundings this time around. There were a LOT of downed power lines and other hazards everywhere, and even just carrying the two cats in that carrier was proving difficult. One of us would climb over a downed tree, the other would pass the carrier over, and then follow in climbing over.

      By the time we go back to the car, we decided against going back for the other two right away. We would head to my father in law's house, get the first two cats situated, and then return.

      As my husband drove, I was finally able to plug in my now-dead phone, and catch up on twitter. I was worried about having freaked people out with my last tweet, unable to update on the situation at all.

      My feed was flooded with inquiries, offers of help, and well wishing. My user name, Celebr8nGenr8n had become a trending topic in the time that had passed since my earlier tweet.

      As my husband drove, I read off the replies we'd received, trying to calm down so I could get to a place where I could think straight. There were too many comments to reply to, too many questions to answer, I was so overwhelmed. I made a bit of a joke, but it didn't do much to help my mood - I just went right back to the mental images of what we were driving away from.

      We had JUST finished the bedroom. Oh God. I can't even.. everything is destroyed. It looks like something out of a movie... surreal.- Twitter, Sun May 22 22:10:03 UTC 2011

      By the time we were halfway to my father in law's house, I managed to snap out of it a bit, enough to be moderately functional. The main concern for me was figuring out where we'd be staying that night. With four cats, finding a hotel that would take us would be tricky. As we drove, I made some calls... turning up empty-handed.

      We arrived at Ray's house, and got the cats situated in a bedroom. The news was on, and every channel was reporting the tornado damage. We watched the coverage and discussed options, while I tried to keep up on the news and information coming to me from my followers on Twitter.

      At father on laws house now, trying to regroup and figure out what the hell to do now. Completely losing my shit.- Twitter, Sun May 22 22:29:02 UTC 2011

      Upside: I'll bet this puts an end to my husband joking about my tornadoes. Not a phobia if one destroys your house. More like intuition. - Twitter, Sun May 22 22:32:27 UTC 2011

      So many beautiful old trees completely lost. Our gorgeous, super old black walnut that I was so excited for is lost. Trees everywhere. - Twitter, Sun May 22 22:35:37 UTC 2011

      Our house was just shown on channel 5. Oh my God. This is insane. That white car under a tree? That's mine. Surreal. - Twitter, Sun May 22 22:37:24 UTC 2011

      Less than half an hour after arriving at Ray's house, we were back on the road. We would get to the house, I would take the other two cats to my Ray's house, leaving my husband at the house to start cleanup. Once the remaining cats were situated, I would return, help with cleanup, and we would stay at Ray's place that night. With rum. We would need a LOT of rum to deal with this.

      That was the plan, anyway.

      There is not enough booze in the world, to deal with seeing a tree in your bedroom. Heading back now to start on clean up. - Twitter, Sun May 22 22:55:29 UTC 2011

      Trying to get to house now. Many roads impassable. This is insane. Looks like a war zone. - Twitter, Sun May 22 23:15:50 UTC 2011

      We would be there for two and a half hours that evening.

      Our Street

      Neighbors surveying the damage

      So many trees lost

      Surreal

      My car. Never did figure out whose yard the tree came from!

      Side of our yard and the porch

      Our Deck

      Brand new apple tree, in front of 100+ year old walnut tree

      I... was not thinking right. I look back at my actions that day, and I can't explain how I was thinking. When we arrived back at the house, I noticed these bottled Sobe drinks we'd picked up on sale, still in the paper grocery bags. Very wet grocery bags, with broken glass everywhere. For some reason - with my roof destroyed, my car under a tree, no electricity, no idea if our house was a goner...- I was stuck by the "waste" of this... oh, probably $30... in drinks. That were bottled. That would be fine if we moved them, these drinks that didn't require refrigeration or anything.

      So, to not "waste" them, I picked them out of the wet bags and broken glass, loaded them into a big blue IKEA bag and walked up and down my street, handing them to neighbors. I think, for some reason, I thought that they'd end up having to be thrown out if not consumed RIGHT THEN AND THERE. I still can't wrap my head around whatever logic I thought I was following at that point. We had a fridge/freezer full of hundreds of dollars of meats and fish that I could have been freaking out about at the time, but instead, I was hyper focused on these stupid drinks.

      Looking back, I wish I'd thought to offer up our freezer contents to friends. Later on, when it came time to empty our freezer... it was painful to throw everything out. Ugh. On the upside, as I was handing out those drinks, I'm sure it helped someone. Knowing how fried my own thought processes were that day, I bet that hydration wasn't at the top of anyone's list of priorities.

      Shortly

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