Saturday morning I wake up with two deadlines fast approaching. I grab my daily cup of joe and settle in at my desk. I make it through a couple of hours at a great pace. I am feeling good. But then the Florida weather reared its ugly head and I was forced to shut down. Lunch time rolls around. The kids are hungry. I go in the kitchen to prepare lunch. The taco beef was simmering and smelling good. I finished dicing the tomatoes and reached into the dishwasher for a serrated edge knife to shred the lettuce. That’s when it happened. As I lifted the dishwasher door to close it…BAM!!! Lightning struck and immediately fried my dishwasher and literally hit and ignited at my feet. Scared me to death! I screamed out in shock and of course the kids were hysterical. I wasn’t hurt…thank the Lord! My legs and feet were tingling but not burning or pain ridden. The ball of fire was bright blue and white. It was the strangest thing ever! Praise God that it quickly dissipated without actually catching the dishwasher (or me) on fire.
Now the house is screaming with scared kids, the alarm system master horn blaring at us in a deafening tone and then it hit again! This time in the deep end of the pool. It actually hit and caused the water to surge and splash out. The kids freak! All of the sudden sizzzzzzzle. We actually hear the main big screen fry and along with it…Austin’s brand new PS3. Now we are running around unplugging every single thing in the house. Many of them too late. : ( I am attempting to reach the dispatch at my alarm company with a single bar of cellular reception. The alarm horn is relentless and unbearably loud. I am now on a ladder trying to disable the “brain” of my alarm system when it happen a THIRD time! BAM!!! Lightning strikes through a recessed light in my bathroom. OMGosh! This is insane. The smell of singe is permeating through the house and I cannot for the life of me disable the dagum screeching alarm. Austin and Ayden are hiding under a blanket in the closet and I must admit that the sight of that made me laugh…not at them…just at the innocence of childhood.
Finally. The alarm is disabled. Unfortunately my ears are still ringing. We have no power but thankfully my stove top is gas so I finish fixin’ lunch and we sit down at the dining room table and eat our tacos…and of course update my Facebook. Shortly thereafter Jeff makes it home. He grabs a deck of Uno cards and joins us at the table. We are all okay.
When power resumes I start to take toll of the loss. So far, 7 TV’s (originally thought 8), PS3, V. Smile, Pool Brain Box, DVD, alarm system, dishwasher, wireless router, cable modem, phone and the outlets on my left kitchen wall. It could be worse. We are all okay.
OMG Dawn that’s insane!! So glad to hear that you and the family are all OK and no one was injured. I can picture the kids in the closet under a blanket and I’m glad you could smile at that through all the chaos that was going on.
So glad you are ok..things could have been worse for sure ((hugs))
LOVEEE YOUUU!! Sooooo Over the Moon Happy y’all are ok! I did not realize y’all got struck three times, that has me covered in chills and teary eyed, soo scary!! And you are soo right by saying things could have been worse, they fo sho could have been wayyy worse! ((((Hugs)))) to you and your family, my lady!! Thanking God y’all made it through unharmed!
THANK HEAVENS! You poor thing! And those poor babies! I will be extra thankful when I finally get to hug YOUR neck!
I am so so so happy you guys are unharmed. WHAT an experience. AND they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice… pshhhhhhh! Bless all of your hearts for enduring that. And praise God you guys are ok. Thank you for updating us and let us know if there is ANYTHING we can do to help! Big hugs!!
That is so scary. I thought that it only happened once, but THREE times! I am so very glad to hear that you are all okay. My poor guys, I know they were scared out of their minds. That is a great picture of you three .. I ? it : )
OMG OMG OMG… that sounds like something out of a movie. HOW SCARY! Do you have a hole in your roof from where the lightening came through? Does insurance cover lightening damage? LOL So glad you guys are ok, it could have been much worse… wow.
Holy cow…I’m so glad you guys are okay! That is INSANE! Reminds me of a thunderstorm during a party at my friend Kristi’s house a while back. We were there and totally freaked out too. They actually lost their beagle b/c he was tied to a run out back and it struck the tree it was staked into. They tried to get him inside once it started, but just didn’t get to him fast enough. So sad! :(