TOTO, I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE.....

.......no, definately not kansas.  more like winston-salem.  went with samantha on her field trip to old salem today.  it's been probably more than 10 years since i've been there so i was actually excited about going.  i'm not really a field-trip kinda person.  i always go but i don't necessarily enjoy it.  shhhhhhh...don't tell my kids.  i go for them.  i just hate the whole concept of following fifty cars behind a smoking school bus going 45 miles an hour just to go some where for an hour then turn right back around.  but anywaysss i love old salem and like i said was looking forward to goin.  well it took an hour and half to get there.  when we finally got there we stood outside the bus for another 45 mins while the teachers decided how they were gonna split the groups.  when the groups were finally divided it was time to go to the bathroom.....all 80 kids at one time. everything was just really unorganized.  nobody knew where they were going or what exactly they were doing.  we got to see 2 houses and then it was time to rush back to the start so we could see a 15 min puppet show.  after that it was time for our "scheduled" tour of one of the churches.  part of our group got there before we did so they started without us.  lol.  do i sound like i'm whining???  if i don't then i'm not doin my job yet.  so anyway now it's lunch time.  we were supposed to eat at 12:30 but the other class still had all the picnic tables.  we had to find somewhere else to eat. most of the kids had to sit on the ground.  me, samantha & her friend beat the little rugrats to the bench....hehehehee.   finally lunch is over and the teacher tells us we can go off on our own in our groups. yayyyy. we just had to meet back at the main building by 2:30.  so i have samantha and this other little girl.  we spent forever in the gift shop deciding what to buy.  i had to buy samantha's little friend something bc she didn't have any money.  that was my good dead for the day.  we went to the old tavern and the vogle house which was nice bc it was just us three and an older couple.  we went into the little merchant shop.  as we were goin in i hear this blaring noise over some intercom outside.  i didn't pay any attention to it like the rocket scientist that i am.  while we were in the shop i took out my phone to check the time.  i knew we were gettin close to 2:30.  i had a "newsflash" alert from fox 8 on there saying there was a tornado warning out for forsyth county.  for a split second, i thought to myself....gee, are we in forsyth county???  duhhhhh.  i started out the door and a lady stops me.  she told me indeed there was a tornado warning out.  that's what the siren was for.   i said....well, ok but i need to have the kids back to their school bus by 2:30.  she just shrugged her shoulders and said ok.   so i get no more than 2 houses down and this little old woman right out of the 18th century comes barreling out the door and tells me i need to get in the house.  i said....but i need to get the kids back....she wasn't hearing nothing about it.  she said we needed to get in the house NOW.  one of the other parents who was inside must've heard us bc he stepped out and told me that they had spotted a tornado and that part of the class was already inside the house.  i got the girls and went in. that's when mass hysteria set in.  kids were crying.  when samantha saw them crying she started crying.  they made us get in the basement of this very very old house.  it was actually pretty cool.  i felt safer there than any place i've ever been during a tornado warning.  here we are in a house well over 200 years old...obviously it's weathered a few storms in it's time.  samantha wasn't so convinced but i just loved on her and after about 20 mins they let us out.   when we got back outside the rain had died down to just a drizzle.  that lasted all of about 4 mins then the bottom fell out again.  by the time we made it back to the main building we were all soaked.  then they wouldn't let us leave again!  held hostage in old salem....sounds like some lifetime movie-of-the-week.  lol.  idk if there was another tornado warning or what happened but they made us get in this large room, closed all the doors and wouldn't even let us go to the bathroom.  finallyyyyy after another 30 or 40 mins we were told "the warning".....whatever warning that was had been lifted and we were allowed to leave.  thank you Jesus.  i think next time i'm just staying home.  of course then i would've been torn out of frame knowing samantha was there and i wasn't with her.  so never mind.  it worked out just fine.  i'll just have to bring my ruby slippers next time and maybe an umbrella.......

MY SAMMY GIRL STUCK IN AN OLD BASEMENT THINKING....THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME....THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME......