Day Fourteen...and Fifteen

The blessings on day fourteen were that we were able to get out of town for a little while.  I was able to see all my clothes that were pulled out of the house.  My mother-in-law washed and cleaned all my shoes that survived.  She said, “I may not have washed your feet, but I have come close.” I thought it was incredibly thoughtful of her to do that.  I got to sit by the pool and sun bathe.  We did not have to eat out.  We got to sleep in the same bed after two weeks of bunk beds.

We went to Tulsa to get the rest of our stuff.  After the storm, Josh’s parents took a load of our laundry with them to do for us as we had lots of clothes pulled out of the house.  Some of it was not salvageable, but some was.  It all needed to be laundered because it stunk badly not to mention the amount of debris that was mixed with clothing.  There is nothing to compare the smell of tornado to. 

While I was hanging out at the pool, I threw my iPhone into the pool.  I could not believe I did that and to be honest I am not sure how it happened.  We were all hanging out and I went in side to do something.  When I came out, I picked up my book and my phone fell.  I still am not sure where it came from.  My mother-in-law pulled it out and I immediately toweled it off and tried to take the Otter Box off.  As I was doing this, I think I let water in and it started spasming.  We threw it into some uncooked rice and let it sit over night.  When I looked at it later that night, it was lighting up and doing strange things.  I was really worried.

We went to hang out with one of Josh’s college friends while in Tulsa.  She is moving to India and has some stuff for us to have once we have a more permanent place.  We talked about the tornado and her children.  She always has the funniest stories to tell.  It was really great to laugh.  Then we went back to Josh’s parent’s house to sleep in a queen sized bed.  It was nice to say goodnight without me standing on my tip toes to get a goodnight kiss.

The blessings for day fifteen were that I have lots of winter clothes.  We again went to church.  I went swimming again.  Josh and I were able to talk about housing and many other topics that are very pertinent currently.  Josh and I have wonderful family.  We have finished our insurance list of personal property minus some family items that need pricing.  We were able to back to Joplin somewhat more refreshed and less stressed.  All of our world possessions are in the same place.

Josh and I went to church this morning at his parent’s church.  It was good to go back to a Church of Christ church for one Sunday.  After attending Abilene Christian University, I miss the acapella worship every now and then.  I thought that being in another city would allow us to have a slight break from focusing on the tornado, but even in Tulsa the service mentioned Joplin several times.  It was kind of weird.  I know Tulsa is not that far away, but the media attention is mostly off Joplin and it seems that the focus has shifted to other major news events even though Joplin is still greatly suffering.  The amount of volunteers in Joplin is still strong, but in just one week the volunteers have decreased by half according to church emails and other sources

After church, we went back to Josh’s parent’s home and we ate lunch.  Then Josh and I took a nap.  I know that when a person experiences trauma, their physical needs change.  This is very true.  Josh and I are still not eating properly or drinking enough water.  We are also not sleeping enough.  I cannot say how much we have slept, but I am sure that it is not enough.  We slept for three hours.  It is amazing how the simple things in life, like a nap, can make a person's day.  After this, I went swimming and then we packed up. 

I have lots of winter clothes now, but very little summer clothes.  That means that I will have to go shopping.  Darn.  I am still not sure what survived or did not because I still need to go through all our clothing.  We separated our winter clothing from our summer clothing.  We do not need winter clothing when it is 90 degrees. 

We went back to Joplin.  We got back to the house and talked to our hosts for a while.  Josh and I are planning on moving this week and wanted to make sure that they knew our plans.  We watched a movie and then went to bed, again in bunk beds.