Tornado Alley...I. Loathe. You.

A week has already passed since returning from the 5 day cruise to Bermuda, but I still have my suntan and I'm still holding on to that feeling of relaxation (although this past weeks levels of stress have been through the roof). 

The story of the night before departing for the cruise is actually the most entertaining bit I think I have of the entire trip however.  Well, entertaining now....Antithesis of entertaining as it was happening. 

The abbreviated version went:
-crazy last day of work before week away
-rumors of bad weather
-upgrade to Tornado Warnings
-upgrade to 2 Tornadoes in Stl Metro Area; one will be north of our house and one will be south
- one Tornado destroys Stl Airport
- announcement Airport shut down indefinitely
- go to computer to see about changing my flight to leave from Chicago (next closest Southwest Airport)....and computer has been fried (I dont have any pictures of the TV radar captions or what it was like as it was near our house bc somewhere between the time I downloaded the pictures and when I went back to check flights is when it reached it's untimely death)
- frantic phone call to Southwest to change my flights; flight changed to leave from Chicago at 8am
- pack (new life lesson...pack a day ahead so in the event of something catastrophic, like ohhh I dunno... tornado destruction and having to drive 5 hours in the middle of the night after a 14hr day, that you aren't going to have to be worried about what you need for the next 10 days)
- drive 5 hours to Chicago

Things I learned:
- Stress I can handle....Anxiety I cannot.  They are two very different beasts, and anxiety got the best of me this night.  Stress are things that I am able to control; Anxiety are things that I can't....and I don't handle that well. 
- Terry does not respond well to my anxiety.  It's hard for him when there isn't any way that he can help me.
- I have wonderful family and friends.  For the few of you who talked to me during my hysteria drive and my airport meltdown, I love you tremendously. 
- Red Bull really does give you wings.
- It is possible to pack 10 days worth of clothes, shoes, and necessities in a carry-on (there was positively no way I was checking luggage with the luck I was having)
- Southwest is an AWESOME airline. Between the guy switching my flights and the airline attendant who only finally woke me up after the entire plane had de-boarded, I can't give them enough praise.
- Tornado Alley is no joke, and it's the devil!!