So, I wrote the below Saturday night before we lost power…I am not sure I still would have written this after a rough day, Sunday, without power. 😉 

We are only a few hours into this storm and we may have a long way to go.  I am nervous about the giant tree hanging over the bedrooms,  the crappy windows over our beds, a basement that tends to take on water and the fact that a branch has already just missed our cars (it’s lying barely five inches in front of both our bumpers).  I worry for friends and family that have already lost power and had trees fall on their houses.  I feel anxious for those that have and will bear the full brunt of this storm.  It is something I really am taking seriously.

However, I’ll be honest with you, it’s been a sweet experience for my little family.  I feel awful just saying that and I hope I don’t regret saying it come morning, but there is something about having all the other stupid little things that can stress you out in a day turned into exactly what they are in comparison to a storm like this.

Aside from a birthday party this morning, this hurricane has dominated our day.  After time was spent making last minute preparations, the rest of the day was spent playing with the boys and answering their relentless questions about hurricanes.  We watched movies and ate frozen pizza (cooked, of course).  We joked and laughed about silly things and we stood on the back patio and watched the winds and rain start to pick up.  The boys cuddled close and stayed up past their bed time to watch the Weather Channel.  It was a really enjoyable day.

I think a typical Saturday would be spent trying to figure out how to work in a bike ride or run, when do we go out to the stores and feeling guilty about taking time to relaxed and maybe even worrying about the work week ahead.  Being forced to not being able to do anything, just relaxed me in such a way, that the day almost seemed magical.  I can hear Irene blowing around out there and I am actually typing and subconsciously ducking, worried about that stupid tree coming through this window next to me and the father in me wants to stay up all night to somehow protect my family (yeah, I don’t know how staying up is going to help anything).  However, I think my lasting memory of Irene will be a sweet one, despite the underlying anxiety.

On another note, I love social media and Facebook, but there are times where I think things get out of hand and a lot of things around it are silly.  However, it has been really a lot of fun seeing the comments coming in from friends and family.  To see the wisecracks and the humorous observations followed by long lines of pun infested comments has helped to keep the anxiety away.  It is also nice to know that they are all okay.

I think one of the neat things about being Americans is that we see a threat headed towards us, something uncontrollable and overwhelming, and our first instinct is to protect our families and ourselves, but our second instinct is to treat it with a sense of humor.  To crack jokes and make light of a situation that is out of our hands.  I love that.  It’s not that we aren’t taking it serious, it is just that, once there is no more we can do, we know it is time to laugh.