seriously.

OK, I am SO ON BOARD with this, because as NYer living in LA now for ten years, I, too, am amazed at how people react here to the rain.

HOWEVER.

I just got back from picking the kids up from school, and it was a NIGHTMARE. Streets were soo flooded...vision blurry from the down pour...my little one crying in the back because she was scared, and the SIRENS...and cars crashed on the side of the road! It was CRAZY.

I am so glad to b home...we all got in our pjs, and I gave them hot coca and cupcakes and TV all before homework!! I am just so happy to have gotten home safely.

Hm.....looks like I have become a true California girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope school is back in session for ya tomorrow....

Storm watch 2010 is hilarious I was laughing yesterday when my mom called me from fashion island saying to stay away from the windows, Im like how about you come home from the outdoor mall because I think Forever 21 can wait!

Ha too funny! I live in the midwest and woke up one morning to -19 on our thermometer. No snow days, no cold weather days ~ just a little indoor recess for the kids. No school because of rain ~ kind of funny :) Hope the sun shines for you all soon!

Oh, how I just love you Julie. I was laughing through the entire post. Maybe because I am southern California girl and could just plain and simply relate. So so funny. I cannot believe that the preschool shut down though. Now that is craziness. We Californians really are funny. I don't even let my kids go play out in the rain. Maybe I need to let up. Go buy them some rainboots and let them go jumping around. Today it has not stopped raining and so I keep them cooped up inside. They would probably have a blast jumping in it. My son Tanner saw the picture of your daughter jumping and he said "What is she doing?" He was sure she was jumping into ice and was going to slip and get hurt. I just had to laugh.

Lol! I love it my thoughts exactly! I am so loving this rare rare drizzle we are experiencing! I wish we had more! COME ON RAIN! Although I may not be getting a much as you I am a bit north.

This is hilarious! It would be funny to see, living in the northern most part of Indiana I can't imagine!! Blessings!

I am with you, girl. Rain doesn't make me freak out. Now, earthquakes, I don't like. Tornadoes.. this CA lived in KS for a while and that was a little sketchy. Ice storms on the road, scary. Sliding in snow... a little creepy. But a snow delay.. that is rad! Especially as a teacher, that was rad. I miss real weather.

Oh my...laughing...I totally get it! Here in central TX we freak out when snow/ice come our way. We DO NOT know how to drive in that and it's safer to stay home. Granted, my mom is from the north east, so she knows how to drive in it, but not I!

NO school because of rain?! Hilarious.

they cancelled because of rain?
that is CRAZY.

Okay, so today I had to explain to my 17 year old why I didn't think it was such a great idea to skateboard down the hill in the rain....he had to admit I had some reasons he hadn't thought of! (what a shocker; mom actually knows something!)

I had the same thought you did yesterday about the basement! That weatherman must be a transplant ;)

And during the tornado watch, my diehards drove down to Salt Creek to check the surf. 15 to 20 feet! but too choppy to bother....

Here's hoping preschool is back in session tomorrow. No such luck for the high schoolers!

Rain makes me happy, I too am a CA girl, {northen though}... I love the cloudy rainy days we get, make me want to snuggle and bake... What I can do without is the WIND...

All those wimpy Californians can cry me a 70 degree and rainy river... :)

It's been in the 30s in Chicago the past few days, and we've ditched our winter coats for puffy vests because it seems practically tropical!

(And in my entire school life I only ever had 3 snow days. I really should move.)

I'm a CA girl...and I totally 100% agree with you! Except that, as someone who has to drive around town for work...it was NOT fun today, and very scary. There were HUGE swimming pool size puddles everywhere, and even trying to avoid them didn't always prevent a hydroplane...not fun...if you can stay home...I highly advise it! The storm drains just can't handle all this water!

LOL!
I needed my little guy to go to Preschool today... sadly, we had an ice storm. Stop over and look at the pics, if you need a good laugh (and have time)

Funny post!
~Amy

oh my gosh you made me laugh! i am a southern cali girl born & raised who has lived in alabama for 3 years now! so i know exactly what you're talking about. too funny!

This cracked me up. I live in southern Alabama and we don't have basements either. But we actually need them. Know what they do here when we have hurricanes and tornado warnings? The kids still go to school (on the BUS) and then sit in the halls all day. Yep.

