prayer for safety in hurricane season.

i found this on the interwebs. while it seems mostly applicable for louisiana & the gulf, i still think it's appropriate for us and for everyone along the mid-atlantic into the northeast.

stay safe,  y'all.

Prayer for Safety in Hurricane Season
 
O God, Master of this passing world,
Hear the humble voices of your children.
The Sea of Galilee obeyed Your order
And returned to its former tranquility.
You are still the Master of land and sea.
We live in the shadow of a danger over
Which we have no control:
The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant,
Can awake from its seeming calm,
Overstep its conventional boundaries,
Invade our land, and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to You, O loving God.
Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid
And whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time

O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our beloved Mother,
We ask you to plead with your Son on our behalf,
So that spared from the calamities common to this area
And animated with a true spirit of gratitude,
We will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son
To reach the heavenly Jerusalem
Where a stormless eternity awaits us. Amen.

because hurricanes require carbs & chocolate.

here in southeastern virginia we are bracing for irene's arrival. and, because it is hurricane eve, i figured the kids & i deserved a fun breakfast. yes, chocolate for breakfast.


my friend, lis, posted the recipe on her blog. i've made it many times {most recently for a girls brunch}. my kids love nutella crescents & you will, too. well, unless you don't like chocolate or nuts or carbs.

four ingredients:
refrigerated crescent rolls
nutella
sugar
sliced almonds*

*nuts are optional. you also don't have to use sliced almonds. i've made this using chopped pecans & it's just as yummy!

preheat your oven to 375 degrees {per the instructions on the crescent roll package}.

open the crescent roll package, break into individual triangles and coat one side in sugar {not pictured}.

then, arrange on a baking sheet {ungreased} and coat with nutella. careful: this is a messy job!

sprinkle with sliced almonds. or, you can leave them plain.

then, roll 'em up like you would when making regular crescent rolls.

bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

i have a gas oven and this seems to make for the perfect golden brown color without burning the bottom {remember, the outside will have a coating of sugar on it}.

transfer to a plate.

enjoy while warm.

be warned, they are scrumptious!!

---

hurricane eve.

irene arrives tomorrow. some of her clouds are already here.

our home is as prepared as it will ever be. i double checked the flood maps to make sure we were okay. {we didn't flood during isabel, but you never know.}

the evacuation notices are causing panic with my mother. she keeps hearing that all of virginia beach is being evacuated. no, it's not. never mind the fact that she's also worrying about my sister who lives in boston. they're supposed to feel the effects of irene later this weekend.

we are choosing to stay. foolish? perhaps. but, we're not the only people making this decision. this is also not the first hurricane we've been through nor will it be the last, i'm sure.

i'll do my best to keep you all updated on what is going on. the plan, as of now, is to leave the computer on for as long as we have power {because i don't want to run down the charge on my cell phone if i don't have to}. i have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow, but your best bet is to catch me on the twit. 

i'm a weather geek & more randomness.

if you haven't gathered by now {hello, are you not reading my crazy tweets on the twit??}, i am a weather geek.

for serious.

don't believe me? just ask rachel, this lis, that lis, j or angela. they'll vouch for my stalker like status when it comes to all things weather related. especially severe weather.

yes, i love me some jim cantore. yes, i wake up with al every weekday morning {y'all, it's cool to "wuwa"}. yes, i totally think stephanie abrams & i could be b.f.f.'s. should i have taken my geography degree a little further by going into meteorology? probably. but, for now, watching the weather channel the way my mother watches the fox news network qvc works for me.

and, while i should finish prepping for the arrival of irene, i wanted to share a lil' something with y'all. get excited...

{via}

i went through j to get eric fisher {he is the mcdreamy of weather, folks} to tweet me, but still! my first official tweet from someone from the weather channel. i know, i know...i need to get a grip {and get back to my hurricane irene preparations}.

anyways.

some more randomness...

