Hurricane Irene

So yeah, a hurricane is no big deal, right? Especially when we're SO far away from the ocean.
That was the jist of my thoughts before the hurricane. And I was planning a garage sale for Saturday. So I was a little more into the weather since I was going to be outside. And then I started watching the news. Hmmm...we were right in the MAIN destruction zone. I know Philly tends to over-react about storms. Like they predict a blizzard and the grocery stores are packed with people stocking up on canned goods, water, shovels...who knows what else? But basically people act like they aren't going to leave their houses until SPRING. And it's a little overkill. Mainly because we'll get maybe 2 inches of snow?

(I took a picture of this purchase made by the guy in front of me at Walmart.)

So at first I figured it was the same, and MAYBE we would get some rain, maybe lose power and there might be minimal flooding. But that would be it.
Did I mention I was planning a garage sale? And that all of our stuff was already down there, organized...and did I also mention that our garage gets a LOT of water in it anyway when it only rains a little? So naturally I was freaking out....moving everything back. I did go out and buy a ton of water and canned goods...just in case. The more news I watched the more I would get nervous. I still thought it would be fine and was expecting just power outages and maybe our garage would get some water in it. But how was I going to cook for our family with no power? The refrigerator wouldn't work, our stove wouldn't work....the AIR CONDITIONER wouldn't work.
And you know what? There was definite flooding very near us...but mostly in basements. Some towns had major flooding and I know it had to have sucked. I know a lot of places lost power...and ours flickered but it never went out. I was so thankful because several people went a LONG time without it getting turned back on.
And on Sunday? It was barely raining...and the wind made some awesome kite-flying weather. I bought Brooklynn a kite at the beginning of summer and it has never been windy enough to fly the thing. So we were finally able to. She LOVED it.
So all in all....glad I was prepared...thankful it wasn't worse than it was.

I taped the rain before we went to bed. I opened the door to our balcony and was getting rained on. (It has a roof over it, too.)