Crash! Boom!

Did we have a humdinger of a night last night. It was one of those grab your important papers, round up the kids, put the dog on the leash, and pray that God is watching over you nights. I'm glad it's over.

About ten o'clock last night, hubby was on his cell phone with his brother. We heard some pretty loud thunder and hubby reached over and unplugged the phone line from the wall that goes to the computer. Out here in the country, we still have dial up. I was playing games on the computer, not online, minding my own business. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes this zzzzzzipping noise, and a POP!, and then a ssssssizzle. The computer went dead, half the lights in the house went out, and the kids were coming up the hall. I would have been alright if I hadn't smelled smoke. Hubby slammed his phone closed, I grabbed the Social Security cards, credit cards, and insurance papers, and we scrambled the kids together.

We searched the house, inside and out, but couldn't find where lightning had struck. The smell of smoke dissipated and there were no further signs of a fire. The kids wanted to sleep together so we let them. They got to sleep in the living room, which is always a treat. Short of putting the kids in our bed, we wanted them closer than the other end of the house.

Our neighbor has given us permission to use his dog pen for Scout. I have started taking the kids and the dog down before I make dinner. Everybody gets to run around and get rid of some energy and I have a little peace while I cook. On our way to the pen this evening, we noticed that a 15' tree that had been outside the pen was now laying on the ground. It was a foot or so away from the hole where it had been and branches were scattered all around, as if they had been blown off. We figure lightning struck the tree and the electricity traveled to our house.

The damage report is as follows: The lights in the kitchen, back hallway, and our bathroom were out. That was a circuit that flipped. The TV in our bedroom has reset itself and won't turn on because we don't have the right button on the remote. The button is not on the TV, either. No television in the bedroom for us anymore. Thank goodness it was given to hubby by a friend. Our phones don't work anymore. It will ring, but it will not answer. I get a new phone. I'm not bummed about that because I cannot stand our phones. The batteries will not stay charged to save my life and I wanted something new.

All in all, it could have been much, much worse. God was with us and kept us safe. I told the kids we should pray after we had all settled down and they said they already had. We were so proud of our kids. We did say a prayer together and then went to bed. I didn't sleep very well, but hubby said he slept like a rock. Good for him. The only real downside is that we got not one drop of rain. Oh, well.

Have a great night!