Where's the Arc?

It's Friday evening and I haven't seen students in a week. I haven't been sick and it wasn't a predetermined holiday... it was just a whole 'lotta rain! Unless you have been doing your best impression of an ostrich and had your head in the sand for the last week, then you've heard about the massive flooding that struck the metro Atlanta area recently.

I had a doctor's appointment Monday morning and had already planned on taking a half day from work, so when I got the automated call from Paulding County that school was out due to widespread flooding and road closures, I was elated... I didn't have to use my half day! I also didn't realize how bad the flooding was until I was driving home from the doctor's, and what should have been a 20 minute drive turned into over an hour-- it was one of the scariest drives I've ever had to do.

It took Matt over three hours to get to work that morning, we had been chatting all morning while I waited at the doctor's and he sat in traffic....
[picture Matt took on his way to work... this was just one place where he reached a dead end and had to turn around]

His drive home that night was not as long, but for me, it was just as suspenseful. I had several websites opened checking for road closures and paths home he could take. I had even talked to people from work who were more familiar with the area-- trying to get their idea of what might be a clear path home. He eventually made it, but the ONLY way home was closed the next morning. ALL the roads into Douglas County, where Matt works, were closed. Even the traffic guys/gals on all the channels were telling people that they had no alternate routes and people headed into Douglas County should just stay home... so he did. By late morning, the sun began to reappear and we ventured out into the world. It was eerie for us both to be home during the week, but I enjoyed being able to spend the day with Matt.

While we scathed the storm and flooding unharmed... house, yard, and cars included, others in the area were not so lucky.[6 Flags over GA has 20+ new water attractions]
[highway flooded]
[the Chevron had water above the pumps. This is down the road from where Matt works]

Matt has since made it back to work... though his commute is still painfully slow. I, on the other hand, went back to work on Thursday... but it was just a teacher work day, so was today. There are still many schools in our district that have massive flood damage and much of the county is still under a boil water advisory. By early afternoon, many of the teachers, myself included, were looking around for things to do until 4:00-- quit'n time! All of our fingers are crossed that the kids will be able to come back on Monday-- it's hard to teach kids when they're not in school.