Juju's Journey...

So I am in tornado hell. Last night, I was up until 4am in the basement with my family freaking out because tornadoes were spotted going through our little town of Festus. Staying up all this late is not that unusual for me, however, I had to be AT work at 9am. Our house sustained roof damage and various other damages. Luckily, none of us were hurt. Here is a trick for those that did not grow up in the country: LISTEN TO THE ANIMALS. Whenever my cat and dog start acting odd, and the tigers and lions that live behind me (I kid you not!) start roaring loudly, it is a sign that major weather changes/tornadoes are about to occur. Ranchers will tell you that when cattle start mooing at certain times, and horses neigh, that they take cover. I firmly believe this, mostly from experience. I also watch where the birds go, which helps to clue me in.

I have been in a major tornado that hit our town a few years back and it was prolly one of THE scariest things I've ever been through. People were screaming, windows blew out, our neighbor's homes were all destroyed. It was devastating. It's not just people's homes that are destroyed-- it's their lives. Rich or poor, it does not matter. Then, a few years ago, my grandparents' home sustained $75,000 of damage, and we rushed over to their house, thinking that they were dead. When we got there, we had trouble finding where their house even was-- all their 100+ year old trees were gone. My grandma was screaming outside because she couldn't find where my grandpa was. It was a complete nightmare, and they were out of electric for 3 weeks. Plus, they had to pay over $5,000 to clean up the trees from their yard.

It's like I can't get away from tornadoes. We moved things that were really important to us to the basement, but tornadoes are so unpredictable, you don't know what they're going to do.

Sometimes people tell me that they want to experience being in a tornado. To them, I want to say this: "Tornadoes are no fun. Four people died yesterday from just one tornado. If you think tornadoes are cool, you are a dumbass and I would like to kick your ass. NOTHING good comes from them, so grow up." It makes me really, really mad for people to nonchalantly say "Oh, wouldn't it be so cool to be in one?" God, people are fucking stupid.

Tonight, I am once again in the basement with my family. My brother is at Mizzou, and he called to tell us that his car is totalled from hail damage. This, after his car was just repaired from a deer running into it. His other frat brothers in the house are freaked out because their house is not the greatest thing to be in when there's bad weather (like WHERE is the "fun" in this?). Again, I have to be at work, with no sleep because more severe storms are predicted until 5am tonight. Damn. I love St. Louis, but not unstable weather....

OH MY GOD so much has happened lately! Every year when the holidays approach, I feel like I'm being pulled in 50 different directions, with people and work all vying for my time. This past week, my work had 30-40% off of everything in the store for employees, so I totally went for it. I spent like $500 on books, CDS, & gifts. Most of them are Christmas presents, but I know I got a really great deal. I was able to help a few friends out with their purchases, so that made me feel good, as well.

On Tuesday & Wednesday, one of my best friends, Max, flew in from LA. He's a professional ice skater/magician with Disney on Ice, and he's finishing up his engineering degree this year at Rolla(30 credits to go!). I LOVE LOVE LOVE spending time with him. My mom & I picked him up at Lambert Airport at 11pm on Tuesday and we went to eat at Denny's. It was just like old times-- insulting each other, laughing, making fun of him (and him of me), etc. He is so CRAZY. His language difference is hilarious and he interprets American customs so uniquely, since he's from Taiwan. Wednesday, we went to my Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist, and unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to have a sinus surgery. This is fine with me, since I'm in and out the same day, and my quality of life (AKA breathing/allergies) should drastically improve. Afterwards, we all went to Olive Garden (our fav restaurant) and then to the Galleria. Max is so bossy-- pushing and pulling me everywhere, telling me what I should buy, etc. I think that he really likes it when I fight back and am like "What is your problem!?!?" For dinner, we met his Aunt Pearl and Uncle John for dinner at Cracker Barrel, with my parents. I got to meet his 2-year-old baby cousin, Elizabeth (NOT liz/lizzie/beth). She was SUCH a doll, but was cranky. He bet me $5 that she would not let me pick her up. He lost! It was great. She wouldn't let Max touch her. I got her by telling her that she could feed her fishies if I could hold her high enough to give them food. Haha!

On Thursday, my grandparents stopped by to chat. I really miss spending more time with them, but work and duties call. I did the craziest thing. My boss, Mary, called me to see if I could work the overnight shift from 10pm-6am at B&N shelving books, with 8 other people. Of course I said yes. It was such a hoot! It was Chris, Brian (the guy I like), Sarah, Kristi, Jennifer, & 3 other people. We goofed off, shelved, goofed off more, shelved, decided to skip out an hour at 2am and go to Mickey-D's, and then left at 6am. SO SO SO much fun!

Earlier today, Friday, I picked up Elianna and Ginny, & we went to see Jinglefest at the St. Charles Family Arena. We got lost getting there and found a TGI Fridays to eat at, which was SO yummy. Our waiter was kind of insulting, calling us "weirdos" and stuff like that, but it was hilarious! Ginny asked him to come with us to the show, but he had to work. I really think he would have come, though, had he not had to work. We all got SO FREAKING LOST trying to get there! We got directions from 3 different people, and still managed to get lost. It was all part of the fun. Who knew St.Charles was so hard to get around? We had to go through neighborhoods, for crying out loud! FINALLY we arrived at Jinglefest. Jason Aldean, Keith Andersen, & Sugarland were AMAZINGLY AWESOME!!! And, it was so much fun having Ginny & Elianna there. Ahhhhh, I love freebies! The only bad thing was that my camera batteries didn't work, but oh well! We're planning more stuff for next week. I love being busy.

Ok, my hand is so cramping up...time to get to bed for work tomorrow! Cheers!