HURRICANE PREPARATION WEEK

I don’t know what I used to think preparing for a hurricane would be like before I lived in Florida, and honestly, I still don’t know what preparing for hurricane evacuation would feel like if you live on the coast, but I can tell you that so far, it’s all felt weirdly familiar and shockingly less dramatic than one would think.

Hurricane Dorian is scheduled to make her landfall on Tuesday morning as a category 3, with her winds starting up tomorrow night. At this point, we’ve been anticipating her arrival for close to a week and it’s starting to feel like the overall emotion is frustration. When you have to think about one thing for a long period of time, you generally start wanting a resolution, and this is no different.

We know she’s coming and we just want her to make her visit and leave so we can go on about our daily routines. Not that she’s been THAT disruptive thus far, I mean, we’ve managed to get supplies, plan accommodations and still get to Disney or Universal three times this week (ha), but you get it. Let’s just get this thing started and move on.

I always felt the exact same way when they were calling for a massive snow storm in Ohio. Actually, so far I am comparing hurricane preparation to a shot for shot Ohio snow storm announcement. That’s why I say this has all felt strangely familiar. The same things are happening, but for different reasons!

The news breaks that we are expecting a hurricane last Saturday (a week ago today), at that point, they weren’t sure it was going to mean anything more than a tropical storm for us. Then we get word that it’s getting more serious and that it’s time to start making arrangements.

This means a mad dash to the store to stock up on water, canned goods, batteries and snacks (which feels like a fight on black Friday over who gets the last hot ticket toy) and a trip to the gas station to fill up your tank before every gas station runs out of gas, followed by a stop at the bank to take out some cash just in case of a power outage.

After you have your arsenal of supplies, it’s life per usual but with a looming, potential disaster ahead. If you live in the Midwest, you know that this is the exact scenario that plays out at least once every winter.

For me, the familiarity has been a relief! I much prefer spending my free time adventuring and doing fun stuff over adulting and being responsible. Who doesn’t?

At this point, it’s really just a waiting game. Jacob will have to work overnights at the hospital in case of an emergent shift in events and I will be safe and sound in a hotel room. I have to give all of the credit to Jacob for how prepared we are. He has really done all the heavy lifting for this! I was slammed with work this week and wasn’t able to be of much help, so he took care of hotel arrangements, filling our cars up and even most of the grocery shopping! I’m a very lucky woman to have such an amazing life partner.

I guess we’ll see what the week brings. I’m desperately hoping for more of the unexceptional! In the mean time, you can catch me at EPCOT, enjoying the Food & Wine Festival. Cheers, friends!