Getting ready for Irene

For the last few days our area has been in prep mode for Hurricane Irene, who is expected to make her grand entrance in our state some time Saturday evening.  We have had the weather channel on, local news updates, weather.com on the computer etc and they all have warned us of the impending danger.  There are pictures and graphs and warnings from the mayor.  One has to wonder, however, if this is going to be another case of incredible hype and little damage (a best case scenario) or if this could possibly be as bad as it seems it could be.  They are telling us to make sure we have food and water, cash on hand, food for the pets etc and be as prepared as possible for the fact that we could be without power for several days.  So what is one to do?  We have prepared for the worst and are hoping for the best.  There's not much else to do.  My husband has been shoring up our basement stairwell where we have had trouble with too much water and a too small drain causing minor flooding in our basement in the past.  We have put away all the toys and garden items, moved everything from the deck, cleared the gutters and gotten gas in the car. 

I think what makes me the most nervous is that my husband, notorious for waving a hand at my weather phobia and overprotectivness, is very concerned about this one.  He has made sure we have the supplies we need and has even asked if I wanted to take the boys and go spend tomorrow night in Frederick where we would be safe.  I am hoping he will be here to ride out the worst of the storm with us, but he works for the gas and electric company and is on call and I am thinking that he will probably be gone for most of the weekend and the days that follow.  The boys and I, and the dogs and cats, will ride out the wind and rain and hope that there is an angel on our shoulder and a protective field around our home.  We will pray for our family, friends and neighbors and hope that Irene dies down or moves out to sea and leaves everyone alone.