“Don’t you just love those 12 seconds when the laundry is done?”

Hello March and welcome back, tornado season. Our peak tornado season is March, April, and May, but we can see tornadoes any time during the year. Tennessee is a part of Dixie Alley.

While I really love the longer daylight hours and the warmer temperatures, I also dread this time of the year for the storms that pop up. I love a good storm, but they also scare me for the potential of tornadoes.

When I was 3, a tornado came through and did quite a bit of damage. I don’t consciously remember anything about it, but subconsciously I think I must.

It had to have been very frightening to wake up out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night and have the whole family huddled in a hallway while a freight train was blowing through overhead.
I can’t decide if March came in like a lion or a lamb. It rained all day, and we had localized flooding, so maybe a lion. It was rather wet and chilly and miserable until nearly 6 p.m.

Today was my annual check‑up. 
I actually went this time. 
Everything is going well, and I didn’t totally freak out at the blood draw. 
I have a very serious needle phobia. 
She seemed to be really gentle.
 I didn’t even feel the stick, but I did end up with a nasty bruise this time.

I hate to admit it.
 I’ve been with this doctor since 1996, but I think I need to find a new one. 
He’s getting old, and I’m not confident in his diagnoses. 
I think I’ve been saying that for a couple of years, though.
 I just hate to start over with a stranger.

He kept calling Badger “he.” 
With the way she was dressed you can’t blame him, but I don’t know why he’d think I’d bring my teen son in when I knew I’d be topless. 
We’re not prudes in this house. 
Nudity is treated as just a part of life. 
My boys have walked in on me while I’ve been undressed more than any of us would’ve wanted, but we don’t deliberately undress in front of them or walk around the house stark buck naked.

He said the practice would accept her before her 16th birthday, but she’ll have to see their psychiatrist because of her autism. 
I don’t understand the reasoning behind this. 
I mean, she’s high functioning, not low functioning.
 She isn’t violent.
 If we didn’t tell people she was autistic, you’d never know she was. 
She’s a little weird and quirky, but nothing screams autistic about her. 
We’ll think about it. 
She’s OK for right now. 
We’ve got the grouchy doctor and the walk‑in clinic if anything comes up before September.

After we got out of the doctor's office, we got our weekly groceries in.
 Knoxville offers a better variety than our local stores, but they are considerably more expensive. 
We had no choice, though, because Cowboy has work to do the rest of the week and weekend, and we needed to get some supplies in.

Once we finished shopping, we finally got dinner. 
By that time, I had been fasting for 15 hours and was ready to eat an elephant.
A hamburger never tasted so good. (Actually, it was the salty fries that hit the spot, and that first cup of coffee.)

We finally made it home, got all the groceries put away, got out of our wet clothes, and took a very quick nap. 
Waking up at 6:30 a.m. is for the birds.

After Cowboy went to work, we fixed that gerbil a sand bath. 
They need a bath every now and then to keep their fur clean and non-greasy. 
He loved it and looks a lot better now. 
Cowboy fusses about our rats, but he loves watching Mr. Soot move his tubes around. 
It’s surprisingly entertaining.

After that, we watched “Coco.” It’s a really good movie. Once the newness of it wears off and the price goes down, I’m going to buy the DVD of it. The music is really very catchy. I hope my rental is long enough for Gealach to watch it. She might enjoy it.

I need to go back and bring some toys out of the laundry room for Gealach, but I can’t get to them because Heron came in, dumped all his dirty laundry on my floor, and disappeared. I know he’s not coming home. His “hour” usually means tomorrow if you’re lucky, so I’ll tackle the laundry in the morning.

It’s been a very long day, and I’m ready to call it quits for tonight.