Fire!

Severe thunderstorms ripped through my area around 10:30 today. The skies were so dark, one would think it was 9PM.


As I looked out the door of my office building, thunder boomed and lightning cracked so loud and so close, I jumped back from the door. A few minutes later....


I saw smoke coming from the church kitty-corner from my office! Immediately, I called 9-1-1 and the fire department was dispatched. Believe it or not, it took SEVEN MINUTES before we heard sirens and saw the engines pull up.

Despite the torential rain coming down, the steeple erupted in flames two different times. Luckily, there was only one person in the church. I don't know if she knew the steeple was on fire or not. I tried to call the church after contacting 9-1-1, but the line was busy.

(Sorry about the poor pic. I took it through the office doors and there's reflections)
My coworker was heartbroken to see her church on fire. The steeple was just put on the church a couple years ago.

What is amazing is that by 11:30... fire was out, fire trucks gone, skies cleared up, and the sun was shining!

It was reported in a community just west of me, there were winds in excess of 50MPH and 1/2" diameter hail.

Marvelous Monday Update 3/30/09

First It Was Lost.... Then It Was Lost Again...
About two weeks before my last class ended, I lost my USB memory stick that contained notes and information for practically every class I'd ever taken. Luckily, only the "diary" portion of my class project was on there (because it's all we had done at that point). I even told a coworker that I'd lost it.


Last Tuesday, a man came into the office asking for me. Apparently, he had found my memory stick in the parking lot. He put it in his coat pocket and then it fell out and behind the seat in his work truck, LOL. So it was lost again! He found it, took it home, looked at my Excel files (every file is created with a user name embedded in properties), found out who's stick it was, GOOGLED me, found out where I worked, and dropped it off! While it was great he returned it, it's kinda scary how quickly one can be found. And I tell ya what... I would've totally freaked if he showed up at my house! So, Charlie Brown... There are nice people out there. LOL


Weather
March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion! Saturday afternoon was met with 2" diameter snowflakes! Following was sleet and rain. So when I woke up yesterday morning, there was about 2" of crunchy snow/ice mix on my driveway and yard. Hopefully, this will be the last winter storm warning of the season!


Stitchy Stuff
Several weeks ago, Kelly from WI offered a bunch of magazines. I offered to give her something to at least pay for postage since I knew it would cost a small fortune. She suggested a couple of wishlist charts, so that's what I ordered for her. Here's what came to me in the mail last week:

7 Issues of Britain's Cross Stitcher
7 Issues of Stoney Creek
I had so much fun looking through them and picking projects to add to my "To-Do" list, LOL! Thanks again, Kelly!


America's Hottest Husband
There's been a bit of excitement in my neck of the woods. One of the top 25 finalists for Redbook's America's Hottest Husband contest hails from one of my childhood hometowns! Pearl City, Illinois ... population 600. His name is David Tessendorf. He was interviewed on this morning's news show and I got the biggest kick out of him. Coincidentally, he's related to my hairdresser! I'm asking you to vote for him. Voting ends tomorrow. The link is HERE. Thanks!