Tornado SHELLter

Ohhhh hey. A couple of things...

Since coming home from Boston we've had some major events:

1. We bought a house (photos to follow)
2. Oklahoma had its first tornadoes of the storm season
3. I finally made my chiropractor take x-rays cuz that back pain just wouldn't go away
4. Subsequent MRI confirmed six compression fractures
5. Enter stage right awesome back brace for four weeks (I'm now on day eleven)
6. I quit the job I've been working at since last June so I can hopefully heal properly and not have to get all cemented up
7. Yesterday I turned twenty-seven.

Commentary on recent events:

• There is nothing like a tornado watch to make you feel the true weight of a mortgage/home owner's insurance. 
• It's either a special kind of stupid or an amazing tolerance for pain and more likely a drug induced cocktail of both in which one unknowingly endures brain surgery with a broken back (This is where we now pause to stop and hate on Cushing's some extra-special more... my fall on the first trip to Boston in February was more than a fall because Cushing's can cause your bones to become brittle like that of an old Grandma's hip.)
• Back braces conjure up memories of watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Wars storm troopers. Also, it may develop into a slight fear of falling and ending up on one's back, with arms/legs flailing in a futile attempt to roll over. 
• Healing is a 40+ hours/week, as in full-time, job... (without the paycheck) 
• Turtle Power was not what I thought twenty-seven was going to look like. 
• Perhaps when the next tornado siren sounds I'll just stop, drop, roll, and tuck in my arms and legs.:)
• Along with my medical alert bracelet I have a new accessory... a Nifty Nabber.  (Eric gave it to me for my birthday.) 

• Now all I need is one of these: