Saturday, March 14, 2009

You can thank me later!

Those of you who live here in North Texas and who have been stuck inside thanks to the freezing cold rain that has been blanketing us for the past three days can now safely venture outside for the rest of the month without fear of any surprise torrents of rain soaking you because I put an end to all of that... by purchasing new umbrellas yesterday! Have no fear. Your spring will be sunny and mostly dry. I can't promise that there won't be any rain, just that you will never find yourself surprised and soaked.

Are you laughing? Really. This is not a joke. You see, I first discovered my meteorological powers back when I was studying in Europe. We were given a ten day holiday (like a Spring Break) to travel anywhere we wanted to provided we could get there and back in ten days. Some friends chose places like Budapest or Morocco. I chose Scotland. My father's genes at work I guess. (Mom, I had already been to Prague twice!) I traveled to Ireland with a group of friends but from there, made my way to Scotland alone. Everyone kept sneering, "Did you pack an umbrella?" Are you kidding? I was backpacking. There was no room for an umbrella. You're laughing again? They did too.

My first day in Edinburgh, I took a bus from the airport to the main part of town and proceeded to look for a place to stay. Wasn't even there 2 hours before it started to rain. Luckily, I was in the shopping district on Princes Street so I bought an umbrella and some really sweet copies of a few classic books. But by the time I had paid for everything and walked outside, it had stopped. And... it didn't rain the rest of the time I was there. Not even a drop.

So I figure, by purchasing three new umbrellas for my children, I should be able to keep the pop up thunder showers as bay for the rest of the month and maybe even well into April. (You're welcome! : )

Unless, my husband decides to wash the cars. Then all bets are off!

7 comments:

  1. Charlotte, your European travels sound strikingly similar to my daughter's. She is currently studying in Austria and has been to Prague, Rome, Germany, Poland, and is in Switzerland this weekend. For her ten day break she is planning to go to Ireland. I don't think she has any meteorological powers, but I know she doesn't have an umbrella either.
    Did you attend Franciscan University, too?
    Thanks for the fun post.

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  2. Well if you can stop the cold and rain I think I was the one who started it - by cleaning, sorting and packing away all of our coats, scarves, and hats on Tuesday. It really needs to end though. This is getting old. And cold. Ha.

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  3. I was actually wondering if you went to the University of Dallas. Your traveling sounds similar to the 10-day trip during the Rome semester.

    Thanks for the laugh. We're so thankful for the rain but cabin fever is setting in. Hope your umbrella strategy works. Let's just promise each other not to wash our cars any time soon.

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  4. Us too. We walk or take public transport most places we go, so we're always lugging umbrellas at the merest hint of rain. And those umbrellas are the best ward against bad weather I can name. And yes, on the days we don't take them, it inevitably rains.

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  5. I did attend the University of Dallas and yes, my Scotland trip was my 10-day holiday. Katherine, email me if you can and we can figure out if we were there at the same time!

    Lisa, my husband was at Franciscan for 2 1/2 years.

    Jennifer,
    The year The Professor was born, it snowed on Easter Sunday. I usually make that my benchmark.

    Sarah, I will try to keep my husband from washing the cars but I make no promises. It all depends on how thick the pollen is the next month of two!

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  6. Lovely story. Makes me think about here--coastal British Columbia. Any Vancouverite worth their salt will always carry an umbrella and sunglasses to ward off extremes of weather. Seems to work some of the time and others... well, you're prepared then, aren't you? ;-)

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  7. LOL! I happen to love the rain, but I did want it to stop by Friday afternoon. I mean, we are in Texas and it's just not supposed to be so wet.

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