Preparing by slicing

The winds are already blowing as I quickly respond to Stacy's "early shout out to slicers!"  The forecasters and politicians have assured us that we need to hunker down for this Frankenstorm and we are; however, my preparations were certainly as unique as my life. 

So what did I do?

• Brought and delivered lanterns, candles in safe containers, and pre-made meals to my elderly mom and aunt (yes they have stores nearby, but the store bought blueberry muffins would signal love during the potential blackout time).
• Brought and delivered candles, batteries and biscottis to my children in northern New Jersey (yes they do have that stuff there - most within walking distance - but the stop allowed me to have a rice-paper sushi lunch).
• Emailed family members reminding them we have a GENERATOR this time (knowing full well the kids are saying, "Why did you wait so long to get one?")
• Rescued my visiting cousin from her lower Manhattan apartment and brought her to our home in a place called (really) "Storm"ville instead of STAYING in the city and catching some great Turkish food and a Broadway show (thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Mayor had fallen victim to all the hype and was shutting things down too soon).
• Scanned a zillion weather maps and acted like I knew what they meant (even though I am not a meteorologist).
• Watch way too much scary coverage of the storm (even though I know it is a form of entertainment and that we all need to "know" what is happening around us.)
• Questioned if the generator was ready to go, just in case (knowing we bought it after last year's epic storms left us for weeks without power and that he had spent weeks setting things up to be ready)
• Slept fitfully wondering why there wasn't more wind and when it would come (even getting up to check the radar weather on the Internet)
• Laundry and the dishes (we will need clean undies and forks no matter what happens)
• Got the Scrabble board and some books ready to go.(first game cousin 304, me 299, but in my defense we were tied at 300-300 at the very end...she's good...rematch soon)
• SLICED (My virtual friends are in my thoughts and prayers wherever you are)
• Prayed for those in harms' way (specially the homeless, the frail, the elderly and infirm who are most impacted by such a stressful storm) wherever they are.

So what did I not do?

• Buy milk, eggs, bread (we have food, water [and wine] to last for quite a while and if the power is out for more than a few days, we will need to cook and eat some of what we have in the fridge and freezer!)