Billy and his friend Aaron left today for Hot Springs to do some hiking this weekend. The boys and I were supposed to go to the DTS campus this afternoon for the annual Spring Fling festivities with our friend Kim and her husband Daniel and their two boys, but it was postponed until next week because of the predicted severe weather for today.

I called Kim earlier today to make sure she knew it had been postponed and she invited us over for pizza and a movie for the boys. I told her that sounded great, but that I would watch the weather and let her know for sure at 5:00 this afternoon.

I started keeping an eye on the storms west of us around 4:00, and by 5:00 they were still in the same area - about 2 hours away. I called her and told her we'd be there around 6:00. Shortly after we got there, we saw on the news that there were severe storms around Fort Worth and a tornado in Haltom City (north of Fort Worth). Once the system started moving, it didn't hold back! About 45 minutes later, while we were enjoying our pizza, the tornado warning sirens started blaring. We watched the weather update and it showed the most dangerous activity several miles north of us. Apparently, if there's a tornado anywhere in the county, the whole county's tornado warning sirens sound off.

About 10 minutes later, we heard hail hitting the windows and bouncing off the metal porch roof. Soon after that we heard a funnel cloud had been spotted along I-30, heading east. Kim lives maybe 2 miles south of the interstate. Her husband was monitoring things from the TV in their bedroom while she tried to soothe the boys with a Bear in the Big Blue House video. Then she started gathering a few books and a flashlight for the bathroom in case we needed to take cover.

Daniel came into the kitchen where we were and said it was time to head into the bathroom. Caleb was on the verge of tears; Jacob was just following everybody else. Kim's two boys weren't happy about having to go into the bathroom because they wanted to keep watching the video. I stuffed my cell phone in my pocket, hooked my keys through one of my belt loops, and grabbed my purse as I headed in behind all the boys. We stood around in there for a while, listening to the radio. A few minutes later, Daniel came into the bathroom and said it was a couple miles away, still following the interstate. We tried to keep the boys entertained and occupied while still listening for the rain and anything else we might hear.

We ventured out from the bathroom around 7:30 and peered out the windows to make sure things were okay outside. Nothing looked out of place except for a few stray tree branches scattered here and there. Kim got the boys settled back down with their video, then we went back into the kitchen to visit a little more. Not 10 minutes later, she got a call from a friend down the street. One of their trees had uprooted and fallen across her truck.

Apparently some really strong winds, if not a tornado itself, passed by less than a mile from where we were. Several trees were uprooted and blown over and Kim's friend's trampoline ended up resting against a house two houses away. Daniel went down there with his chain saw to help get things cleared up. I decided it was time for us to head home before it got too dark out. The worst of the storm had passed over and I wanted to be able to see the roads in case any trees or power lines had blown down across them.

Thankfully the drive home was uneventful. The worst we saw were a few small tree limbs and branches scattered across the road. The power was out along a section of road not far from our church and one traffic light was out. We pulled into our neighborhood to see lights on and clear streets. I think our electricity must have either surged or flickered briefly because the night lights in both bathrooms aren't working anymore. They were on when we left, but not when we got back. Whatever it was must have been pretty minor, though, because neither the microwave nor my clock radio were flashing.

The bad weather has moved on to the east and now we're just having a little light rainfall here and there. The wind gusts at times, but at least I'll be able to sleep tonight without worrying about the possibility of more tornadoes. I'm tired now from everything. I think I'll sleep well tonight.

I love to play Sudoku. It's become part of my morning routine: after exercising and Bible study, I check my email, peruse the news, read a few blogs, then get my daily fix of Sudoku Challenge. Several months ago, I beat my personal best solving time of 6:18. There have been times since then that I've finished in the late 5's, but yesterday I finished in 5:12. My new record. Then I beat it again this morning - 4:56. I know that's not going to happen too often, though. The last two days' puzzles were fairly easy. Easy or not, I love to work them every day.

Even Caleb has gotten in on the Sudoku craze. He's helped me a few times with working Sudoku puzzles in my book, as well as a few times on the computer. Once on one of our many Wal-Mart trips, when we made our usual stop in the toy section, Caleb found a children's Sudoku puzzle book. It's a Dora book with picture stickers to place on the correct spots on a 4x4 grid. He just had to have it. The next morning, I showed him how to work them, then he was off. He said he was only going to work one puzzle a day, but that quickly changed once he realized how much fun they are. That day he ended up working about 10 puzzles from his book. The next day he worked a few more. I showed him how to use pennies to cover up spaces on the more difficult ones. I had to put it out of Jacob's reach several days ago, and once it was out of Caleb's sight, it's been out of his mind. I'll have to get it back out for him so he can finish. I think he's only halfway done with it. Maybe he'll work on it this weekend and show Pops how he can play Sudoku, too.

What's Cooking?
And what's been cooking?

Jay and Allison came over Saturday night for dinner and a movie. Allison has gestational diabetes right now and is having to be extremely careful in what and how much she eats. Jay is on the Atkins' diet; he figured this would be a good time since Allison can't eat just anything. Allison was worried about me cooking to meet their dietary needs, but I told her it was no problem. She even offered to bring their own food, but I assured her that wasn't necessary. I had her tell me what she could eat and together we planned a really delicious meal for us. We had baked BBQ chicken topped with bacon, cheese, green onions, and diced tomatoes; baked potatoes; broccoli; green salad; and strawberries for dessert. That was the first time I had made chicken that way, but it wasn't hard at all - and you can get it at many restaurants. Here's what I did:

5 boneless chicken breasts, thawed and trimmed of excess fat
KC Masterpiece original BBQ sauce
8 strips bacon, fully cooked
shredded Colby-Jack cheese
thinly slice green onions
diced tomatoes

Brush chicken with BBQ sauce, then baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn chicken over, brush other side with sauce, and bake for 5-10 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked. Top each chicken breast with 1-2 bacon strips broken in half, cheese, green onions, and tomatoes. Bake for additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

How easy is that?!? Billy really liked it (he's never ordered chicken that way from a restaurant) and said it's something he'd definitely like to have again. Yay! Another dish to add to my rotation, which I don't really rotate. I just cook what I want when I want it.

We also had Baked Potato Soup again this weekend. I made that Sunday afternoon, and Billy bought us a loaf of Asiago cheese bread from Panera Bread to go with it. It was so good! We've decided that getting a loaf of that scrumptious bread from Panera on occasion to go with soup, chili - or whatever! - is something we're definitely going to do more often.

I'm planning on making another omelette for supper tonight - and this time I have fresh mushrooms to add! Homemade veggie pizza is on the menu for Thursday night.