I USED to love thunderstorms...

Did everyone get to see the crazy big storm today? If you didn't, or even if you did, I shall now tell you about my experience with it... I woke up at 7 this morning, a normal Wednesday for me. I got ready and headed to the pool. I kept on thinking, where is this thunder storm they were talking about? But I was glad because I hate coaching in the rain.

I made it through most of the first practice. At about 9:30 we started really watching the sky get dark. We started seeing lightning and hearing thunder, but it was still pretty far away so we had the kids keep swimming. At 9:45, the lightning was getting close so we blew the whistle and let the kids leave.

Our next group was set to start at 10:00. Steve took all of the Gold & Silver Groupers into the office and started talking about the meets we have coming up. Beth, Cali, and I all watched the storm and counted to see how far away the lightning was. At 10:25, I went in with the kids because we hadn't seen anything in a while. I told Steve we could get in at 10:40 (our rule is wait 20 minutes from the last thunder/lightning).

At about 10:30 I could hear Beth just cracking up, I turned around to see her and Cali motioning for me to come to the door. The sky was black, the wind was blowing really hard, and the thunder was back. We knew at this point that we wouldn't be getting back in. Steve made the kids watch some DVD about stroke technique and turns. We kept watching the storm. At one point, Beth decided she'd go to her car and listen to the radio. Well, that was not the best idea. As soon as she left, the downpour started, so she got stuck there :)

It seriously looked like a hurricane! I was so cold because we kept going out to shut doors and keep the pool closed. We kept hoping that it would let up because we knew that we still had to clean-up the pool (lane lines, backstroke flags, clocks, etc.)

At 11:15 we knew it was time to start cleaning-up, even though it was still storming. I walked outside and was standing in a puddle of water up past my ankles. At this point, we pretty much did everything that you are NOT suppose to do when there is lightning!

Stand in water - Yep
Stand directly under trees and other tall things - Yep
TOUCH METAL - Yep! (We even carried big, long metal poles)

Our big joke was that we hoped we were getting hazard pay ;) So, Cali, Beth, and I all risked our lives for our job today... It was crazy! But at least it was us and not the kids out there. I prayed the whole time. It was really freaky when we'd see a huge bolt of lightning right over us! Beth and I even talked about who Cali should give CPR to first if we both got hit (cuz we were touching the same metal laneline reel)... Oh, what a day!

Today's Tidbit: TEC #64 starts tomorrow, I probably won't blog again until Monday. Have a great weekend y'all and I hope to see most of you this weekend :)