Rain and Watches and Warnings, Oh My!

A summary of my Saturday night fun:

Throughout the day, monitor weather.com and local television website to watch as the storm front approaches.

6:30 PM: Call mom. Ask if the Monsters can spend the night at her house (those midnight "escape the tornado" runs tend to freak little Monster out).

7:00 PM: Feed Monsters hot dogs, begin watching local television statement. Try not to let Monster #2 see the weather forecast.

7:30 PM: Make sure Monsters are bathed and ready to go to grandma's house.

8:00 PM: Drop Monsters off at grandparents' home. Come home to continue monitoring weather.com and local television weather.

8:30 PM: Still monitoring.

9:00 PM: Weather radio is now squawking on a regular basis. Begin haranguing DH about whether or not we should spend the night at grandparents' home as well. Gather flashlights, candles, etc.

9:30 PM: First tornado warning of the night, for two nearby counties. Get out atlas, try to figure out where the storm will go. Get nervous.

10:00 PM: Still listening to local channel, which has gone all-weather, all-the-time. Call sister, as she is in direct path of major storm cell. Pack bags with 2-3 days of clothing for Monsters, place in DH's truck, just in case.

10:15 PM: Still trying to decide if DH and I are staying or going. Storm seems to be moving northeast, so it looks like we'll miss the worst of it.

10:30 PM: More tornado warnings for counties around us.

11:00 PM: Lost satellite, miss most of The Riches. Continue watching local weather reports with bunny ears. The meteoroligist, new to area, can't pronounce names of local counties. He's a little gleeful about our deadly "imbedded" tornadoes. Nice.

11:30 PM: Doze off on couch, with weather radio near.

12:00 AM: Weather radio goes off.

12:15 AM: Fall asleep again. It's now raining, with lots of wind and lightning.

12:30 AM: See 12:00 AM.

1:00 AM: See 12:00 AM

Try to sleep as weather radio continues to go off every 15-30 minutes.

Storm system finally moves through and all watches expire at 6:00 AM.

11:00 AM: Need a nap.