The Waiting

The waiting may or may not be the hardest part.  If it is, I'll be happy, because that means the storm isn't that bad.

In the meantime, here are my random thoughts about the impending Ice Storm of 2011.

How bad is it going to get?

How many days will I be without power?

Will my water go out?

Should I fill up my tub with water so that we have water to flush the toilet?  And to bathe with?  Who am I kidding?  Will any of us really bathe if the power and water are out?

Am I the only person who is trying to make the most of her electricity tonight?  (aka washing all my clothes, running the dishwasher, cooking things that we can eat off of for the next several days, watching tv, surfing the web, etc)

Is there a way to rig my gas oven to work even when the electricity is out?  What about my gas heat?  I'm guessing not.

Do we have enough firewood to last for several days?

Will we all be having to sleep together in the living room, huddled around the fireplace?

My oh my, how dependent I am on the conveniences of our modern day.  Electricity, heat, water, and that's just the basics.  TV and internet are also very nice.

If an apocalyptic event occurred, this world would go to hell in a hand basket fast.  WalMart was completely out of eggs, sugar, bread, D batteries, Duraflame logs, kerosene, and other things, and that's just for a 3 or 4 day storm.  Imagine how crazy it would be if power was out indefinitely.  Makes me think I need to buy some bullets for my gun.  And get some shooting lessons.  Yes, I have a gun.  A .38 special, actually.  I've never shot it, but I plan on learning how one of these days.  Hopefully I'll only shoot it on a range, but if the end of the world were here and I needed to protect my family, I don't think I'd be scared to use it.  You know, many people are predicting the end of the world in 2012, don't you?  And did you hear about all these dead birds that fell out of the sky and dead fish washing ashore?  Hmm...I'm not an end of the world speculating kind of girl, but it does make one stop and ponder.

If we do lose power for several days, I'm going to gain 10 pounds, because all I bought to eat today was junk.  Chips, cookies, crackers, muffins.  I read online that I should buy non-perishable foods and things that don't require cooking.  So I bought junk.  Oh, and fruit.  Lots of fruit.  Maybe I should stick with the fruit.

I am so thankful this is happening now and not when I have a newborn.  God bless all the women who could be stuck in this mess with a newborn.  Or a sick child.  I am counting my blessings, because at least we are all healthy and not newborns.  I don't know why I feel like a newborn would make it harder, but it just seems like it would.

Speaking of newborns, baby boy Lewis is very active these days!  Feeling my baby inside is probably my very favorite part of pregnancy.  I love it.  Maybe several days without power will give us time to think of a name for baby boy.

This type of event is just another thing that makes me really wish I lived close to friends.  Like, within walking distance.

And these are just some of the thoughts I've had today.  Honestly, I wasn't even worried about this storm until today.  Leave it to me to be the last one to get worried.  The last time I checked the weather, it didn't seem like it was going to be that bad.  A little snow.  Then I looked again today and saw several inches of snow predicted and temps below freezing for several days.  And ice.  It's really the ice that's the problem.  And even still, I don't like to get worried about the weather, but there's a voice in the back of my head that says, "what if?"  What if the power is out for days?  What will your kids eat?  How will you keep warm?  So...there I went, out with the masses, buying lanterns and firewood and batteries.  I am such a cliche.

Here's to hoping we've all built it into a huge ice storm that turns out to be a little snow and one day out of school.  Stay warm!