what a week...

at church on sunday it was announced that we would have a "mock disaster".

we were asked to act as if all the stores and restaurants were closed.

it's totally a learning experience, no one is to go hungry or not have enough gas to go to work, it's just a practice.

and oh what a practice it's been.

on tuesday we had our earthquake.

today we had a severe thunderstorm along with tornado and flash flood warnings.

and early sunday morning irene is rolling in.

it. is. crazy.

we started hearing "hurricane irene" buzz last week, but weren't too worried about it.

on tuesday matt and i talked about our emergency drill and if we should go ahead and stock up, as it looked like irene was headed our way. (or close to it).

matt thought that we would be okay to wait until saturday and then go shopping for whatever we might need.

we've had plenty of food, even fresh food, we've been pretty good on. 

on sunday i made 2 quarts of powdered milk and mixed it with 2 quarts of regular milk to try to extend our milk supply. christian had seen me mixing the powdered milk, but had gone to bed before i combined the two.

the next afternoon he busted me. :) he "accused" me of trying to trick them and asked if i thought he was stupid. ;) it was worth a try. and i don't think lexi has even noticed. :)

today we had our preschool coop meeting and i am so excited! we're starting on september 1 and i'm teaching the first 3 weeks, so fun!

while i was at the meeting, matt called. he said he thought we should get prepared for irene now.

matt, the one who never thinks anything is going to happen. the one who tried to outrun a tornado earlier this year. yes, that one. he thinks we should prepare now, and that scared me. so i got home and while the girls napped i finished my shopping list and clipped some coupons. things fell into place perfectly and i was able to go shopping alone.

hallelujah.

i had a couple of stops to make, but finally got to the commissary at 5. as i was leaving there was blue, calm sky on one side, and ominous blackness on the other. i talked to the fam at home and they said they were getting hammered with rain and that i should probably just wait it out. i filled up the truck with gas and tried to make it to wally-world.

about 2 minutes after getting in the truck, the rain started and i heard there was a tornado warning for st. marys and calvert county. i could hardly see where i was driving because it was pouring so hard and there was thunder and lightning every few seconds. i really just wanted to stop my car in the middle of the road and wait. but the truck was rocking with the wind and i didn't want to be stuck in it during a tornado anyway. i finally made it to walmart, parked in the first spot i saw and ran as fast as i could inside. i was soaked, freezing, and never so happy to be at wally.

i'm still on the lookout for d batteries and something or other for our sump pump. i need to take out some more cash and do the laundry. and bring in all of our outdoor "stuff." i'm thankful we've had so much time to prepare not only for this exact situation, but that we've been taught to be prepared in general.
and we shall see what the rest of the week brings.