Long Haul

Well folks...we're in it for the long haul! After a never-ending debate between staying home for the hurricane or skipping town and neither of us really having a solid opinion either way, we decided to stay. Part of me feels like it would be good to stay in case people need help. We are super prepared. Part of me also doesn't feel like driving 5+ hours to Charlotte. For the simple fact that I am stressed beyond belief and have been traveling non-stop this entire summer. After having a small panic attack last night over not having my textbooks to do my homework or study for a quiz on Monday (I ordered them over a month and a half ago and had not one but TWO bad sellers on half.com...first time this has happened in the 7 years I've used them for books so...I reordered my books but they have yet to arrive), over the incoming storm and not knowing what to do or where to go (scratch that...I know what to do...I just couldn't decide where to go!), and over John's dad's whole doozie of a situation (still in the hospital, out of the ICU, but still lots of questions to be answered and doubts looming), I went into panic cleaning mode (I essentially just start wildly cleaning the house, usually the kitchen, with a panicked/enraged expression, while semi-hyperventilating...) until John made me hot chocolate and calmed me down. We prayed that we'd know what to do in the morning and then John woke me up around 6 to let me know he was going to Walmart to get some supplies...blinkblink...I guess that means we're staying! And I'm relieved. I know this is a hurricane. I know it's a big deal. But we're very much prepared and even if we wanted to leave now, we wouldn't be able to because the highway is backed up pretty bad.

But did I mention we're prepared? Like...zombie apocalypse prepared. All of our tubs are full of water. We also have giant coolers (I knew we owned 4 for a good reason!) full of ice...which I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of (I know having some in the fridge will help with power outages...it just seems very fleeting to me...but maybe that's just me)...but that aside, we have two giant additional jugs of water. We have food. We have camping supplies. We have TWO camping stoves and fuel. We have canned food and non-canned food. We have ways to cover the windows if needed and everything outside is in the garage. John is always Mr. Prepared but in this case it is definitely reassuring knowing that he IS Mr. Prepared and knows what to do to keep safe and be prepared for anything. We have like...3 or 4 first aid kits, a crank radio, several fire arms (you know...in case of the zombie attack), and several other neighbors who are sticking around for the storm as well. So...we can always pool our resources if it's really bad. I invited a friend across the highway to head over here if she needs to because she lives in a trailer and that's not going to be the best place to be.

I've been through more power-outages and water-outages than most Americans could dream of. I have bathing out of a bucket down to a science. Am I bragging? Yes. A little. But I'm mainly just saying...don't worry. I'm prepared. And if you live in the area and need a place to go, my house is open. Still...prayers for protection are appreciated. The rain has begun. We'll see you on the flipside.

P.S. We do have beer.

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