• apparently there was another aftershock last night {well, early this morning}. 4.5. i didn't feel it {adam's snoring must have been that bad}.
• 90% of our backyard gear is in the garage. we have a bit more prepping to do today including a job that adam isn't looking forward to doing: cleaning out the gutters.
• i really am making my kids clean their rooms. it's part of their preparations for irene.
• i'm pretty sure we won't be evacuating.
• i have to run to the store {again} today. i'm not looking forward to it.
• sleeping on clean sheets is divine. it's my goal to have all of our laundry washed before irene & her hot mess arrives on saturday.
• i'm honestly not sure how i'll make it this weekend if our power goes out. and, considering we have directv, i'm sure our televisions will go out as soon as the first rain drop hits the dish. {funny, the house shook for 15 seconds during the quake & our cable was fine...go figure}.
• i'm also not sure how my kids will fare during the storm. they have been fighting like crazy lately. i've already threatened them with playing outside while irene passes by. my eight year old is actually intrigued by the possibility. clearly, i need to work on my mean mommy tactics.
• grad school starts next week. of course, the school's closure {due to irene} doesn't impact my first day of class.
• i need to sweep & mop the floors, but i'm actually thinking about leaving them the way they are. they're just gonna get jacked up this weekend.
• sitting here typing this post doesn't make the crazies at walmart go away any faster, so i may as well go mingle. we bought the critical supplies on tuesday. i just hope they haven't run out of beer.

plate tectonics, tropical systems & why my kids need to clean their rooms.

prepping for a hurricane is not an uncommon occurrence around these parts. we're all too familiar with tropical systems. go ahead and throw nor'easters into that mix, too. if it's spinning in the atlantic, it's bound to hit us or whiz by us. and, as you all know, many people along the east coast - including yours truly - have been preparing for the arrival of that crazy wench, irene.

{via}

apparently, preparing for a hurricane wasn't enough for mother nature. as i'm sure you all know {because, holy cow, did the twit blow up yesterday around 2pm}, we had an earthquake in virginia yesterday afternoon. mineral, virginia, to be exact. contrary to news reports & other outlets, it was not in d.c. although they - along with a gazillion other people further up along the eastern seaboard - felt it & sustained a bit of damage. 

west coast friends, laugh all you want. even though virginia sits in the middle of a tectonic plate, we are NOT used to the earth moving under our feet. and, yes, that particular carole king song was stuck in my head all evening long after the quake. apparently, the central virginia seismic zone wanted everyone to know that it was ready to rumble. 

{via}

talk about surreal. my kids were outside playing during what seemed like the longest fifteen seconds of my life. how bizarre is it to turn around and watch the walls of your home move & shake like they're made of jello. fortunately, there was no damage. life went back to preparing for that pesky irene.

irene.

almost one year ago to the day we were preparing for earl. and, just like last year, our fun weekend plans have been thwarted thanks to a hot mess of a tropical system. at least irene isn't showing up for my birthday like isabel did. and, in true virginia resident form, we are - yet again - being complacent about irene. hopefully, hurricane irene keeps moving east & all of our preparation will be in vain, but i have a feeling irene isn't going to play with us in the same respect that earl did.

fabulous.

so, what have i done thus far to prepare for the beast that is irene? not a whole lot, actually. i've got two of the three b's: batteries? check. bottled water? check. beer? nope, not yet. full tank of gas? i'll get that tomorrow. cash on hand? i'll swing by the atm on friday. non-perishable goods? not really. but, i certainly didn't stock up on groceries like i saw people doing yesterday. this isn't a nor'easter or a snow storm, folks...you don't need eighty loaves of bread. again, can you tell we're complacent?

i will take a picture inventory. i will make sure important docs are in the fire/water proof safe {as they should be}. i will put away our patio furniture. i will make sure our phones are charged. and, i will make sure that my kids clean their rooms. yes, clean their rooms. because, god forbid, one of our pine trees falls on the house and exposes the filthy chaos that my two children seem to enjoy living & sleeping in. 

psst...if you don't appreciate the humor of lord voldemort's tweet, then i seriously urge you to read not just half-blood prince, but the entire harry potter series.

complacency & 90210.

com·pla·cen·cy [kuhm-pley-suhn-see] – noun, plural -cies.

a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.
 

if you've been following the weather & the latest updates on hurricane earl, then you've heard this word thrown around in the media.  even with a category four hurricane bearing down on the east coast, complacency is an issue.  case in point?  me.  we have batteries, water, propane.  our camping gear is easily accessible.  all of our outdoor furniture is put away.  i'm taking a picture inventory of the house today.

complacent.

or, maybe we're reluctantly complacent.  after all, i am packing bags today, too, just in case.

