Still Dry

Rachel here, reporting from the midst of Tropical Storm Sandy.

I just wanted to let my myriad readers now that we are still dry, as of 11:30 Monday morning.  It has been raining steadily and the winds are brisk, off and on, but it's nowhere near the end-of-world scenario that The Weather Channel was predicting.

When they mentioned Virginia, of course...we're not exactly the national focus at the moment.  Understandably.

We have a lot of ponding water along the curb on our street, but so far, it hasn't crept up into the driveway, so the cars are safe and sound (yes, of course I'm worried about the cars--I swear, this is absolutely the LAST house that I am inhabiting that doesn't have a garage).  If it does start to rise, we can move them into parking garages at the university around the corner.

I don't think it's going to get that bad, but we'll just take each hour as it comes.

I am very thankful that there are no large trees around this house now, save some crepe myrtles which appear to have weathered a few hurricanes.  In Chesapeake, my greatest worry was the very large, old-growth trees in our backyard.  I'm glad that I don't have that to worry about here, and generally speaking, older home construction (in my mind anyway) is more solid than most brand-new homes.  This house has been here since the 1930s or 40s, so it's seen more than its fair share of hurricanes and withstood them.

I have been keeping on top of the laundry and cleaning in case the power goes out.  Lots of small loads--not exactly environmentally friendly, but the thought of having piles of dirty laundry and dishes during a power outage fills me with dread.  Same goes for dog-hair covered floors.

Oh, the humanity, right?

Will and I were at Costco on Wednesday before things got crazy, and we did a big commissary shop on Friday as well, so we are well stocked with things like water, batteries, candles, charcoal for the grill, matches and canned/non-perishable foods.

No school today, so the kids are home and a little restless.  I'm trying desperately to keep the TV off and keep everyone off their bums and moving around.  They are playing school in the front room right now, hopefully it's a very peaceful school for another hour or so, then we'll have lunch and naps (one for me too please as I didn't sleep well with William in the bed last night!).  Maybe a movie after naps.  Thank God for no power outages.

Last word from the ship:  XO seemed a little bummed that the storm was not living up to its reputation.  He said the winds were around 25 knots last night and that he could feel the ship pulling against the lines at the pier.  Waves were up over the piers last night, but so far, the ship is weathering the storm well.  Hans will stay onboard tonight.

It seems that I have to play the superintendent of schools...I'll update soon!