More Northern Mid-Western Lessons Learned...

Just when I thought I had life in Minnesota figured out, Mother Nature threw me yet another curve ball. The kids and I were in the "hands down" worst storm we have ever experienced.....and I thought the thunderstorms in GA were bad!

We left VBS, after lots of fun, to drive to Super Target (aren't you glad that somethings in life stay consistent no matter where you live?? what would we do without good ol' Target?) to run a few quick errands. I had noticed the sky was darkening and knew that they were calling for thunderstorms. I wasn't concerned......

Lesson 1 Always be concerned during thunderstorms in MN!

Apparently I didn't learn this after the whole Father's Day Eve storm that left us without power and the neighbors dancin' the night away. I really didn't pay much attention to the clouds today. In GA, I went to the store all the time in storms. You rush and hope you make it there before the "bottom drops". If you make it, you run in and shop until after the "bottom has dropped" (maybe 10 minutes) and you leave dry as you came. If you don't make it before the "bottom drops" you wait it out in the car for the 10 minutes it takes to drop and listen to yet more Bob and Larry on the CDs to keep the kids happy. Either way, it really isn't a big deal. Not so much here. So, the kids and I were driving down the road, sans trusty ol' GPS I might add (aren't you proud of me for finally learning how to drive to the Super Target?). When the hail started. Of course, this sent up red flags for me. You see, I did take 2 semesters of Geography and Meteorology at UNC (to avoid some of the more math friendly sciences) and therefore know that hail can mean a tornado. I noticed that people were pulling off the road........

Lesson 2 Take it seriously when people pull off the road during a storm (they may not be listening to Bob and Larry....therefore they may know more about the weather situation than you)

When the people started pulling off the road I did become rather concerned. Then again, people in GA drive crazy when it rains, so I thought maybe this was normal during a heavy rain. Maybe the people here are very conservative and careful when driving in rain......maybe they wait out the "bottom dropping" on the side of the road......or maybe they knew how bad the storm was going to get. Anyhoo, I decided that pulling off the side of a flat road with no shelter around wasn't such a smart idea and kept a slow but steady pace on. That's about the time we heard the tornado siren....

Lesson 3 Seek shelter pronto when hearing the tornado siren

After it finally dawned on me that the loud noise I was hearing (of course it took me turning off Bob and Larry and rolling down the window to realize) was in fact the tornado siren,ed I started having that panicky feeling rise up in me. You know that feeling that starts in your tummy and rises up in your throat (or that might have been my reflux) and you know things aren't looking real great at the moment....yeah that feeling. I took a quick inventory of my options: A. join in with the cars on the side of the road...which in the flat mid west didn't seem so smart or B. drive like a "bat out of Hades" to the nearest shelter. Since the rain and hail were coming down so hard I opted for a version of "B". I drove as fast as safely as I could to the nearest shelter, our Super Target. When we made it to the parking lot the trees were bent double and.......

Lesson 4 Target shopping carts can fly when the mood is right

The shopping carts from the parking lot were flying. Literally flying. Not exaggerating. Not pulling "a fishing story" (the kind of story that the fish caught gets bigger every time it is told). Actually in reality flying. Not flying up high so much as hovering off the ground about a foot and sailing across the parking lot. The kids eyes were huge. Maddie noted later she wanted to go back to Georgia where the shopping carts stay on the ground (I have to agree with her on that one). Again, I had another spit second decision to make.......do we go or do we stay? After checking around to see if there were any other projectiles that could get us, I took a kid under each arm and ran for all I was worth. Poor Maddie flew "superman" style under my right arm. Luck of the grab she ended up that way. Sam was tucked securely on my hip. We ran as no mother with 40 extra lbs on each hip should have been able. Not that it was a pretty run, not that it was a proper run, not that I "fully extended my legs", but we ran nonetheless. And we made it. We were wet to the bone, we were cold, we weren't happy campers, but we were safe. Of course the Target didn't have power....can you believe it? A Target without power? My plan was to dry us off under the hand dryer....but no power equals no hand dryers. So, the kids ended up with new outfits. They were literally dripping (of course I was too, but the kids were my concern...I knew I would live) cold and grumpy. Luckily for us, the summer clothes were on clearance. For a whopping $6.50 I clothed them both with new shorts and shirts. Finally the kids were dry and safe so we waited out the "bottom dropping" with fellow Minnesotans. I never saw a funnel cloud (not that I was actually looking) so I can't say for sure it was a tornado. However, I know that one was spotted in the area (thus the whole siren thing) and I know that they wouldn't let us leave until the weather was better.

The kids and I said a pray of thanksgiving when we finally arrived at our undamaged car. The car beside us...not so lucky. Apparently one of those hovering shopping carts got it. A quwinky dinky...the song "I Will Praise You In the Storm" by Casting Crowns was playing on the radio when we got back to the car. And we were definitely praising HIM for surviving yet another adventure. Now, I am going to go and get dry clothes and try to do something with my incredible huge, rain soaked and now dried hair!