I read this quote in Quiet Strength - The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy last night.

"Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else."  - Chuck Noll 

Are you doing the ordinary things better than anyone else?

About 5 p.m. today I looked out my front window at a very distinct spinning and rotating cloud that looked like it was reaching for the ground but I dismissed it as "scuttle" - the sometimes observed finger-looking clouds that accompany severe thunderstorms. Ten minutes later my wife and I heard the distinct sound of a tornado siren and turned the TV on to find that there was some rotation being watched.  Of course I have been glued to the weather reports and it is now confirmed that a tornado did touch down very briefly about a couple miles from my house!  So I did get to see my first "official" funnel cloud in quite a while.

For those of you who don't live in Oklahoma, we are the crazy kind of people who grab video cameras and go outside when it's best to go in your shelter.  That is totally me!  I have been fascinated with tornadoes since I was a child and can still vividly remember seeing several as a kid.  Once I was looking up through our storm cellar door as we were closing it to see the center of some rotation much like the eye of a hurricane.  It's weird, I know, but it is totally exciting to me.

If you are ever in Oklahoma during the spring or early summer, let me know and maybe with a little luck I'll be able to take you tornado chasing!

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008: a sobering yet exciting time in my household...my daughter received her driving permit!!!

I am so excited for her and she is and will always be my little princess.  The sad thing is that it is a reminder that she has grown up so fast and that it seems like only yesterday when I was playing "Super Baby" with her or my son and now I couldn't even lift them up in the air with my legs.  I miss those days but truly enjoy the time I have with them now as well.

The other sad thing is that we have to do the driving lessons!  The goodness out of this all is that she is smart and calm so I won't have the experience that some parents have had, and once she gets the hang of it, she will be the one making the run for Taco Bueno.

Congratulations Princess, I am very proud of you!  And no, you can't drive the '66 Oldsmobile.  Of course without a working radio I know I am safe for now...