Those who know me well know I am a self-professed weather geek. I obsessively refresh no less than 3 websites during any major event that comes through our area. During hurricane season I go on 2-3 hours of sleep a night, surfing websites, tracking NOAA buoys, watching Weather Channel and Jim Cantore. Honestly, if I ever saw him in my backyard, I'm not sure whether I would dance with glee or experience pucker factor. Anyone who tracks this stuff knows he always seems to just miss the big ones, though, so I'd probably do a Snoopy dance and ask for an autograph.

Mr. Chaos has been approached about a possible job transfer to Kansas. I couldn't be more thrilled...this is an amateur storm tracker's dream. He hasn't been sure. Says it's "tornado country". Actually, it's Alley, but we'll cut him some slack. He grew up where bad meteorologists go to die. How hard is it to predict weather in Arizona? Sunny and hot.

Tonight I was tracking a storm front building in Alabama. Each time I refreshed the page I got more excited. All the elements were coming together to form a really promising weather scenario....headed right for us.

Long story short, it did hit here, but we are all safe. No damage. I'd estimate 70-80 mph winds, some small hail, but minor. Kids were scared and difficult to get to bed after bedtime got pushed back an hour from being in the storm shelter. Cman was crying about getting his tush wet from sliding on a wet slide at recess today. Juuuust a wee bit overtired. They are all sleeping now and I am free to think.

I'm not sure I want to move to Kansas now. Why?

Kids wouldn't let me watch the damn storm! Anytime I tried to sneak out to ostensibly check the TV reports, they would scream and cry, certain their mommy would meet a horrific fate.

The torture of having great weather without being able to experience its fury is pretty much my hell on earth. Nothing like the torture they would have growing up without a mommy, though.

I hate growing up.

You Are Los Angeles

Young and fun, you always know where the best parties are.And while you tend to keep things carefree and casual...You certainly can glam it up when you need to. Famous people from Los Angeles: Tyra Banks, Jake Gyllenhall, Freddie Prinze Jr.

That is, assuming anyone is interested.........

Youngling has 2 teeth and sat upright for 20 seconds on his own today. GAME ON!

LMD is drawling even more.........way cute for a budding southern belle.

Cman is learning to read. He sounded out "poop" yesterday. Could a mom be more proud?

Mr. C is the best Mr. C has ever been.

And......

Kirdy found a new website/messageboard to hang at. She likey, likey. Yep. Life is good.

NCAA Tourney brackets are out.

I am a Wisconsin fan.

Mr. Chaos is an Arizona fan.

Check out the Minneapolis bracket here.

This house gonna be getting ugly.

Pardon this completely self-indulgent whine. You have been warned. Leave now, or suffer the consequences.

I hurt. Everywhere. It's damn hard to be funny, erudite or even the least bit coherent when I hurt like this.

Shame on me. I have fibromyalgia (I hate the term "suffer from"....talk about indulgent!) and certain things can trigger a flare. One of these triggers is Splenda, aka sucralose. I don't care if it's made from sugar.....that shit is evil. I had a few sips of something a WEEK ago and I still hurt intensely.

Right now if you told me streaking through my neighborhood would help, I'd try it. My neighbors would probably hate you, though.

I hope to return you all to regularly scheduled programming soon.

LMD has a newfound obsession and for once it's completely unrelated to princesses, butterflies or ballerinas.

See, there were these things called the Olympics. Yeah, they had pretty shitty coverage and ratings and since the USA wasn't kicking ass, you didn't hear much about it. But they happened. LMD spent some bonding time with her Frampa (that's Grampa to you) watching hockey.

Hockey. Huh. Who knew? My uber girly-girl with porcelain skin and waifish good looks who wears princess dresses to the grocery (fully accessorized, mind you) found a calling down deep in her soul. Wicked cross checks make her roar with glee. Slapshots have her dancing in the aisles.

I had visions of her giving up just a wee bit of her rabid obsession with pink and purple when I heard it......

"Frampa, it's a Flower Play!"

Last night Cman went the way of so many greats and not so greats before him. We embarked on a journey that is the epitome of Americana. We started T-ball.

To have any idea what a fabulous moment this was for Mr. Chaos and me, you need to read this.

As I watched our little man cross the platform in his blue ballcap, he was barely recognizable. He was so mature. I kept seeing this picture superimposed over one of a tiny baby in a crib warmer, with wires and tubes everywhere.

I imagine I'll see that image overlapped with many in his life. Graduation days, wedding days, etc. It's a familiar image that at the time gave me so much grief and heartache. I didn't know if days like last night would happen. Now that image has become a reminder of how blessed we are and how far he has come.

Now remind me of the pride I feel for the boy when I begin bitching about baseball being a total time drain, wouldja?

Short answer? Yes.

I have been busy with all things mundane and parental. Kids eating three balanced meals a day? Check. Laundry caught up? You betcha. Everyone where they need to be with hair brushed and even on time? Yepper.

So why bore you.

It appears Mr. Chaos will be getting transferred with his job in the next few months. I am busy researching the pros and cons of the Deep South with the rural Midwest. For example, can I live with LMD continually turning one syllable words into two or three syllable ones? Or would it be more advantageous to live in a small town in the middle of cornfields with *gasp* no Target?

*shudder* These are serious issues, folks, and ones that are sucking up much of my time.