Destruction in the Heartland....part 4...Tuesday May 24th: Timeline

Today was not a picturesque as yesterday, I just really wanted to write this play-by-play down...it will be a blur later....it seems like it is important to record this information, in order to reflect, 

4:50 Wake up, send updates and check facebook.
5:30 Get up and get dressed.
6:45 Leave Julies, drive to my house.
7:00 Arrive at mom's demolished apartment. Load keepsakes, some clothes and other things of importance.
7:40 Arrive at my house, unload most of mom's belongings.
8:25 Drive to Webb City, Mo--drop of mom's prescription order for antibiotics to fight infection in her wound and a few other prescriptions that were lost in the storm
8:40 Arrive at Leslie's--drop mom off, get her settled
9:00 Arrive at Carterville Elementary. Start spreading my brother's baby book pages, keepsakes, and wet photos on the floor and in the drying rack in my classroom.
9:15 2nd grade class--(Student Quotes: "Did you know anyone that was hurt or killed in the tornado?")
10:20 3rd Grade Class--(Student quotes: "Mrs. Mitchell, you look like you've been crying")
11:20 Leave school, drive to the drug store (Gray Jet flies overhead--Wonder, is that airforce1? --it is not, president is coming Sunday)
11:45 Arrive at Leslie's give mom her medicine, check on her--she is in good spirits, she has been using their phone to make calls to family and friends. Today is my Grandma's birthday!
12:00 Arrive back at school, post photos and blog writings
12:15 1st Grade Class (Student Quotes: "Mrs. Mitchell, you look different"....Well, I am different--no makeup, jeans, discheveled hair full of insulation, tired puffy eyes)
12:40 Shaina brings me a chilli dog, coke and tots (Thank you Shaina, I was running on fuel from a few chocolate Donettes from 6:20am!)
1:00 Dr. Storm helps me find some crutches for my mom.
1:20 3rd grade class (Its the last week of art for many of my classes--I put out games
2:20 Leave school as soon as class walks out
2:35 Pick up mom--carefully getting her down the stairs at Leslie's with new crutches.
3:35 Arrive in Miami, OK--My aunt Tara met us to re-dress mom's wound, evaluate and assess her health (my mom has seizures, blood pressure issues, and occasionally requires oxygen)
4:35 Drive back to Joplin, drop mom off at my house, get her settled--start washing some of her things--move some furniture to make her more comfortable
5:30 Drive to Kristy's house. In AWE of the police command center a few blocks from my house--hundreds of police cars and officers, national guard vehicles.
5:45 Load a full sized bed and mattress for my mom from Kristy's shed. Listen to her recount her story from Sunday--she went to St. John's immediately after storm (she is a nurse, she works there), only realizes it has been hit when she pulls up--starts moving patients down the 7 flights of stairs on mattresses, blankets, sleds, chairs, and wheelchairs in the pitch black building. Quote: "I just kept thinking that was what it must have felt like in the Twin Towers"
6:00 Drive to mom's apartment to collect some more things: towels, first aid gear, oxygen tanks, find a wheelchair near the nursing home, 'borrow' for mom (I promise to return it when mom is off crutches-- there were a dozen sitting in the open) Roadblocks up all over town. Saw Anderson Cooper near St. Mary's Church. Still chuckling about wrecked cars as we pass them--a CNN reporter said that vehicles were literally 'balls of steel'.....so now when we see a crumpled car....we laugh about how Joplin has huge Balls of Steel!
6:45 Arrive at my house, unload the bed and things recovered from mom's (including a ceramic antique family Heirloom Christmas tree)
7:00 Drive to Julies to get some things left behind this morning--including all the food from my fridge that she was keeping cold for me
7:30 Drive to grocery store to buy fresh food--some things were spoiled--needed fresh bread, milk, essentials
8:15 Drive home (Before 9:00 city-wide curfew)
8:45 Groceries unloaded, clean insulation from kitchen counters from some things from mom's house
9:00 Eat a ham sandwich (watch some Tosh.0)
9:20 Take a shower. Standing naked--washing hair--tornado sirens start going off!! WTF??!!! totally my worst nightmare--naked and my house blows away!
9:30 Dressed, gathering flashlights, first aid kit, cleaning wheel chair in case we need to get mom out of here, plugging in the radio to listen for updates (need some 'c' batteries!!!!)
10:00 Listening to the storm get stronger, watching lightening, listening to the radio for updates. We still have power, internet, and cell reception.
11:00 Still awake, fielding phone calls and texts, facebook updates, writing this.
12:00 Plan to sleep in my own bed.

Thanks for reading. More soon.