Batten Down The Hatches!

There is 1 thing about living in the Texas Panhandle that is less than appealing--the wind!! I swear, it can get to hurricane force winds here overnight. It's so funny to hear of states like Florida talking about a category 1 hurricane with 60mph winds. Are you kidding me? That happens here about once a week! I am constantly chasing my doormat and flowerpots down the street. This would be one of those days---except I think it's in the neighborhood of 70mph winds. We even made the national news today with our huge fire danger wind day. How would I know how bad it is? Simple. If my 2nd story is swaying enough to cause me motion sickness while I'm trying to nap, it's bad. If Charlie hovers around the back door and there are toenail gouges in the concrete, it's that bad. If the wood floor downstairs cracks and groans, it's bad!When I was on the phone with John just now, I had to turn up the volume on my end and ask him to speak up, just so I could hear over the metal-banging racket coming from my chimney. Seriously folks---it's THAT bad. Living right next to a pasture doesn't help either. No wind break on that side at all. I'm actually trying everything in my power not to have to go anywhere today. I'm afraid we'd have a Mary Poppins-like situation, with me and the children blowing away! As I am typing this, I am positive I just saw a white cat blow by my front window...