Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

I have never, ever, ever seen rain like this!!! Never! And I grew up in Oklahoma! Not that it rains a lot there, but it does storm a whole lot. 

This morning at 0530, I jolted awake thanks to some seriously loud thunder. It scared the. crap. out of me. I got up, went to the bathroom, came back to bed and totally freaked out. For some reason, my little 'ole brain went straight to "tornado." Hey, I grew up in Tornado Alley. I just can't help it. I laid in bed and had to keep reminding myself that I live in Hawaii and tornadoes are basically impossible. I don't know why, but it's really the lightning that freaks me out. But, if a huge bolt of lightning is immediately followed by huge thunder...I might just jump. Or yell. Both have happened. Anyway. After I convinced myself that tornadoes can't happen here, I went back to sleep. 

Then my husband woke me up. =) No phone call, but he was sending me message after message on Skype. Poor guy had been sending me messages for over an hour before I woke up. Sorry, sweetheart! I have learned how to sleep through anything but my phone actually ringing. We attempted to Skype for about 30 minutes before he had to get some sleep. But, it was nice to see his face and talk for just a little while. I can't really complain too much about that. Even though we pay over $100 a month for internet that hasn't worked since he's been back. No complaining here. Not at all.

Apparently, it had been raining all night last night. I thought I heard some rain when I woke up at 0530, but I didn't think much of it. It was definitely raining when I was talking to Joe. As the day progressed, it kept raining and raining hard. Want some evidence? Why, of course you do!

Looking out my patio door. Around 1100/1200 today.

View from the kitchen window. Same time.

Notice that the street is beginning to flood a bit.

Since you can't really see the rain, I decided I'd take a video for you. You're welcome. =)

Imagine this happening 90% of the day. Yeah. It's a little crazy!

About 5 minutes after I took this video, the rain started to calm down a bit and I left for the museum. By the time I got to the museum (a whole whopping 15 minutes), the rain had completely stopped. It didn't rain the entire time I was there and the sun even came out! What?! Then, as soon as I walked out the door - not even kidding you - it started raining. The more I walked, the harder it rained. I had my umbrella, but thanks to the wind I was wet from the waist down. Wonderful!

Tonight, I had a "town hall" meeting with the LTC from Joe's battalion. He's here on R&R and came to update us lovely spouses and answer some of our questions. Well, the rain had completely stopped (at least where I live) for about an hour or so. I had decided that if the weather was still crazy, I wouldn't go. Well, it wasn't so I decided to leave. As I'm driving, it starts raining harder and harder. Cue the thunder and lighting! Woo! I've driven in thunderstorms before, so it wasn't really a big deal. But, while I was at the meeting it kept storming. Sometimes, I could barely hear the LTC because it was raining so hard. Seriously! By the time we left, it was still pouring and the street that separated me from my car looked more like a small river than a street. Luckily, one of the spouses from Joe's company is a man. ;-) He ran to his car and came back to get the FRG leader and I. {This may or may not have happened because I mentioned that my gentleman of a husband would get the car for me if he had been there. Hehe.} This guy braved the "river" and ended up getting completely soaked. The water he walked through was at least waist-high. Scary!

The drive home was certainly interesting. I followed Mr. Spouse out of the parking lot and off post. =) I figured if I got stuck he might realize it was me. That and I really wanted somebody to follow. I hate driving in the rain in the dark because I can't see very well. Anyway, I made it off post and the drive home was...well, fun. I hit several puddles of water and thought for sure once that I'd damaged my car. I made it, but it sure did take forever! 

As I write this (almost 3 hours after getting home), I'm not sure it's stopped raining in a while... Sometimes it will quit for a few minutes and then get right back to "raining cats and dogs." Some of the thunder and lightning really makes me feel like I'm back home during the spring. It's been pretty intense. Honestly, I'm surprised the power isn't out. Though, it did go out while I was gone... I came home to my living room TV off (I leave it on sometimes when I leave) and the bedroom TV on. That one likes to come back on whenever the power comes back. Haven't quite figured it out yet... It's Joe's TV from when he lived at home so that's probably what's wrong with it. Lol! Just kidding. =)

I just hope this rain stops soon. It's supposed to "calm down" tomorrow, but I'm not getting my hopes up. If it's still this bad tomorrow, I won't be going to the museum. I really want to, but I'm not going to risk getting stuck somewhere just to volunteer for a few hours. Plus, I'd rather stay in when it's rainy anyway. =) Who wouldn't?

Here's hoping I'm not floating on a river tomorrow. =)