AuburnChick's Adventures

Please forgive me from being absent from the blog.  The beginning of the school year has kicked my butt in every way possible.

A mere three weeks after school started, I got a cold that took me a couple of weeks to recover from.  I tried to wait it out and only treated the symptoms.

The hubby and I celebrated another anniversary – our 28th.  He sent me a beautiful arrangement of roses.

Then, after on a week’s reprieve, the cold came back – with a vengeance.

After ten days of dealing with a runny nose, sore throat, post-nasal drip, and a sinus headache, I went to the doctor.

I loathe going to the doctor, but I tried someone new, and I really liked her.  She’s actually a nurse practitioner, but she had a lovely bedside manner and even typed instructions for the FOUR prescriptions she was writing me on my phone.

But y’all, that is not the point of this post.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but a sneaky hurricane by the name of Michael is threatening my neck of the woods.

That screenshot was taken early – before it turned into a Cat 3.

I am none too happy.  We were supposed to give an in-school SAT to the kids who haven’t passed the FSA – all of my students – and we can’t do that now because this storm is STRONG, and school has been cancelled through Thursday.

Employees at our local Air Force base were ordered to evacuate, as were residents in Zones A-C.  We checked, and we aren’t in a flood zone, thank heavens.

We put up our plywood, moved things to the garage, and bought provisions.

I felt so bad for the Mr.  He was such a trooper and put the boards up with a minimal amount of complaining.

Of course, we did have a little chat before we got started.  What I really mean is that I told him that he would not be allowed to get mad at me or fuss at me.  He made no promises, and I had to use my teacher voice a few times, but we got the job done.

We ran into one snafu last night.  I’d marked each piece according to the room it belonged to, but we could not make the holes on the porch boards line up correctly with the holes we’d drilled into the porch.  I’d marked the boards as left and right; however, we didn’t know which left or right – looking from inside the porch or outside.  We tried every combination but never got them to line up, so he drilled new holes into the boards.  Bless his heart.

He decided to add one more piece across what should be a door.  I took that door off a couple of years ago but haven’t had anyone come to put a new one one.

You might be a Redneck if . . .

The Mr. even went with me yesterday to fill up a few sandbags, which we put in the porch doorway and in front of our French doors.

Once we got the boards up, I ran to Publix.  I had been there yesterday, and they’d been out of quite a few things.  Thank heavens they were able to restock quickly.  I found everything I needed and even ran into one of my assistant principals.  After a quick talk and a hug, we parted ways.  I was so impressed with the patience of the Publix employees – most of whom probably also had families and homes to prepare for the storm.

I got home and unloaded my goods.  As empty nesters, we don’t need a lot.

Then, while the Mr. took a work call, I loaded up the dogs and went for a ride, something I’ve been doing each week.

We ran to Chick fil A so I could get more provisions . . .

I bought a gallon of it too.  Don’t tell the Mr.  Bahaha.

I managed to get my workout in, determined not to be stymied by the incoming storm.

As the day grew later, I was struck by how dark my house was . . .

Meanwhile, the weather was looking very un-hurricane like.

While the Mr. rested, I prepared food for him to take to work.  I also decided to bake because, well, one has to cope in the best way possible, right?

I did give half of these to my neighbors.

So, we’ve hunkered down and are staying.

I’ll admit that I’m not thrilled now that the storm is projected to be a Cat 4.  When I invited my neighbor in to get some muffins, she prayed for us.  Both of us were seeking direction.  She’d clearly heard the word “stay” during her devotion this morning.  After she left and I did my own devotion, I couldn’t help but think of my neighbor’s word.  I wondered of God was using her to speak to me – to tell me not to worry – to allow me to feel His peace at my decision to stay – to trust Him.

Please pray for my part of Florida.

Please pray that God slows the winds so it won’t be as bad when it hits.

Please pray that any power outages are restored quickly.

Ultimately, please pray for our safety.  I’m nervous as this is the strongest storm I’ve been in.

I know, from personal experience, that God is in the storm, and while He doesn’t always choose to move it, He promises to never leave us alone in the midst of it.

 

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