Arizonans are the same way!! Freaking out if more then 2 rain drops fall. It's all the local news casts are talking about. Call me crazy but I find it hard to believe the most important thing going on in this whole state is rain!

A Rain Day?!?! For reals?
That is the funniest thing I have EVER heard! (sorry for you, though!)
I wish we had a rain day at my school...the rain is making my middle schoolers even more crazy. We had lightening & thunder today in the middle of one of my classes & 3 girls screamed and did "duck & cover" under their desks.
I hear ya about the rain...people here in Nor Cal are FREAKING out. It is the only thing on the news.

That made me laugh out loud! I have never heard of such a thing! Here in Oklahoma it dipped into the teens and a little below zero and it was PANIC everywhere. I'm an Okie, but I did survive 1 & 1/2 winters in Minnesota (thankyouverymuch) so it was making me laugh at how the Oklahomas were freaking out. But RAIN?! That is far wackier.

Too funny! Sounds like the South when we get snow flurries. So school, businesses close and the newscasters are out and about showing everyone the dusting of snow on the ground. Oh, and all the stores are out of milk and bread *giggle*

NUTS!

I'm from FL and can totally relate to all you've said. Heck, the 20 degree temps here in KY are killing me! I NEED UGGS!

Melissa

that is hilarious! i, too, can relate. my husband and i have said the very things you said on your post.

Yup we relate too. So Cal girl here, now on Maui. We have RAIN here. Ive been watching the rain in San Diego and yeah 1.5 in in a day... well when we get a rain storm its like 3 inches an hours sometimes. And in the 5 years Ive been here, they have Cancelled school twice! Drive safe!

HA! I live in Houston and if the kids got out of school every time it rained, they'd miss AT LEAST a third of the year! Then again, you should see how people here respond to snow or ice... it's laughable :)

too funny!

too funny...i would love to just have rain vs. the white snow i have outside my door...lots of it too. and today was only 25 here, which is warm during this month...no snow, no cold days here, just a lot of playing inside or putting on 14 layers to go out and play for a total of 5 minutes...it takes longer to get ready to play outside then they actually stay out there for!

hope the mr. sun comes back out soon for you!

sorry but i live in wisconsin and this makes me sad. RAIN?! hahahahaa

LOL....I live in Buffalo, NY and this cracks me up. (and no we do not get as much snow as ppl think...we can actually see grass in the yard now)

Your post is SOOO spot on!!! I can't stop laughing at everyone around me who is FREAKING out over the rain (We live near Pasadena). I keep telling all of my friends that is is just a "normal" rainy day in the Midwest:):)

As a Midwestern girl, this post cracked me up! A few years ago, I was visiting family in California. They had some very rare thunder and the kids were freaking out! You west coast folks wouldn't last long in the Midwest, but we wouldn't handle the traffic or tremors well either! I think it's so funny that school was canceled over rain?! It's been cloudy and rainy here for days!
Thanks for the chuckle!

LOL! Love this post. I live in Kentucky and it's always raining and storming here so yeah, I'm laughing at the Californians.

Sooo.... I live in Arizona. You think people in CA don't know how to deal with rain??? He he.... people here are a MESS when it rains. And we are 'anxiously' awaiting the rain that is coming from CA right now... and I mean 'anxiously'. :) And we don't have basements either!!

Anyway, enjoyed your post and could totally relate to the loss of precious preschool time. My kids are older now... but.... I still remember.

Hope you have sunshine tomorrow!

Visiting from my blog in Michigan. You had me laughing so hard. No matter where we live, we will always find something we don't like. I, personally, would like all your rain to come and wash away all the cold, dirty, snow and grey clouds from the sky. But you, like us, need the waters, no matter what form, to water the earth so that we will both have a glorious spring!
With joy,
Renee

I LOVED this. I recently moved to So Cal and I have been so shocked at how the whole town closes down when it rains. My husband is a dentist and rainy days all of his patients cancel, schools cancel, everything!! C'mon people... it's a really good thing it doesn't snow!! Thanks for making me laugh! I love your blog, you always make me smile!

I would only worry if my skin were green and I lived in Oz......we are expecting your rain here any minute!!

OMG I know, people here in San Diego are FLIPPING out because of the rain too!!! You'd think we had gotten five feet of snow by the way people are acting!!! I am enjoying the rain under cozy blankets and watching movies with my sick child, so I am a happy camper!!! xoxox Holly

well if your school is closed tomorrow come on over to Kloe's school, 4 hours baby, 4 precious hours rain or shine!

