So last night, these storms blew through our area, ripping down trees and wires in their wake. Plenty of places around town were without power this morning, and roads were actually shut down in my neck of the woods due to fallen trees.

I'm in bed, semi-asleep, listening to both the baby monitor and the storm outside. It is 4:41 a.m. The wind is blowing so hard, the thunder rumbling so loud, that I'm awaiting the sound of a tornado at any moment. I can't sleep, as I'm fully prepared to leap up in a split second, bolt into Veronica's room, grab her, and then wisk her into our bedroom closet (the only safe place, we've determined, in the entire house - we have no basement and no rooms without outside walls.) I eventually fall back asleep picturing the scenario in my head, ending with me, Jason and Veronica huddled in the bottom of our closet with the shoes.

It wasn't until my drive to work this morning that I realized I'd forgotten Pita.

My poor cat. She's been with me now for eight and a half years, from crappy off-campus housing to drives back and forth to California to here. Pita was always my baby. Now Veronica's my baby, and Pita has become what I never thought she would be: just a pet. I feel so bad for her. We try to cuddle her, pick her up when we get the chance, and pet her often, but she still doesn't get nearly half the attention she used to. She frequently ignores the baby and now contents herself to lay on our feet instead of on our laps. So you can imagine how guilty I felt when I realized that, in my head last night, I saved my whole family - and she wasn't there.

On a lighter note, as I lay there in bed with my eyes half-open, Jason gets up to to check out the storm. He's not really awake either. He says good-night again, then as he gets into bed, he rips a big ole' fart. I mean, it had resonance. Then, still very groggy, he turns to me and mumbles, "Honey, did you say something?" He he he...I had to tell him this one when he woke up this morning. I laughed and laughed and gave him all sorts of crap for that one. That's classic. ("I can't believe we actually had a 'Good Will Hunting' moment," he later commented.)

And in case you feel bad for poor Jason getting laughed at, remember that he was in the shower this morning when I was changing Veronica's diaper and she squirted poop about six inches onto the changing table. She then proceeded to pee all over herself and then spit up, all within the next sixty seconds or so. Blech. It's the ultimate in reality TV - When Babies Explode. She was completely cleaned up and almost dressed by the time Daddy made it in there. Karma can be a bitch sometimes, can't it? :-P