Snow Preparations....January 22, 2016

In February, 2014, we lost power for 2 1/2 days, and it was tough.  The temperature in our house on the second night was 39 degrees.   It was tough.  I was lucky to have my friend, Missy, living down the street (now they live in Florida!), and they had a generator, so we hung out there one night, and managed to keep ourselves busy, so it was tough, but manageable.

One of the things I learned from that snowstorm, and the power outage, was that I was never going to get caught up in snowstorm hype, and buy all the food that everyone buys whenever there is an impending snowstorm.  As I once heard about people who buy all the eggs, milk, and bread they can find, "are all these people planning on staying home and making french toast all day?"   I realized in the last storm (I am a slow learner!), that even in the worst storms that we see here in Philadelphia area, you can dig out within a few hours after the snow ends, and usually get out onto the roadways within 6 hours.   As such, there is almost no reason to buy lots of food to stockpile for a snowstorm...you can always get out.   As I tell my kids, we are not in Little House on the Prairie.   We don't live in a remote area, and we have cars, and stores open up.  We can get food.  Don't worry.

So, what did I do today?  I ran around all day buying a ridiculous amount of food.  I think we are forecast to get 12-18 inches here in Philadelphia, which is not all that much.  In Washington, where my best friend lives (for now...she is about to move with her husband to San Francisco!),   they are supposed to get 20-30 inches.   That is an impressive amount.   But 12-18 inches isn't all that fantastic.

 So, why did I buy the food I bought today?   I got enough food for three breakfasts, four lunches, and at least 5 different dinners.  And that is not including all the stuff I plan to bake:   cookies, brownies, bread.  It is absurd (especially if I lose power!).   And I bought enough snack food to last for three months, because I don't really let my kids eats too much snack (read: junk food).   I think I get itchy...as if what if tomorrow is the day we decide we really want Red Velvet Oreos (yes...I bought them!!  What?  Are you kidding?).

What makes it worse, is that I actually knew what I was doing.  I called my friend, Sheila, during the middle of this buying, and told her I was being ridiculous....and I still bought stuff.

So, I will be with my family tonight (Timmy has a basketball game which has apparently not been cancelled), and we will be eating snack food and having A LOT of food tomorrow--including french toast for breakfast!