Prelude

I went to visit some of my favorite people in the world. We sat around a precious little round table in a precious little breakfast nook in a precious little condo to look at photos from my European adventure.

While flipping through the album pages, we heard a loud siren sounding outside. A tornado was coming! We gathered around the television in the den to see a dark red swirl heading right for northern Columbus.

Gma P wanted to head to the basement immediately, but Gpa P insisted "it's nothing." So nothing, in fact, that his next words were, "Hey B-rod, go out to the car and get T-Pole's itinerary for her trip to Minneapolis tomorrow."

"But grandpa, the sirens are going off, and the doppler shows that there's a tornado heading straight for your house!"

"You'll have plenty of warning. Now go get that itinerary. Now."

B-rod returns unharmed and we head to the cozy basement (replete with snacks for the impending doom). As Gma puts it, "If we're going out, we're going out swinging," and she calls for a glass of chardonnay. While we gorge ourselves on Cheez-its, beer and merlot, Gpa remains upstairs in his office - excitedly photocopying my hotel's address and phone number.

To be continued...