in all honesty, we have no reason to be complacent.

 that red circle is my neighborhood.  that blue off to the right?  that's the atlantic ocean.  we don't live in a flood zone, believe it or not.  the potential for flooding is there, though {this is a hurricane surge map}.  however, we are not required to have flood insurance.  and, we don't. potential flooding doesn't worry me.  the wind.  the fierceness. the uncertainty.  that's what worries me.  and, even though we are not planning to evacuate, i am starting to question our reason for staying.  and that is why i believe we are reluctantly complacent.  after all, we faired well during isabel.  the news is saying this is kind of like isabel {ha ha ha}.  but, this is earl, not isabel. 

---

on a different & completely unrelated note, do you know what today's date is?  quick, go back & re-read the title of this post.  i'll wait....

well?  did you read it?  do you get it? 

ha!  today is september 2, 2010 which is otherwise known as

90210 

pretty clever, huh??  if any of you gen whatevers {what are we...x?} are with me, then you will agree that 90210 was the show to watch back in the day for ten years. 

i know i'll will be watching today - in between checking the weather for an earl update - catching reruns on the soap opera network.  shoot, who am i kidding, i try to catch reruns of 90210 every damn day.

at least going gaga over luke perry will help lessen my anxiety about earl.

earl-maggedon.

{yet another blog title idea that i stole.  for shame, for shame!  this one came from the preppy bumpkin.  part of me feels like i need to rename earl as shrek since fiona is behind him.  and, we'll call the other tropical depression behind fiona, donkey.  but, i digress...earl-maggedon, it is.}

my area {i'm not just talking virginia beach, but all up & down the eastern seaboard} is not immune to coastal tropical/subtropical weather systems.  we've had some intense storms lately, but nothing like nor'ida from last year.  it's also been quite a while since a hurricane did a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" of our coast.  sure, there have been tropical storms, a couple hurricanes & a few nor'easters here and there, but nothing sticks out in my mind like isabel. 

september 18, 2003 {also know as my 26th birthday}.

isabel crushed our plans to spend my birthday weekend camping on hatteras island in the village of frisco.  in fact, this was as close to hatteras as we got that weekend:

{our mailbox - that i painted - with my interpretation of the cape hatteras lighthouse.  clearly, this picture was taken AFTER isabel blew through our area because my neighbor's yard is never that messy.}

we made the best of it.  we were fortunate enough to be the last section of our neighborhood to run out of electricity.  we had eggs & bacon {and beer & birthday cake} for breakfast while others were scrambling for ice & batteries.  we were NOT going to go thirsty because i had nearly $100 worth of bottled water in the house.  i mean, i had to keep these guys in good spirits:

{aidan, 3 months old, september 2003}

{malia, 30 months old, september 2003}

clearly, even at 2.5 years old, malia was on point with being prepared for isabel:  blanket in one hand, change of clothes in the other & a spare pair of undies...on her head.

we did not evacuate.  the thought didn't even cross our mind.  we were going to stay.  if anything happened to our home, we wanted to be here.  fortunately, we were spared.  our pine trees stood tall.  the clean up was a pain {because who likes raking pine needles?}.  we did lose our fence & a small tree of our neighbor's did fall in to our backyard.  we were without power for nearly a week.  we filed our one & only homeowner's insurance claim.  but, this is all we had to deal with:

---

fast forward nearly seven years & here we are: sitting, waiting, wishing.  sitting around watching the news & hurricane coverage.  waiting to see what earl will do.  wishing earl would take a more easterly path & stay off of the east coast.  period.  i'll admit, when i heard that earl was a category four storm my mind started to race.  my children are older now.  they watch the weather with me.  they know a big storm is coming.  they might not say they are scared, but i'm scared for them.

should we stay?  should we go?  i'm pretty positive we'll stay.  but, we go back & forth in our decision.  for the time being, we're making preparations.  water, batteries & extra flashlights have been purchased.  patio furniture is being put away.  we're taking the cover off of our canopy this afternoon:

and, just like isabel cancelled our camping plans seven years ago, earl has cancelled our labor day weekend plans to go camping on ocracoke island. 

it's the last "official" weekend of summer.  the kids go back to school on tuesday.  come hell or high water {pun intended?  golly, i hope not.} we will make the best of it.