Surviving Well #hurricanelist

Our power has at last been restored! I’m ready to put Hurricane Week in the past, and start Normal Life again in the morning! But, that being said, I feel like we more than barely survived; we survived WELL. Thanks to going through Hurricanes Erin, Opal, Ivan, and Dennis along with countless other tropical storms previously, it wasn’t a new experience to weather a hurricane, and to be without our beloved electricity. But boy, did it ever feel fantastic to go around tonight gleefully flipping switches and turning our home into a real-life Thomas Kinkade house! 

Below is my Hurricane List. 

I feel like being prepared is essential! 

Some things I’ve learned from my plucky mom, who showed us in attitude and action how to survive well; and some things are my own little quirks that I’ve added to this listicle. 

{Before Storm}

Buy lots of food. 

Think easy foods to grill, stuff for sandwiches, favorite snacks & drinks. Also, don’t forget food for the fur babies! 

Clean out fridge & freezer. 

(This is so you aren’t trying to keep old food cold, and in case your freezer does thaw some before you get the generator going, the ice won’t melt and make a big watery refrozen mess.) I didn’t get this one done this time, but mine actually weren’t too bad off amazingly!

Clean the house. 

You won’t be able to vacuum for awhile, so do it now! 

And it just feels good to go into a disaster with the house clean. 

Do ALL the laundry. 

This is pointless to explain. 

Batten down the hatches. 

Clear porches and put away all outside articles that could become flying missiles. 

Pick any and all flowers. 

Make as many bouquets as possible! They won’t survive and you will need to see beauty during and after the storm. The vase of gorgeous white roses and 2 jars of cheery zinnias sparked so much joy during this dark week! 

Make sure you have prescriptions to last at least a week. 

Check supply of OFF and replenish if necessary. 

If the door can’t quite seal around the extension cord, tree frogs might hop in and you need to be prepared to end life from a safe social distance of six feet. 

Check supply of paper goods. 

Ain’t nobody got time to hand wash dishes all day! And it’s not a good time to run out of tp!

Make sure you have plenty of propane for outdoor cooking. 

Have a good smelling candle to burn. 

All the humidity will soon make the house smell dank. 

Grind up some Griffin’s Wharf coffee beans. 

You’ll need the beans ready to go for the next morning’s propane-powered pour over! 

Purchase new craft supplies. 

It’s crucial to keep kids calm and occupied during disruptive times. The 12 little pots of Crayola washable paints I picked up with the groceries from Walmart saved the day! I tore off sheets of freezer paper, and Danielle painted away to her little artist’s heart's content!

Charge up all the Dewalt batteries. 

We have lots of these since Danl uses them for work. This fan is a lifesaver; also this power source adapter. 

Make a Plan B. 

For us, Plan A is always to stay home. But have a Plan B in case it’s not gonna be safe to stay home. 

{During Storm}

Sleep as much as possible! 

You’ll need it later, trust me. 

Remember that a little humor makes all things possible. 

Thanks, Mom! 😉

Don’t forget that this too shall pass. 

It always does. 

{After Storm}

Thank God that you have survived! 

Assess damages. 

At first, we thought that we pretty much lucked out on this one, but now just today as it rained away, we noticed some water damage from slight leakage along the edges of the ceiling. But still, very minor. 

Burn the good smelling candle. 

I loved burning the $3 little gem I got from Dollar Gen. 

Messy bun & gettin stuff done

 #momlife 🕯 

Cook good food. 

There’s nothing like sitting down to some good food to lift the spirits. 

Clean up the yard. 

But don’t rush or stress about it. Those branches aren’t going anywhere! 

Tidy and broom up daily to retain sanity and a sense of normality. 

Stargaze. 

Take advantage of the the complete velvet blackness! With no annoying yard lights, the gazing is gorgeous! Danielle suggested snacks during the one session we got in, which was an excellent addition. 

Take up friends’ and family’s offers of hot showers, AC, and other luxurious accommodations if they get power back before you do. 

This isn’t a survival contest. There are no awards being given out to the Most Miserable. 

And that’s it, my friends! 

Here’s to SURVIVING WELL. 

And praying that Beta behaves. 

The Symphony of the Sad Frogs

We survived Hurricane Sally! 

After sending us stir-crazy as she languished in the Gulf, she finally blustered inland stronger than expected! Danielle and I had gone to bed around 11; I was exhausted from having done every speck of laundry I could find, and having cleaned the house throughout, in addition to cooking and eating and cleaning up! #hurricaneparty #prepared

Gotta make hay while the sun shines; aka do electrical activities while you have power! Anyway, I had our “go bag” packed as Plan B was to take the dogs and head to Wade and Rhonda’s steel frame house if the gusts were supposed to higher than 85 mph. But I seriously didn’t think it would exceed that. I secretly hoped we somehow wouldn’t even lose power! But of course we did! Already around 9:30 pm! I was devastated as I hadn’t run the dishwasher yet. Grrr. But thankfully it came back on around midnight. I stumbled out, started the DW, and went back to bed with a smile! Danl said the power had gone off again around 3 am. He had been out helping his friends at Atmore PD since they already had power lines down, streets flooded, and people acting crazy. He was up most the night, pondering if we should head for a safer shelter or just weather it out. Which is what we ended up doing! I was glad that we could just stay home with Diesel and Leroy. A few times we wondered if the roof or porches would surely fly away as the wind shuddered and shrieked; I even lined up our boots and had our raincoats and backpacks by the door, but this old trailer and everything around us just stayed solidly put, PTL! We didn’t even lose a tree! 

But the frogs. 

When I woke up around 6:30 to a basically white, watery, wind-whipped world, I heard the strangest almost eerie sound. Danl told me it was the tree frogs. They were croaking the saddest croaks I had ever heard. Like water-logged frogs on their very last croak. Even though having “OFF 40% Deet” to end the lives of tree frogs that happen to hop inside our home from the crack of the cord going to the generator is on my Hurricane List, I felt sorry for them during this hurricane. Once the worst was over, Danl catnapped and I dozed and Danielle played and the wind blew and the frogs sang the symphony of their sad song. 

“Uuuuuhhhh,” one would wail, then another would answer, “Huuuuuuhhhh.” 

“Uuuhhh, huhhhh. Uuuuuhhh, huuuhhh.” 

“Thisss tooo,”

“Shalllll passss.”

And it did. At last. 

And the frogs were once again silent. 

And my OFF is ready.