How you worry...

When I was a freshman in college, my dad was convinced that I was going to fall out of my lofted bed while sleeping. It kept him up at night. Made him tack post-it notes around the house with the words "safety bar for Amy" that in all likelihood drove my mom nuts. He attempted to convince my older brother to install the safety bar that came with the rickety loft when he came to visit.

My brother, being the good big brother that he was, bought me a six pack of grown-up kool aid instead.

I did fall out of my loft (but for the record not because I got ambitious rolling over in my sleep one night). And every time it rains, my ankle still hurts because of it.

Most women turn into their mothers as they get older. I, am becoming more and more like my father.

The post-it notes. The loud sighs. The joy from cleaning the bathroom. We make lists and we check them twice. We take naps when we've met our proper work quota.

And we worry. Boy oh boy do we worry.

If anyone hasn't turned on the TV in the past 12 hours, there's a huge storm ripping through the northeast-- right where my Southern Charmer is, in North Carolina (and where I'll be a week from now---eeeeeee!)-- causing the Papa Guckeen instincts to kick in and my cable to be permanently tuned to the weather channel until all watches and warnings have vacated Seth's vicinity.

Hence came the 7:02 a.m. phone call.

I'll admit it. While sometimes I can be a bit of a grumpy bear in the morning, in my ripe old age of 22, I have become a morning person.

That's not to say that I am happy to leave my bed in the morning. Far from it.

This is where Seth and I lay at opposite ends of the spectrum. He's a night owl. I'm all about the sunrise. And fully aware of that, knowing that chances are likely he would not be up and at 'em at 7:02 a.m., after seeing the damage that tornadoes and hail and wind had done in my Southern Charmer's area last night on the Today show, I did the only thing that we with Guckeen lineage would do.

I called my Southern Charmer. Just to make sure he was okay.