Whew... this morning a trip home from Abby's well child check turned into a 4 hour ordeal as the city was literally deluged with flash floods. It wasn't even raining when we left the house at 8:15 this morning. By the time we were on the road home at 10:15, we had to U-turn at numerous streets because of flood waters too deep. Once on the highway, it was smooth sailing for a bit, til we got the the interchange we needed to take to come home. The ramp was flooded, and there were numerous flooded spots in the upcoming 2 miles. So we parked on an overpass and watched cars attempt to wade through the waters beneath. Moments in the car ranged from peaceful nap time to dance party to screaming-thrashing-bored-hungry toddler. 1 preschooler, 1 toddler, 1 banana, 1 handful of goldfish, a bunch of water, and 2 extra diapers -- no potty-- doesn't make for the ideal 4-hour adventure when you're planning on being home in 15 minutes! We could have just gone to Dallas in that time if we'd simply turned around.
Eventually, the rain had lessened, the waters had dropped a good 6-8 inches, and the chaos in the minivan was becoming unbearable, so I said a prayer, crossed my fingers, and we headed towards home. We were grateful to discover 40 minutes later when we made it the 1/4 mile down the highway to the ramp that it was now (BARELY!) passable in the minivan. As we made our way home we saw even school buses full of children stranded (and I thought I had it rough being stuck with 2 kids!), and the bayou overflowing to the degree that there was no hints of the streets that run along it except for the occasional traffic light sticking out of the flood waters. The flood was impressive enough that Jonathan kept insisting he'd seen the ocean. As we were finally moving on the final stretch of highway home, I took a look up at the traffic information signs expecting a heads-up on any immediate road closures. They read: "Boat Show -- exit Kirby." Yes, a boat would have been helpful, but you couldn't get to Kirby without one. We'd heard our street was entirely flooded but the houses spared, but by the time we made it home at nearly 2:30, the waters had receded and we easily made it into our warm, dry home. Whew! I was glad to be home! [The photo above is my view from my parking spot on the highway just before we took off -- err, crawled off.]
After the flash flood drama, I spent the afternoon caring for victims of a local fire. Our resident firefighter had rescued a good half-dozen victims who'd all suffered burns. My little nurse was lousy at taking vital signs but great with hugs, and the firefighter and I worked tirelessly at the hospital, especially considering some of the victims kept coming back again and again with new complaints. Thanks to our compassionate and thorough care, all stuffed animals recovered quickly and completely, were given their medications and put to bed in a single cradle to rest while the rescue team had mac and cheese for dinner. Overall, it was easily the most successful ER shifts of my medical career to date.
My pantless colleague assists with panda-bear-bandaging
Jonathan later comforts Baby Turtle after Turtle has to take medicine that tastes yucky.
I really enjoy my son's laugh.
I think the most precious moment of the day was putting Abby to bed this evening. While Jonathan used to sink into the crook of my left arm to cuddle just before falling asleep, Abby has always turned around to face me, tummy to tummy, with her cheek on my chest. The past few weeks she's started humming and now singing along as I sing her lullabyes at night. It's adorable, a string of mostly baby talk, interspersed with real words, Mommy, and Dada here and there. Tonight as I sang Jesus Loves Me, she snuggled into my chest and sang along something or another that had to do with Elmo -- it was just so cute, and made me laugh.
Abby serving a play dough "snack" to Mommy this afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment