TGIF … seriously.

This week… can totally kiss my butt.

Started off Monday with some drama. Drama I didn’t ask for, didn’t want, didn’t need. It only caused me stress… and took a few days to shake off and make decisions about, that hopefully will bring a lot less drama and stress in that regard in the future.

Tuesday was pretty OK. Got to spend the day with Lil Miss H at the zoo, ran a few errands afterward, spent some family time together in the evening.

Wednesday I got some sort of food poisoning or a strange 8 hour bug or something. Around 1 PM or so, I started feeling like crap, continued to feel like crap while spending lots of time in the bathroom until about 8 PM. Then I miraculously felt better and ate some soup. I’m leaning toward food poisoning.

Thursday we had this meeting to go to with the State of WA Children Services (adoption red tape stuff), which almost didn’t happen even though we drove clear across town because we brought the younger kids with us. My olders couldn’t babysit because they had rehearsals for both of their choir concerts that were both happening simultaneously at two different schools. Found a solution to the kid situation and had the meeting.

During the meeting we had this freak thunderstorm. The room we were in didn’t have windows but we heard thunder a few times and at one point when the thunder shook the walls in the room we were in, we took a break to watch the lightening from another area in the building with a window.

When the meeting was over Jack drove to one choir concert while I drove to the other. We compared notes via text at all the debris and stuff we saw while we were waiting for the concerts to start. The area looked like it’d be hit by a storm that lasted several days. Not only a few minutes…

When we arrived home I noticed our stone patio table had moved a good two feet and wasn’t straight.

While I was marveling at who or what moved our table and cleaned off all the gardening crap we’d left on it from all the yard work we’ve been doing the past few weeks, the corner of my eye was registering another item out of place.

It began to sink in that it was more of what moved these items rather than who.

The debris here started to paint the picture.

It was dark last night as we were investigating what exactly happened, but we could see enough to realize a really strong and extremely powerful wind from the storm caused this.

This morning I took the photos. You can see our gloves that were in a neat pile on the table blown into the BBQ pit and onto the ground. The pop can I was drinking before I left for the meeting and left it on the table, a mysterious black clothing item, (we think one of Cody’s shirts he likes to take them off when he gets hot while playing outside and has a habit of just tossing them wherever), the dog shampoo bottle from the bath the dogs got last weekend, the 20 lb bag of potting soil that was originally on the table too but when we got home it was upside down on one of the chairs. (Jack moved it before I took pictures so none would spill out.)

Last night as we were taking this all in, Cody leaned against the table and it wobbled. This is… er… was… a sturdy table. It probably weighs 200-300 pounds. Jack looked under the table and found this:

That’s the leg off the support structure. It was broken clear off the rest of the structure.

This morning I got a better look at what all was under the table:

This really boggles my brain. First the planter was on top of the table as well. How did it get blown off, then under the table, through the chairs to rest against the umbrella pole? Same with the towels. Those were folded on top of the table. Now they were under it and wrapped around the pole?

Even more boggling, see the two plastic packages? Those are packages of foam weather stripping. Two different kinds. Both very lightweight and both half empty. Those were also on top of the table as Jack just installed our A/C unit. How did those almost featherweight packages get blown under the table to stay put? While a 20 lb bag of soil gets knocked off? There was a ceramic dish (for the bottom of a flower pot) that was tossed off the table and broken in two. A lighter that was on the table is just gone into the oblivion, along with who-knows-what-else.

And the barbecue? How the heck did it get ripped out of the pit to just lay there hanging by the tubes that connect it to the propane tank?

We’ve had many windstorms but none that could break the heaviest item in our backyard. I’ve been told this was could have been a downdraft of some sort. There were unconfirmed reports of funnel clouds during yesterday’s storm.

We don’t have the money to replace the BBQ and the table. I’m not sure attempting to fix the structure is an option given the table was likely lifted off the ground, then dropped. There’s no other way to explain how it broke. Who knows what other weak spots have been created? The table alone is so heavy I’m not sure I’d trust the supports to just be fixed. I’d want them replaced. I’m not sure you can just replace the structure? The table was purchased at Costco during a seasonal event in 2006. I doubt we’d even be able to find parts for that exact table. We have homeowner’s insurance… but it may not even be worth the claim. I called anyway and have someone coming out in a few days to take a look.

All that said, I actually feel fortunate that’s all the damage we have to deal with. It could have been a lot worse. I’m glad we’re not having to deal with this or this, or this. I’m thankful my dogs were inside as I’m sure that would have freaked them out.

And after the crazy week we’ve had, I’m very thankful it’s Friday.

Update: Here’s a closer look at the damaged legs / support for the table:

Upon closer inspection, the other leg has a crack in it too.