Living in the Windy Texas Panhandle

There are pros and cons to living in the Texas Panhandle.  The pros are the stunning sunrises and sunsets.  You can see for miles in every direction and the sun lights up the sky in miraculous ways.  The downside is that with all this sky comes a hefty price...WIND!  I hate the wind...HATE IT...

Today I went shopping.  Not because I needed anything in particular, but because my husband was cranky and I felt the need to partake in a little "retail-therapy".  So, I went where every quilting/scrap booking/artsy-crafty fiend goes...Joann's Fabrics. 

I hadn't been there since they remodeled, and about had a heart attack when I walked in the store.  I actually stepped back into the foyer and looked at the name on the door again, just to verify that I was in the right place! I think that the new store will be really awesome, once I get used to it.  Because I felt it was important to familiarize myself with the new layout (yeah right!) I walked up and down every single aisle in the entire store (all in the name of "familiarization".  Along the way I discovered the Easter clearance and picked up 6 great, sturdy little baskets for a terrific price (along with a mountain of other stuff that I loaded in my cart...that'll teach my husband to be cranky on a Saturday afternoon!!!!!)  My intent was to spray paint the baskets bright white, or maybe a rich brown or teal, and put them up on the bookshelves in my office.  The point is...I had PLANS for these 6 baskets.  Every last one of them!

Now we're at the pivotal point of this story.  I paid for my stuff, and walked out of the store.  I had only taken 2 steps out the door when a monstrous gust of wind launched two of the baskets right out of my cart.  They sailed over the cars at the entrance and didn't touch the ground till David's Bridal.  Then they bounced (in unison, it was odd...), and the wind sent them sailing on past Ross Dress for Less and Shoe Carnival.

I swear those 2 baskets traveled over a quarter of a mile in less than a second.  I stood there in shock, trying to grasp the fact that my baskets were just stolen by either superman, or an invisible speeding train! (The saddest part is that all the people at the entrance watched my baskets sail away, then turned and stared at me to see what I would do.  Wow, thanks for the support people!)

After securing my purchases in the truck, I walked down the sidewalk, hoping that my baskets might have snagged on a trashcan or bush, but they were no where in sight.  That row of stores stretches for over a mile.  For all I knew, they could have already blown past Kohl's or made their way to the Home Depot! As I headed back to the parking lot, I saw a woman rushing towards the building with a bright, polka dotted Easter basket clutched in her arms, looking like she's just won the lottery!  I wanted to shout, "WAIT, that's MINE, give it BACK!!!!!"  But I didn't, I just hung my head in shame and came home and quickly as possible.

Have a mentioned that I hate the wind???