Trauma Trauma Trauma...Part I

HOLY COW yesterday was eventful! You know those days where so much happens so quickly that you can't help but just have a good cry once it's all said and done?? Yes. That was my yesterday.

For those of you who do not yet already know, we were EVACUATED. So much for it always happening to everyone else except me.  You'd think that having moved away from California and their crazy wildfires would have saved me. Well...it did. I can still give thanks to God that we weren't evacuated for something permanently damaging like a fire.

My Thursday started off a little stressful, but not unusually so.  The twins were being pretty whiny and were refusing to sleep.  Hence I was exhausted and had not even dressed for the day yet by 3:30 pm. Ratty PJs all the way my friends. At about that time, the twins woke up from their 30 minute nap (ugh) and had made a mess of their bedding and selves.  So I cleaned them up, freshly diapered them, and took them into the living room for playtime (or whine time as it had been all day).  At that point someone began furiously trying to break down our door!!!!! Just kidding. Actually, they were just knocking but for 2 minutes straight as hard and as loud as they could. I was pretty upset.  They were SO lucky my kids had already woken up. As I neared the front door I noticed a University Parking car outside my house.  Great...they were probably going to complain about someone parking somewhere around our house.  All I could think was "Really?! You're trying to break down my door over a parking job?!"

Imagine my surprise when I answered the door and it was a full blown police officer! The upset look on my face took him off guard. I felt a little bad.  The problem obviously wasn't parking.  He told me that my neighborhood was being evacuated because of a blown gas line and I needed to leave as soon as possible.  I was speechless for what seemed like the longest minute of my life.  I asked for details.  There were none. I asked how I was supposed to get out when my husband has the car at work.  He said he didn't know.  While this exchange was taking place I could see my neighbors jumping into their cars and taking off.  I felt stranded.  I asked him if ANY of my neighbors were still home and he said one was. Great. He told me to leave as soon as possible and walked away.

I WAS SCARED.  Noxious fumes were making my neighborhood unsafe for residents and I was STUCK with my two precious children.  I called JT and frantically told him he needed to come home right away because we were being evacuated.  I didn't give him any more details.  When he tried to call on the car ride over, I told him I'd talk to him when I saw him.  I didn't know how long we were being evacuated for and I needed to get the babies ready to MOVE.

Oh heavens. The craziness that ensued was traumatizing in itself.  Delilah was in one of her "Mommy needs to hold me around the clock or I'll scream like she's stabbing me" moods. I don't know which of the two of us was more flustered.  I dressed, got her into a carseat, prepped the diaper bag, threw meds in, and threw in our important documents. I even called my dad to make sure there was nothing important I was missing.  He suggested my laptop and camera. Check.

I got the kids, our gear, and waiting on the front lawn....and waited...and waited.  Traffic was at a standstill. JT was having one heck of a time getting to us. I took the kids back in the house in case the air was purer there than outside.

JT called and told me they were not allowing him past the police barricade.  He was very upset.  He asked the police officer how I was supposed to get myself and the twins out of an evacuation area without help...and the officer and no answer.  After a bit of arguing the police officer finally came around and sent a squad car in after us. By that time I was already to the end of the street. When JT said he couldn't come for me, I took matters into my own hands and trudged down the street with a carseat and baby on my hip.  My angel-of-a-neighbor-boy came outside and offered to carry the carseat with Delilah for me.  I think I'm buying that kid a ticket to Disneyland or SOMETHING.

The squad car loaded us up and I realized we were lucky we hadn't crossed the barricade by the time the squad car showed up.  There's no way they would have let my neighbor go back to his family. Glad we dodged that bullet!

The police officer was super nice and took us to meet JT.  It was a comfortable ride--but I was informed it's not so comfortable if your hands are handcuffed behind your back. That makes sense. Then there's the whole being child-locked in the car thing. Not the most fun.

The wonderful, beautiful, kind, sweet, saintly Magleby family took us in until the evacuation orders were lifted! It was SO nice to be able to take the kids home. They were absolutely exhausted by the end of it all----as was I.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:
*We're pathetically underprepared as a family for an emergency.
*We can't rely on others to save us--they've got their own families to worry about.
*The Magleby's are awesome.
* I know there are a few other lessons to list, I just don't have time.

Hope you all didn't die of old age after taking the time to read this. ;) I'll leave with this: Life can get quite interesting in a hurry. Adios.