Hey Todo, I think we're in Kansas.

Around 3:30 AM, the strangest noise I've ever heard in my entire life woke us up. I know I can't accurately describe it, but I'll try. There was a buzzing - similar to the sound Michael's phone makes when its on vibrate and sitting on a solid surface like the desk. And whistling. And whooshing. And LOUD. In our disoriented state, it took a bit of time to figure out what it was. We finally figured out it was the wind. It kept doing it over and over and it was truly freaking me out. I looked out the window and saw the wimpy trees on our hill bending way over. I'm no expert, but based on the hurricanes that have come through and the speeds I know those winds were... I'd say these got up to at least 40 mph, maybe even some 50 mph gusts. I had to convince myself that these winds were all going nice and orderly in the same direction, and not spinning around, because I was starting to think about where we'd go in the case of a tornado and this was preventing me from going back to sleep.
And seriously, why don't they think of these things when they build houses?? We have a fairly open floorplan downstairs. We have a big combo room that is supposed to be the living/dining room. From the "dining room" there is a window into the kitchen and a doorway into the "den". The kitchen/den is a big open space too. (Now, first off, obviously, the room connected to the kitchen is a dining room. HELLO!) So all of it is basically one big room with a partial wall between the kitchen combo and the living room combo. And there are large windows on all sides. Flying glass is not good. So, whats left? Well, the laundry room is enclosed and there's an outdoor storage room on the side of it, so its not actually on an outside wall. So I guess thats where we'll go. But it'll be a tight squeeze. Better than the half bath I guess.

So anyway, that wind was stronger than the wind we've gotten from hurricanes. They tend to slow down once they are 2 hours inland around here. And I just figured out what the buzzing noise was. The whooshing and whistling were obvious - wind. But the buzz?? We'd opened the windows the other day and it seems that the bottom of the blinds got trapped underneath when we shut the window in the bedroom. The buzz was 1000 mph wind hitting the blinds hanging out of the window. Thats one freaky sound though.
Yet somehow, my empty recycling bin is sitting right where I left it.