Hostage

Sorry it's been so long, dearies! The birthday thing kept me busy for a few days and then we dove into a couple of projects on the house this weekend. None of which got done, of course. For two days (my birthday and Friday), I was held "hostage" at the places I went. I'll explain in a minute.
First, I want to say that I had a lovely birthday. I got taken out to eat a bunch. Yum! Rhett gave me one of the sweetest presents he's ever given me. He got two big ol' rose bushes for our new house. He picked ones that look like a rose bush of my grandmother's that he knows I love, love, love. They are so beautiful! I'll have to post a pic when I have more time. He also took BFG to Dollar General and let her pick out 3 things for me. She was so sweet! She picked out a jar candle (blue for Cinderella, of course!), a 9x9 square baking pan (for me to bake cookies), and a lidded fruit punch jar with a spout on the side (for her to drink out of). It was so cute and she really did a pretty good job. Plus, everything she got for me was Made in the USA. I am so proud!

Hostage Situation #1:
Well, I had completely forgotten that I had to renew my driver's license. So, I got to spend my birthday at the DMV to get my license renewed. My friend had gotten hers done a few days before and there were only 4 people there. I went and there were about 30 people there! The computer hooked to the camera and the printer had shut down. So, we all waited and waited and waited. Finally, they got it back up and took 3 people's pics. I was #3 and apparently I broke the camera 'cause it went down again. I can see why it broke--my picture is terrible. I look like a boy with lipstick! Anyway, we all had to wait and wait and wait. Here's the catch. You couldn't leave. Once you had filled out your paperwork, you HAD to get the license that day. Well, you could leave but you had to be back in a few hours before they closed. Since I live in the boonies, I was stuck. It was insane. It was like this absolute law: Thou shalt get the license the day of the paperwork! They were serious about it. I don't know what would actually happen if someone did leave and missed getting it the day of. But they made it sound too scary to try. No one chanced it. All 30+ people stayed. Weird. So, that took up most of my day on my birthday.

Hostage Situation #2:
The day after my birthday, we had decided to take BFG to my in-law's house to spend the night so that me & Rhett could go out for my birthday (which that will give you a laugh too, but it will have to wait for tomorrow). Now, Rhett's parents live about 1 hour and a half away now that we've moved. So, I said I'd meet my MIL in a town in the middle. She took me out to lunch and we had a big time. She needed to stop at the Dollar General Market before heading home. I followed her and put all of BFG's stuff in her car and set up the car seat and stuff while they were shopping. I went in to give her the keys and to look around myself. Well, at the check-out, the cashier hears a noise outside and asks what it is. My MIL mouths to me that she thinks that it is the tornado sirens. I try to call my sis to see if there is a tornado warning for that area. Can't get her. Call my brother-in-law to get him to look it up on the computer. He says yes, there is one. The managers start running outside to look and they start booking it bringing in displays and buggies and stuff. Basically, they look like something is about to happen. As people are coming in the store, each person is saying stuff like "a tornado just touched down at such and such" (right by where we were) or "you guys better take cover, a tornado is head right for this store!" We are scared at this point and we must have looked it. One girl came in and asked why we all looked so scared. It was crazy. My MIL and me were trying to plot where in the store we would be safe. In the linens? In the bathroom? We thought about jumping in our cars and leaving, but were scared to go outside 'cause if one started coming the managers were going to lock the doors and we didn't want to chance not being able to get back in. We were just stuck at the entrance of Dollar General. Finally, a manager told us that if one started coming they would put us all in the freezer/cooler 'cause it was double cement-blocked. Then, the word was they were fixin' to put us in the freezer. Well, ya'll, I started getting just about more scared of being put in the freezer! I started getting scared that we would all get locked in there and wouldn't be able to get out. And I just kept thinking Why, oh why, didn't I get BFG's blankets out of the car? Then, our cashier runs inside and says she just saw the funnel cloud over Auto Zone, which was next door. I immediately call my BIL to pray for us and like an idiot, I started crying. So, now we are standing in Dollar General with a buggy full of ruining food, BFG with a headband with long fake purple hair on screaming I'm ready to go to Mammaw's house, and me crying and having to turn up my waist-length shirt to wipe my eyes and nose. I'm sure I gave someone an eyeful. Ya'll I even called Rhett at work and left him a voicemail to tell him what was going on and that I loved him. Somehow through various people coming in and my BIL tracking it on the computer, we decided that it was not going in the direction we were headed and that we needed to get out of there before more storms hit. So, we ditched Dollar General and dashed to our cars and sped to my MIL's house. On our way, we hit a terrible storm. I could see nothing out my window. My MIL was honking and honking behind me to get me to pull over. I didn't hear her at all. She was listening to a radio station that said there was a tornado in the town where she lived, right where we were headed! They were saying "Residents of ******, take cover now!!!!" But by the time we got there, everything was fine though. Praise the Lord!