Thoughts on Prepping for Hurricane Sandy

1. I am really bummed that our magnificent autumn colors will pretty much be wiped away (see photo) after this storm passes.  It never lasts long enough.

2.  I am baking like mad.  Wheat bread.  Banana Bread.  Cookies.  It is out of my control.  Much like "nesting" a few days before Asher's birth when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep until I had scrubbed every inch of our apartment down.  I must control something in this universe so I will bake!

3.  Because our basement is prone to flooding and we haven't been willing to shell out the thousands of dollars necessary to make our house more flood-resistent, we own sand bags. We strategically placed them around our backyard and basement door.  Our next door neighbors, on the other hand, did pay an insane amount to "flood proof" their yard and basement this summer.  This storm should be the ultimate test to see who made the wiser choice.

4.  I am grateful for technology which provides us with relatively accurate forecasts days in advance.   Hundred if not thousands of lives will be saved in this storm alone. Waking up to a monster hurricane in your front window would be terrifying without prior warning.   But knowing a hurricane is probably headed your way a week in advance is a bit unsettling too.  I basically had shopped and prepped on Thursday....forgetting it wasn't coming until Monday.  And then I had to do it all over again this weekend.  It feels like we've been waiting for Sandy to show up for dinner for weeks.

5. I find it ironic that my mom, who is the Goddess of Emergency Preparedness, has never had to touch any of her supplies.  I honestly can't remember the last time her Portland neighborhood even lost power.  Meanwhile, preparedness slackers such as myself and my sister, Katie, in Dallas, Texas, have been dealing with a constant barrage of weather emergencies and all of her goodies would have come in handy.   My sister recently spent a day in her home's "tornado room" with her two young kids while a tornado passed by. Just this year, we've lost our power several times (once for almost a week!) Perhaps someday I'll get my preparedness shista together.

6.  Easy Ed will be spending the duration of the storm in a cushy downtown DC hotel, courtesy of the Post.  I will miss sharing Sandy with him, but I'm glad there is no chance he will have to be out driving in the mayhem.

Wish us lucK!

Me Part 1: Bootcamp

I always post about the boys.  This will be about me.  In fact, I'll make it a series.  The ME series.

Bootcamp.  I've been waking up at 5AM for the past month to attend a bootcamp-type exercise class.  I grew kind-of bored with my running/biking/and occasional yoga routine and I really wasn't improving my speed or conditioning or losing any more weight.  I have friends who have had success with this type of class, so this summer I took a Saturday "try-it-out-for-free"class and I really enjoyed it.

Right now it is a love/hate thing.  I love how I feel immediately after the class (although I often get really sleepy mid-morning).  I love feeling my body get stronger and harder (heard from Asher today: Yeah, Mom.....you don't need to flex your muscles at me any more, you're strong, ok?).  I love being pushed by the instructor (who is more like a coach than a drill sergeant).  It reminds me of playing high school sports which were good times.

On the other hand, when my alarm wakes me up at 5AM, I cry a little.  Sometimes a lot. It is overpriced and I have to DRIVE there....which makes me crazy.  How ridiculous to drive in order to exercise!  But at this point, I couldn't handle the twelve mile roundtrip bike ride on top of that workout!  It is also dark through the entire hour.  I could walk past my instructor and others in the class in the daylight and likely not recognize them.  Often we run along this old railroad-turned-exercise path with our flashlights for part of our workout.  I feel vulnerable in the dark....I'm super afraid I'm going to fall and screw up my knee again or get run over by a bicyclist....or attacked.

And it's been extremely humbling.  I still haven't been able to run a mile below 8:15, which I used to do really easily.  And there is this group that everyone refers to as "the runners."  Most are somewhere between my age and forty-five.  There is one woman who has to be closer to 55 and she is crazy fast. They have been attending daily for years.  They don't talk or smile much because they are too focused on making sure you eat their dirt.  I kind-of hate them, but also want to be one of them.  I thought about it today and I decided that I'm glad they are there.  The last thing I need is to be in a situation where I am the one in the best shape.

But if I ever become a "runner" I will be nicer to the little people.

It is all outdoors.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do come January (brrr....) , but I've decided to take it one month at a time.