I will NEVER again tempt fate by complaining that I am bored

Well, I asked for it.

I said we were bored.

I wished for something exciting.

I should have known better.

I was watching TV while the kids played in their rooms, when a weather bulletin interrupted my show.  There was a tornado warning that included Kane County (which is where we live).  I went outside and looked around - it was still light, rather bright - we had some cloud cover but not a lot.  Nothing to worry about, right?  I went back to my show.

Before I even hit the second commercial break, another weather bulletin interrupted the show.  Again I looked out the window, as was my habit...and was stunned by what I saw.  It was almost jet black outside, trees were blowing every which way, and what little light there was had a strange greenish tinge.

Just then, our cat Ayla jumped into my lap, let out this horrified howl/screech/moaning sound, and started running in circles.

Holy shit!

I got the kids into the hallway, which is in the center of the house.  I pulled a mattress off the bed and tilted it against the wall, available to be pulled on top of us at a moments notice.

I then went outside a few feet to see if I could see or hear anything.  The sky was this horrid greenish color, and I could hear a faint roaring far in the distance.  I looked in all directions, not seeing anything, but just in the few moments I was outside, the roaring grew slightly louder.  I ran back inside.

The kids and I spent a tense half hour sitting in the hallway, listening to the wind, rain, and that faint roaring which went away after a couple of minutes.  The wind died down, the rain clouds parted, and the sun shone through again.  We came out, and put the mattress back on the bed.

Now, at this point I was feeling kinda silly.  Obviously I had over-reacted - nothing had happened.  That roaring I had heard in the distance was probably a plane landing at O'Hare.

Then I checked my phone...and saw a tweet from a news service that said "Likely twister damages homes in Illinois".

I went online and discovered that a tornado had indeed touched down, fifty miles away in Rock Cut State Park (northwest of us).  Well, that was obviously too far away for me to have heard it.  But then as I listened to the news reports, I discovered that the tornado had been last sighted at Elburn (south of us).  The tornado had passed within twenty miles of our location.

Then I discovered that O'Hare had canceled all flights during that time period...so it hadn't been a plane that I heard.  It was a tornado!

Here's some links to info on the tornado - and someone even got footage (and of course he immediately put it on youtube.com).  Some schools in different districts were still in session, and a school bus was knocked on its side, injuring five children and the driver.

http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=1355130 

http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/Minor_Injuries_as_School_Bus_Falls_on_Side_109980779.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEgbm-t0_As