How to Get Nothing Done

It started off as a normal day.  Woke up to find the kids playing mine-craft, got them all ready for school, dropped them off.... and then I heard it, lots of sirens.

I wondered what was going on?  I looked out the window and immediately I knew-a fire in the mountains.

It was soon extremely apparent there was a fire, smoke filled the sky.  The winds, which had been blowing all night and continued to literally shake the house with 80 mph gusts which spread the fire rapidly.

(the view from my bedroom window)

I jumped on-line to find out any news.   Reports of schools being evacuated started coming in.  My stomach was in knots.

I alternated between looking out my window, checking Facebook and checking my e-mail, the phone always within inches of me.

Calls started to come, but so far my kids school was still safe.

Neighborhoods started to be evacuated, at first on a voluntary basis but soon mandatory.  The evacuation area kept expanding one street at a time closer to my home, to my kids school.

I knew I would get a call if they had to be picked up, really I knew we would probably be just fine, just enough down the mountain to be out of the real danger zone but I found myself unable to function, unable to get much of anything done other than check the latest reports.

The wind continued to shake my house, my garbage cans blowing through the back gate, toys coming out of the shed.

Finally it was time to get the kids from school.  The pickup line was nearly empty, eerily so.   When Lucas and Alex got in the car they each reported that there was only about 5 kids left in each of their classes by the end of the day, overly cautious parents pulling their kids out.

(view from my drive to my kids school)

We made it home and I stopped to look around, the smoke wasn't billowing like before, it seemed like it was going to be okay.  I didn't even feel like I needed to check any more updates.  My kids were with me, they were safe and I could go on with my day like nothing was going on.

Sadly the fire is still 0% contained (when I wrote this last night at 8:00 PM), already having burned over 1000 acres.  We seem to be getting a temporary break from the wind, but it is supposed to be back again.  I am praying that the winds will cease, that they can get the fire contained and that no lives will be lost.

Now the question remains if I will be able to get anything done while my kids are at school today.