Okay, so I still have some posts to catch up on, but I'm going to write about our crazy rainstorm we're having! Sorry, this will be long.
I realize that it rains way more in other parts of the country, but the thing that makes it so miserable in Southern California is that we are so ill-equipped for the rain. I don't even think we own an umbrella, and we definitely don't have rain boots, raincoats, etc. Not to mention serious drainage problems in the roads and, apparently, our yard.
So yesterday we are going to Joanie's for Brianne's bridal shower, and it is POURING. I stupidly took the back way because I thought the freeway would be just a parking lot, since it was rush hour and the middle of a rainstorm. Oh man, no way can I convey how terrifying the drive was. The road was so dark and curvy, and I couldn't tell where the huge puddles were, or where my van was going to skid. It was horrible. I got even more scared once I passed a car stuck in the flood water, and then the car in front of me drove into it too. I think they had to wait for the fire department; there was no way they could have opened their doors. Then we got to Joanie's, and the power was out, so we had the shower by candlelight! It was definitely an experience we'll always remember!
Then today right after James left for work, it started pouring. Our yard floods occasionally, so we had the pump set out, and I turned it on. But it didn't help, and it was raining harder than the pump could get the water out. Closer and closer to our two back sliding doors came the water, and I got more and more nervous. Finally the water was all the way up to our sliding doors and getting higher. What was I going to do with three little kids and a house about to flood? Go to a playdate, is the obvious answer, obviously.
So I went and my awesome friend Whitney fed me and my kids lunch while I was on the phone trying to figure out where to get sandbags, who could help me with them, etc. Finally we got a break in the downpour and I left my kids with my friends and went to get the sandbags myself (fire department, who knew?). Then I got to set them up in the backyard in the pouring rain. It was really good times. And then, of course, it stopped raining for the night. *Sigh* But at least now we have them. James was working so late, and I didn't want to be caught without them in a storm tonight.
So anyway, we're safe. The house didn't flood. But it was a long, long day.
