Storm of the Century

Okay, so it's not quite the storm of the century, but we haven't had an all ice storm in a couple of years...I think I was pregnant with Dalton the last time we had one of these. Now, I never used to take precautions or try to gear up before hand, but now that we have two small kids with us...well, I found myself getting ready for it...and I succeeded!!

I went to the store last night for a few staple items. Toilet paper, milk (I'm sorry, but I just can't go a day without milk!!), oatmeal, batteries, a good book, and a few other items. (I'll explain my choices momentarily, keep your pants on!)

The meteorologist called this one spot on. It was projected to start with freezing rain/sleet today around noon (which the first drops fell about 12:30 here). It was projected to last all day (which it has), all night, and most of the day tomorrow. So far everything outside is covered in about 1/4 inch of ice. EVERYTHING. Trees, bushes, driveway, road, car (because we have too much junk in our garage right now to park both cars in there!). Chris almost got into an accident three times on his way home from work. I am so glad that I'm not working and did not have to pick up the kids from a sitter, and then drive as a nervous wreck with the kids in the car.

So I made very good use of my day in preparation for the storm (aka impending doom). Started simple by cleaning the house and doing laundry. We are expected to get nearly an inch of ice, which means that tree limbs will break and land on the power lines and we will lost electricity, and they say if this happens we can expect to be without power for at least 3-5 days. So had to do laundry and make sure that all available blankets were clean. Also had to clean to make sure that we don't trip over something in the dark and break a leg or arm or neck.

I got up in the attic and into our camping gear and got down the lantern and that's been charging all day. Charged up the little portable DVD player (that's not a necessity, just fun). I have also gathered up all the flashlights in the house and put them along with all the batteries all together in one spot so we don't have to search for them. I talked to the neighbor about the possibility of us taking some of his wood. (Of course we ran out of wood this year, and if we don't have power for days we need some sort of heat for the kids. Fireplace; yay!) Made sure we had plenty of propane for the barbecue, then made a list of things that we can easily cook on the grill. Chicken, veggies, etc. And lets not forget about roasting marshmallows in the fireplace!!

If things get really bad and the pipes freeze (which is SO unlikely to happen) I filled up several gallon jugs of water so that we can boil it for oatmeal and heat it for Jackson's bottles. And of course brush our teeth and make sure the dogs and cats have water, too.

And tonight...I made homemade banana bread! Yum! Something we don't have to heat up or cook, just eat it as is. There were six lovely bananas gone bad on our counter, so I have one loaf in the oven baking now, and when that comes out, I'll bake another one. Oh, and the house smells fantastic too!!

So I think I'm going to climb up in the attic again and get down the air mattresses, so that if we have to sleep in the living room in front of the fireplace, at least we'll be marginally comfortable. Maybe not too terribly warm, but at least we won't get up with massive back and neck pain! And, I am looking forward to tomorrow when I can go out and get some fantastic pictures of the ice encased branches, bushes, etc. So I think we're ready!