When the sky is falling...

Last weekend we spent a totally awesome weekend in San Diego. My kids were introduced to Shamu. They fed dolphins and bat rays. We walked all over the world famous San Diego Zoo and lived to tell the tell. I even have pictures.

But that's not what I'm writing about today.

Have you ever had the feeling that the sky was about to fall? Well, that would be what my father was feeling as he watched the roofer walk away Wednesday afternoon. There was no roof on his house. He could look up through beams and see stars through the loosely weighted tarp - all that separated him and his home from the elements. And then -of course- it rained. I have never seen so much damage done in a few hours, with a little rain. It wasn't a big rain. No howling winds. I didn't even wake up to the sound of the pitter patter outside my window. But that little bit of rain early Thursday morning has put my Dad and brother in a hotel room for the next 6 weeks or so. My mom (lucky soul) is in Hawaii at the moment with her sister. I'm not sure that I would rather be thousands of miles from the disaster of my home, but if I had to be anywhere, Hawaii is a pretty good place to be. I get to be her surrogate tomorrow and attempt to pack what she will need for work and weekends for when she comes back a week from tomorrow. It is an odd feeling, desperately trying to clear a room with a little twin bed for your father to sleep in after a distress call at 6pm. But I was grateful that I had a bed to offer him. And I'm grateful that he and my mom (and brother) are going to be comfortably set up by the insurance company in a hotel for the next six weeks. I didn't mind putting them up, but all I have to offer is my daughters bedroom, and one twin bed. We were going to have to get at least one more bed, and my father, mother, and brother would have had to share it. Not exactly comfortable or private. I'm happy that they have a two room suite with a kitchen (can anyone say privacy?)

Now we just have to wait and see how many walls and floors need to be replaced. Amazing how things seem so normal one moment, and soo uh, NOT the next. Sigh.

Here's to hoping that everyone enjoys a wonderful long weekend.