That's it, I'm Taking My Money and Going to the Basement

It’s storm season here. That means it’s time to pay attention to the weather and be prepared to go to the basement if there is an actual tornado warning versus just a watch. It has been several years since the storm sirens have gone off here due to dangerous weather. The last time it happened Katie was just three and was not understanding what was going on.

I had explained to her that a tornado might be coming but she kept calling it a potato. She kept walking to the front door, looking out and announcing, “Uh-oh! There’s a potato at the door!”

Last night the girls were prepared for the basement. For them that means carrying around their animal flashlights in case the power goes out. It also involves relocating their hamsters.

Me, noticing cages in the living room- “Girls, what are your hamsters doing down here?”
Katie- “We had to bring them down. They were scared because of the storm.”

I was a little worried about putting them to bed not knowing if the worst was yet to come. I hate the idea of them being upstairs in bad weather due to all the trees around the house. One of my friends, Andrea, was acting as if I was over-reacting and encouraged me to just put the girls to bed. I informed her that Ann and her family were already in the basement (they’re a high-strung bunch) and had been there before it even started raining. I did finally put the girls to bed when it seemed that the storm was easing up. Then Ann’s sister, Lisa, called to talk about the storm.

Lisa- “I couldn’t go to the basement with the rest of them because there were already three dogs over there. So I decided I would just have to take my dog to the basement here. So I had him on a leash ready to go if we needed to. Then I started to think about the CASH in my house and I thought I better gather that up. So I put that in my leopard backpack and I was wearing that so it wouldn’t blow away. Then I noticed my scooter helmet and thought that maybe I should put that on, too.”

Me- “So basically, you were walking around your house with your dog on a leash, wearing a helmet, with a backpack full of cash.”

Lisa- “Well, yeah.”

Yep, it’s storm season.

Ice Storm

Here are some pictures from the ice storm. The last couple of days have been pretty rough with intermittent power. We have had trees losing huge branches in our yard and all over the area. Power lines are down and there are people that still do not have power.

The girls were excited the first night because they think that using flashlights and candles is exciting. I wasn't nearly as thrilled with the whole thing. When the power came back on the first time, I almost did a little dance. Unfortunately, it went back off again a few hours later. I ended up sleeping on the living room floor with Claire, Katie and the baby snuggled up next to me. It was cold and hard. And someone wet their pants. But I didn't want to risk them sleeping upstairs because we live in an area with lots of big trees that were losing large branches at fairly regular intervals. I kept having horrible visions of trees falling on the house. The entire night I found my sleep interupted by the sound of limbs cracking and then crashing. Then Katie would wake up and say, "I'm scared!"

The second day I had really grown tired of sitting in a freezing house with no power. I was sitting in a chair with a blanket and a hot water bottle, pouting. Then the power came back on. Then went back off. Then back on again and stayed on for a few hours. Since then it has continued to be on and off.

I have little faith that it will really stay on for long so I now plan accordingly. As soon as it comes on I turn on a space heater to try to heat the house up more quickly than just the furnace alone. I charge my cell phone and vacuum. Do some laundry and run the dishwasher. I have the thermostat set higher than I would normally have it set. I feel like I have to since you can't trust that the power will be on for more than just an hour or two. The problem that I have is that now the house is too hot when the power is on because I am afraid to turn it down.

Next ice storm? I'll be the only one in the neighborhood riding it out in my underwear because the house is 110 degrees.