Can Someone Build Me A Boat?

I had to get some errands done yesterday and my Mother-In-Law graciously said she would watch my two children. Alright after some begging on my part, she agreed to it. Not that she doesn't want to be with her grandchildren, it's just that she has quite the active social life for a senior citizen. I was supposed to be back to pick them up by 4:30. I am coming home from the mall and it starts raining. Now I hadn't seen a forcast to know that it was going to rain, so I didn't think anything of it. If I had seen some weather radar, I would have been panicked. You know how the radar is red over the area that is getting the worst rain? Well over the entire area I was traveling back to my Mother-In-Laws from the mall was red red RED. Flash flood warnings were coming rapidly over the radio in the exact area I was in. I had never seen so much rain in my life. It was pouring down so hard that I couldn't see anything, unless there was a car in front of me and I could follow their brake lights. The pounding rain was deafening, and as I drove through more and more pooling rainwater. I got to the center of town and there was just water rushing down the street. There were some orange construction cones that were floating down with it, slamming into everyone cars. Very scary. Constant lightening and thunder. I finally get down to my in-laws street. It's completely flooded. Cars are stalled out everywhere who have gone through and broke down in the high water. So I make a quick u-turn, going through more rushing water. I almost didn't make it out, and my car is making an awful noise, but I plow through. I just wanted to get to my children! I mean I know they were fine at my in-laws, but I still wanted to get there safely. What if something were to happen to me? I now feel as a mother that I am more protective of myself--obviously for them. I don't like to fly, but I do, and bad weather freaks me out.

So I try another route to my in-laws. I go down a back a residential road and everyone's yards have their very own lake from the flooding rains. I get to another street and can't even turn onto it because it's like a rushing rapid. So I officially can't get to my children. I pull into the church parking lot that my in-laws go to because it's up on a big hill, so I figure I can wait there for a bit. There is probably about 15 other people in their cars who have taken refuge up there. So I waited about 20 minutes and finally the rain slowed down a bit. I slowly venture out again and luckily some of the water has receeded a bit on the roads. I pass at least 7 stalled cars that have just been abandoned in the street, having been stopped by the water. I finally get to my inlaws. Hooray! My children are safe! I am safe! I have never seen rain or flooding like that in my life. You can bet I hugged my children extra tight when I finally saw them.

I feel like the wrath of mother nature has been more intense in recent years. I don't remember it being like this when I was a kid. We didn't worry so much about the weather. I was even in a hurricane when I was little, but it was nothing like all the trouble we have had recently in the world weather wise. Instead of a beauty tip today, I am posting the link to the American Red Cross. They are still taking donations for many of the weather related tragedies that have affected so many people.http://www.redcross.org/