We had a terrible storm yesterday. Em and her friends hid out in the basement. I was at work, wishing I was in a basement. There were no tornadoes in our area, just tornado watches. Four tornadoes touched down, but not near us. Lots of trees down and branches everywhere. Schools are closed in a couple of nearby counties because of power outages. Ours was out for about 4 hours. I got home around 6:30, and decided to walk. Then I tried running. It was hard, but I did it. I had to set little goals, like, I'd run to the stop sign. Then to the end of the block, then to the 6th tree, etc. I stopped to walk a few times, but only for a minute. I was very proud of myself. The power came back on just after dark. Thank goodness. Don't you just hate it when you lose power?

I got an early start and have been in my favorite coffee shop for about an hour. I've spent most of my time on the phone with my GA sister. My mom is waiting for me to come over, so I won't stay too long. The satellite dish fell off their roof during the storm, so no TV for them till at least tomorrow, and they watch TV all the time. I'm not sure what Mom and I will do besides go out to lunch. I'm out of ideas. I brought my book with me. Maybe we can sit outside and read for a while. My book club meeting is on Sunday, and I'm rereading the book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I loved it the first time, and even more the second. I hope I finish it in time.

I just talked to my mom. She wants to go to Walmart for lipstick. I don't really want to go there. For lipstick? I think what we should do is come back to this shopping center that I'm at. Her scooter is working again. This is a great 'town center', an outdoor kind of mall place. It has Macy's, Sears, Barnes and Noble, Panera's, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc... All the stores you'd find in an indoor mall, but in a really nice open 'village'. And our favorite Chinese restaurant is here. I'm sure we can find lipstick somewhere.