I know what you're saying because I'm here in CA, too. And, very near the tornado watch. Gotta tell you, though, the neighborhood streets were totally flooded and my pool is on the verge of overflowing. I don't have my own rain coat so I've been sporting my 6'2" hubbys. It's not pretty but it's keeping me dry. I gotta be honest, though, I'm looking forward to the sun shining again.

Great pic...

Hahaha!!! so funny, and oh so true! Where do you live, girl! Over in my part of OC, they made us treck up a hill, against the river of rain to get our kids!

hysterical.

When I moved to Cali after growing up in Washington State, I was in awe of the spectacle that a few rainy days could cause here. But sad to say, I think I've crossed over. Told the kids we couldn't go out today because it was raining. Or yesterday.

The street is shiny!!!

Too funny! I live in FL, and I can remember having school canceled once or twice when I a kid due to a "rain day." So silly! People freak here in rain storms, too. Which is silly because it rains here a lot :)

This is too funny! I live smack in the middle of Iowa and that totally cracks me up!!!! If you have a sec and you want to check out my blog it's
beth-griffin.blogspot.com

Under Winter labels I have lots of pics posted as we have had 15ish inches of snow and snow on the ground since before Thanksgiving with a 1/2 inch of freezing ice yesterday. SEVEN snow days for our school so far this year. I am beginning to think they will only get a week off this summer--we have two good months of winter left. Thanks for staying in Cali by the way if you don't like climates like ours. I hate it when people complaing about the weather ALL WINTER--HHHEEEELLLLLLOOOO!!!! It's Iowa, if you don't like it MOVE!

Thanks for the laugh, I think that will make me smile all day!

wow....rain. what a great post...:)

Fabulous picture, friend!

Hope you are well.

Excited for the great kitchen reveal .....

That is HILARIOUS!!! Its even more entertaining then the panic southerners go into when theres a 1/4 of an inch snow on the ground! I hope you all survived with nothing worse then a little wet hair(if people went out at all). :)

♥

I love the picture,too!!

That is so funny to me! I live in northern Utah and we can get 6 inches on SNOW in one morning and they still force our kids to go to school.

I can totally relate to the lact of driving skills though. It happens every year - WHat is this white stuff falling from the sky? It doesn't really make the road slick does it?

AMAZING!

I'm sorry you didn't get your 2 1/2 hours.

Being a transplant from Ohio to Northern CA, the STORM WATCH cracks me up. Although, it is SCARY to drive b/c everyone else is inexpereinced driving in the rain, etc. While living in OH and my husband being a native Californian, he freaked out when we had a major rain storm...he had never experienced anything like it. He wondered why school and work wasn't cancelled! In fact, come to think of it, the rain here ain't nothing like a good rain storm in OH!!
...in fact, I rather like the rain, cleansing and refreshing...a little reminder of home :-)

I'm born and raised and living in SoCal, too, and my friend and I had a good giggle over the "get in your basements" warning...hello, there are no basements in SoCal! However, the pool that has formed in my front planter box is not so funny. At least I don't live in the mudslide zone. Praying for those poor people! SoCalLynn

ha ha ha. i have been laughing at all my family and friends' facebook statuses about the rain. i live in canada now and it is a whole different world! i remember the first year we lived here i took my kids to school and i was introduced to "inside shoes" another foreign concept in california!!

I know...people in Iowa and Minnesota and North Dakota wake up and think, "Sweet, only 5 inches of snow last night" and dig out their car and go to work!

I live in San Diego and I TOTALLY hear you!! Luckily preschool was not cancelled today...my work was not cancelled and preschool is my daycare!...although MANY people at work called in sick!

I've lived here since I was 8...and I HATE driving in the rain...but it's not like its the end of the world!

I am a former Californian myself and now live in Texas and this blog made me cry it was so funny! haha Seriously people, it's just rain....Come to Texas and you will see REAL rain and tornado's!

you are so funny. :) understandable though...I grew up in NM and now live in Maine. Today *I* had to shovel our driveway to get rid of the MOUNTAINS of snow, because school was NOT canceled after the massive snowstorm, thus my husband could not stay home and do it himself. (And it snowed the entire day...come on people! Snow day!) After living here for awhile, I heard that my hometown in NM practically shut down had to call in the National Guard because they had a few inches of snow. So funny!

