Sunday, September 7, 2008

How to survive a hurricane (or, at least, the day after...with your sanity intact)

1. Don't laugh at your friends who run to the grocery store in a panic, buying up every single supply on their hurricane preparedness checklist. Turns out, category 1 hurricanes aren't so high on the "not a big deal" list after all, and you might find yourself in need of some of the things on that list yourself.

2. Do not attempt to entertain a 4 year old with Play-Doh, puddle jumping, story reading, and fort building in an attempt to divert said child's attention from the fact that you have had no electricity for almost a whole day. (Gasp! A Saturday morning without Spongebob?!?) Your only response will be, "MOM...this is the most boring day EVER." As if all of those activities previously listed would somehow have been made all that much better with the addition of an electrical current running through your house.

3. Buy an outdoor grill with burners attached. They come in really handy when your 4 year old INSISTS on soup for lunch, but doesn't understand how exactly electricity plays into the preparation of said soup. Wish I could take credit for that one. But, I'll admit I had a real, "Well, DUH!" moment when my neighbor mentioned to me today, "Hey, don't you have a side burner on your grill? You could have cooked it on that." Well, DUH! Now, why didn't I think of that?

4. Don't leave your garbage can on the side of your house during a hurricane. Unless, of course, you want it to blow into the middle of the street, spill every where, and be pilfered through by the local strays and God only knows what other kinds of furry vermin.

5. Don't knock the vintage love. My love for all things vintage actually came in handy for something other than decorating our pad. That lovely baby-blue princess phone that the hubs so despises comes in pretty handy when all of the new-fangled cordless phones that MUST have electricity to work, well, don't work when the power is out. It's pretty nice when you're one of the only ones around with a phone that works (well, once the phone lines are fixed, that is). Ha ha...it isn't all about the looks after all!

6. Keep plenty of Nature's Miracle (or whatever you carpet cleaner brand of choice might be) on hand. As it turns out, dogs don't really like to pee outside when it is dumping sideways rain. Imagine that. My carpet doesn't really feel the love for hurricanes either.

7. Don't expect to get much sleep. If you're fortunate enough to be able to sleep through howling winds, pounding rain, thunder and lightning (truth be told, Bryan probably could)...you're sure to be awakened by a crying 4 year old asking, "Mommy...is the hurk-aim gonna' blow our roof off?" And, how does it happen that, once I let her in bed with me, she falls fast asleep almost instantly and I spend the rest of the night dodging right hooks, and knees to the stomach from the little octopus. That's what we've dubbed her. It's like sleeping with an 8-limbed beast thrashing about under the covers.

7. If anything bigger than a category 1 rolls into town...run. I know if Ike comes this way, I'm outta' here. I hope the relatives in Tennessee have an open room for me and my kids. Oh, and plenty of electricity. ;0)

23 comments:

Mel G said...

Oh man Holly!! Didn't mean to laugh, but I did!! Having no electricity all day is the worst!! Did you lose all the food in the fridge? Hang in there!!

Anonymous said...

Oh! I know about the right hooks. That's so nice in the middle of the night. That and the elbows, when you're totally out, in the middle of your back. How can such a soft little person make you so uncomfortable? LOL

Anonymous said...

Your stories are funny. Sorry you went through all that stuff though.

Jacquie said...

Holly!!! Glad you are ok! I was thinking about you this weekend!
Ike seems to have our name on it...hope not.

Anonymous said...

No fun! Sorry Holly.

Cathy De Los Santos said...

Holly you are too funny, I know it must have majorly sucked but you can tell a story and make a list that's for sure. I totally agree with you on the octopus part. When my 2 year old crawls into my bed at 430 in the morning and her feet end up on my face and her head on her daddy's head. It's just kick punch slap everything. There is no cure for that or preparedness either. Hope Ike doesn't come your way!

Andrea said...

glad you're okay, even though the experience was not fun at all :(

Ginajam said...

GIrl...you're crackin me up! Sorry, I know that's not nice, but you make the worst of situations pretty dang funny. I hope things are ok now. When Katrina was coming 3 years ago, people around here did the same thing at the grocery store...the shelves were EMPTY! And the only thing we got were a bunch of people from Orleans! Hope you have a better week!

NurseDeah said...

You come stay with me! I'm plenty far from the coast and then we can scrap!! :)

Aimee Ann said...

um, aren't hurricane posts not supposed to make you laugh? dude. i'm laughing.

i'm glad you guys pulled through.

also when you were talking about furry vermin in your garbage it made me think of 'verdel' the dog in 'as good as it gets'... when he's found in the basement garbage bin eating diaper shit.

okay, sorry.

random thought!
happy monday,
xoxo,
aimee

Shelley said...

glad you all are safe. i was beginning to wonder since i went DAYS without my holly fix! hey - email me at shelleymay (at) att (dot) net

scrappermimi said...

LOL! Sounds like quite the day! Glad you made it, phone and all.

By the time it got to us, I had to sit outside in it at a soccer game as the buckets of rain poured and turned our umbrella's inside out.

Melonie said...

Yikes! So sorry you had to go through the hurk aim. I was thinking about you. Stay safe (and dry)

Jennifer said...

Had to chuckle too! Going through a hurricane as a kid is definitely 'no fun!' =)

Michelle Sanders said...

Just one day? LOL! Where are you anyway? I'm in Louisiana...Gustav knocked us out for 9 days! We just got our lights back this morning. Sucks. Bad! How ever many days, it still sucks whether it is one day or 9. I'll have to keep your tips in mind for a couple of years when my two year old is 4 and we have to go through this again! LOL! Well glad to hear ya'll made it through ok. check out my blog for pics from the hurricane down in Louisiana. OH and GO AWAY IKE!

Dana said...

you poor thing! You at least are hysterically funny in the middle of trouble!!! Glad you are all safe and sound :)

bethchien said...

Good luck down there keeping your sanity intact! :P

Be safe!
B

Anonymous said...

Triple XXX has been in Issaquah before time began. Ha ha. No really, it's been there forever and it's just off I-90 on the right hand side. Easy to get to from the Front Street Exit. Sorry you never got out there, fun place and really good rootbeer and floats. Yum! You will have to visit sometime!

Unknown said...

oh i hope you stay safe!! Im sorry you had to live without electricity, that would have been awful!

Gigi said...

holly...omgosh...you poor soaked thing! you & your brood are always welcome to weather the storm up here in NY too ;)

& i BETTER see this as the journaling on something soon...it is perfection...especially @ the octopus bit...that is so true! lol

xoxo

g

Lizee said...

LOL..cute post

So, I guess it takes a hurricane for the hubby to learn a valuable lesson about vintage!

I'll look out for Nature Miracle. Ive been using Woolite Pet Shampoo, so far its ok.

I hope you and your fam are far away from Ike! Stay safe!

Martha Bonneau said...

Sorry you had to go through that, but your stories did make me giggle...love that you have a blue princess phone :)

Unknown said...

OMG this made me laugh and be scared all at the same time!Im glad you are all ok!