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A Woman, Two Dogs, Sweet Tea, and a Couple Dozen Muffins

Posted on October 10, 2018 by auburnchick

Confession Time . . .

I am a coward.

I ran away from Hurricane Michael in the middle of the night.

A mere couple of hours after penning my words of bravado, I caved to the fear.

The Mr. called me after the 11pm update with the news that the storm was now a Cat 4 with sustained winds of 135mph, and we made the decision that I should leave.

I quickly called Super Sis.  She and her hubby had fled to Alabama earlier in the day, and she had called to check on me. She was happy when I called her and told her I was on my way.

I ran around the house like a crazy woman, throwing clothes, shoes, makeup, and bathing essentials into a suitcase.

Y’all, have you ever had to pick up and run with nary a moment to plan?

I cannot tell you how hard it was to decide what to take.

I looked around my house and wondered what I could live without because if I can be honest with you, I knew that my home might not be the same when I returned.

Sobering thoughts.

I wound up grabbing a small jewelry box that I keep my rings in and threw in a couple of necklaces and my favorite bracelet.

I snatched my laptop from the table I keep it on, its charger, my phone charger, and my good camera.

As I passed my dining room table, I slipped my knitting bag over my arm and stuffed in my newest project.  I also swiped my recently finished cowl and shawl from the table – items I still hadn’t gotten around to photographing.

I passed the bar in my kitchen and took two or three books from a stack.

Before I could put anything in the car, I stuffed the dogs’ beds in the back so they would be comfortable during our journey.  I packed the rest of my stuff around them once I got them in the car.

Then, I put my newly purchased snacks and water in the car along with dog food and the dogs’ bowls.

It was a frantic thirty minutes.

Before I closed the door for the last time, I ran back in and grabbed the muffins I’d baked earlier and the gallon of sweet tea I’d purchased that afternoon.  A girl’s gotta eat, storm or no storm.

Leaving my house was so hard.  I felt like I was a two-timer.

I prayed over my house as I left.

Such a sad thing.

But y’all, I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself.  It was late, and I had many miles to cover.

The dogs had gotten used to riding in the car thanks to our weekly jaunts.  It’s funny how God prepares us for such things, eh?

Super Sis called to let me know that she’d reserved a hotel room for me a mile away from hers, and that the hotel was allowing pets because of the storm.  Praise God!

I’d been concerned about the roads being congested, but at that time of the night, my worry was in vain.  There was hardly any traffic.

I gassed up an hour into my trip, called the Mr. to let him know where I was, and continued my drive.

I listened to the Bible Binge podcast along the way to help keep me awake.  My mind was alert, but my eyes were so tired.  This girl doesn’t see well at night, so I drove carefully.

My ultimate destination was a small town outside of Auburn.  Turning off of a main highway onto one of the country roads made me perk up.  I grew up in Alabama, so the route was familiar.

I’d turned off the podcast and had begun listening to a Christian station.  When this song came on, I belted it out, touched by the words – so timely given the storm bearing down on my hometown.

So sad, y’all, but such a great reminder that God never lets go of us.

I finally got to the hotel – thankfully – because the dogs had gotten antsy.

Props to the Marriott folks for the kind lady who was manning the night desk.  She had been expecting me and was so patient as I couldn’t hardly think straight by then.  It was 3:30am, and I’d been awake since 9 the day before.

I’d been given the last room – a handicapped suite – so spacious for my big dogs and their big beds.

They were a little nervous about going into the elevator, but heck, this whole trip has been about firsts so there’s that.

The dogs were a bit out of sorts despite the smile on Gambit’s face.

It took them a long time to go to sleep.  Of course, I still haven’t slept; my heart is incredibly heavy for my husband, who’s still back home, and for my friends and students who stayed behind.

I’m keeping my eyes glued to the Weather Channel.  Between those updates and the ones I’m getting from the Mr., I just can’t sleep.

This storm is one of the strongest my area has ever seen, and some people predict that it could reach a Cat 5 status.  The last update had it intensifying even more.

Please continue to pray for that area.  I’m sitting here sick to my stomach as I type this.  I am incredibly worried.

I’m also glad that I’m where I am because I would have had to sit through that monster by myself.

Thanks you!

 

Filed under: Pets, This-n-That | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Hunkered Down

Posted on October 9, 2018 by auburnchick

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.

Columbus Day Hair – Don’t care

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.

These are the clips we use. Thank heavens we still had them in the toolbox.

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.

 

Filed under: This-n-That | 2 Comments »

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