Ok, I haven't read all the comments but I just have to say this. We have 18+ inches of snow on the ground and most recently we had freezing rain. As in it froze the minute it hit the ground. Now we are grearing up for a possible additional 18 inches of snow. Rain, I'll take it! So funny!
I really do like the snow though, but it's funny when we first get it because we act the same way!

I read this post last night on my bb and laughed out loud! I had to read it to my husband it was so funny...that is how Arkansas people get with snow. Not that we get snow often...we get lots of rain though!

why you gotta hate?

*wink*

Ok I am so with you on this one!!! I am here in Mission Viejo and a rain day at school! Please, the kids love jumping in the puddles! I grew up in Colorado and have lived here for yikes, 19 years (has it been that long) and I enjoy this kind of weather! The cool crisp air. Most people here have no idea about how to act in different than 75 degree sunny weather! And basements!!! Please, I wouldn't want a basement here because of the types of soil we have! Don't even get me started on the Storm watch 2010 instead of Haiti news!
Thanks for posting what alot of us were thinking!

Tracey

this just cracked me up!

to funny! i'm from california and ever thing you wrote is 100% true! people are crazy out there. they think life should end because of a little rain. really? of course i would love to be home cuddled under a blanket watching movies with my kids. but that's not life. and those 2 1/2 hours are NEEDED!!

HA! I cannot believe they closed the school because of the rain! Although, I wish they had closed the school of the little guy I nanny for. For the last 3 days, I have had to run in the pouring rain with 2 toddlers to pick him up! Oh the joys of Storms

BTW: I have read your blog for awhile and LOVE IT so I decided to de-lurk myself!

I definitely chuckled when I read this post. This winter has been crazy here in Iowa. We have gotten soooo much snow in such a short amount of time, fog galore, and now ice ice baby! Snow I don’t mind I’m used to it and if there wasn’t snow I might actually start believing in Global Warming. Fog and Ice however can be very dangerous so I could live without those. We have been pretty lucky, we only have had our internet go out once, still have kept power. The ice is a pretty scary beast though, I had to walk in it for a couple of hours and if I didn’t have Yaks (http://www.yaktrax.com/products.aspx) I would have surely fell. The ice storm has increased my husband’s snow days so we’ve been enjoying his time off. I think he has had at least 6-8 already this school year! I never remember having that many as a kid in one school year EVER. Sounds like we are going to get more snow on top of this ice, but you know I still think things could be so much worse. Haiti is suffering worse than we are and I think how really fortunate we are. There might be a few injured in Iowa, but not a huge number and then we still have our hospitals and places for people that have lost power to stay. And as for the weather in CA, I’m sure that flooding and mudslides are not fun. And one reason I will never live there is because of earthquakes. I never knew you guys to have tornadoes, those I could live without too. Every place has its advantages and disadvantages that is for sure! Fun to hear about the rain, oh how I love rain!

i've always wanted to be a cali girl. I live near seattle so I've seen my share of rain. to cancel school because of rain is quite funny to me. This is my first visit to your blog and you are hilarious! What a wonderful writer. I caught myself thinking, "i wish I could write like her!"

So sorry for all the crazy weather mayhem in your area. I am in Alabama and our weather people do the exact same thing. Just crazy! Josh and I actually "saw" our 1st tornado funnel cloud while we were out on a date last night. Crazy and yet such an awesome picture of how powerful our God is. Hope you have a great weekend!

Okay... school was cancelled because of rain? Wow. You should move here to the east coast. Especially if you can walk barefoot in the snow for 2 1/2 hours - uphill! Now THAT'S my kind of girl! I promise that freecycle here is not freakcycle - not even close.

No school because of rain?? I can't say to much if we have an inch of snow then they are calling school out here too {in Kentucky}

oh this cracks me up because it is the same way here in south texas when it snows. Last time it snowed was in early december (usually once every 5 years) but they closed schools early! the snow didn't even stick! by the time the schools would have let out the snow was gone and no one would have ever known it had happened! ha ha I guess we all react crazy with weather we aren't used to.

So funny. I grew up in the north so to hear people in South Texas talk about how they should cancel school because it's 30 is hilarious. They call it bitter cold but I have news for them they don't even know what bitter cold is! Happy sunshine days ahead!

I hope none of the mothers ever have to move to Kansas. They would never be out of the house with our crazy weather