Ignorant Historian

Well, Irene turned out to be fairly easy on us here in Raleigh. We only go her outer edge. In fact, if I had been just 10 or 20 miles further west, I would have seen significantly less, if anything at all.

Power stayed on at my apartment, so I didn’t get to take advantage of my emergency supplies:

But I still got a good bit of reading done, while watching the hurricane coverage.

I actually enjoyed the weather Irene brought. All day Saturday as she was pounding us, it was in the 70s. I opened my windows wide–until the wind shifted and started blowing the rain in. Still, I was able to keep one or two windows open all day.

Though I avoided power loss at home, the church is another story. I volunteer at our church’s food pantry on Saturday mornings, and when I went in to do my shift, found that the church wasn’t at full power. I don’t quite understand how it works, but somehow our church was at 1/3 power. What that means: no A/C. Made for a lot of improvising on Sunday, but everything worked out.

While the winds here were fairly mild as far as hurricanes go, we did get occasional gusts up into the 40 mph range. At one point, these winds were whipping around the corner of my apartment building and knocked over one of my tomato plants:

Not bad at all. I don’t think it’s an accident when a storm like Irene weakens just before it makes land (remember Katrina did the same thing). I think that we can only attribute that to the mercy of God.

Even if you don’t live on the US East Coast, you’ve probably heard that Hurricane Irene is heading our way. As I write this post (Thursday afternoon) it appears like it’ll make landfall here in North Carolina as it skirts the Eastern coast.

What does that mean for us in Raleigh? Rain, for sure, unless it unexpectedly heads way east. Probably a couple of inches. Wind gusts too—something this city is absolutely not built for.

As these things go, it’s still possible for Irene to hit us more head on. In which case, we’ll get more rain and stronger winds.

This may be my closest encounter to a hurricane to date. I’ve always been more of a tornado girl, you know? I think we’ve had a couple of tropical depressions coming through here, but nothing as big as Irene is.

Whatever comes, I’m ready. I always keep 4 gallons of water in my fridge. My emergency supply of water doubles as a money saving technique, as a full fridge costs less to keep cool. I also have an impossibly lot of non-perishable food that could easily feed for a month.

But more than water and food, I’ve got the essential covered: I have a great book light with lots of  extra batteries. I have a flashlight, too, but I have a feeling the book light will be used more.

Because if the power goes out, I’m totally turning this into a readathon. What else would I do without electricity?

Updates to come via Twitter. Yes, I’ll be tweeting with the power out (assuming the cell tower is in working order). I’ll try to keep my phone usage to a minimum to save battery, but I can always recharge in the car if needed, right?

Photo Credit: Hurricane Irene 8/24/2011 by NASA Goddard

1.  If you had to purchase all your friends’ gifts at one store for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Does Amazon count? Because that’s pretty much where I buy the bulk of my gifts. If I had to pick a brick and mortar store, I guess I’d choose Target…at least it’s my favorite place to buy stuff for myself.

2.  What is more difficult for you: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when they are telling you how they feel?

Looking into someone’s eyes when they’re talking to me. Because I don’t know what they’re going to say, but I (usually) know what I’m going to say to someone else.

3. Not counting in the midst of a storm, where’s the windiest place you’ve been?

Definitely where I grew up: Wichita, Kansas.  It’s pretty much always windy there, and is like the 7th windiest city in the United States.  I remember watching outdoor scenes in movies growing up and thinking how fake they were because they wouldn’t have wind.  I didn’t realize that in many places, wind is abnormal and not an everyday thing.

Now, any time it’s windy, it reminds me of home.

4.  In what way is today better than yesterday?

I’m wearing socks that match my outfit. Yesterday I accidentally wore white socks with brown pants and shoes, and it bugged me all day.

5.  Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Yes, but probably not because I blog, but because I’ve graduated and all that.  Though reading book blogs has made my TBR list huge.

Do you like rainy days or snowy winter days more?

Snowy days if I get to stay indoors.  If I have to be out in it, I like the rain.  Actually, being out in the rain often makes me laugh-out-loud happy; I don’t know why.

Tell me about something you really regret?

Joining the masses in being mean to classmates in middle school.  I don’t even think it occurred to me that the rumors I heard and spread probably weren’t true.

Tell me about your favorite music?

My favorite singer is Collin Raye as I love his voice.  My favorite band is Maroon 5 (I’m surprised my copy of “Songs about Jane” still works), though I wish their lyrics on their latest CD were cleaner.  I love the goofy play-on-words lyrics to Barenaked Ladies’ songs.  I tend to like pop-y stuff and have a recent obsession with the music of Disney stars Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.  My favorite worship music is Sovereign Grace’s “Sons and Daughters” CD.

What is something or someone you miss the most from childhood?

Being a part of a close family…doing things together and having people around to talk to.  Not that I don’t love my independence now, but I miss that.

Are you the kind of person that you would want to have as a friend?

Absolutely not.  I tend not to like people like myself (and they tend not to like me).  We can be acquaintances, but will likely never be good friends.

Another Snowy Saturday and I’ll Scream

Oh my, this weekend was exactly what I needed after a crazy 3 months of travel, emotional highs and lows, sickness, and more work than I felt like I could handle at the time.

Start of the weekend: Friday was a good-busy day at work with an encouraging visit from a big boss and full of “snow day” excitement. That really doesn’t go away when you grow up, does it? Oh yeah, and did I mention, I got a raise? After work the day got better as I got to go HOME. As much as I love the people in my small group, I was craving time away from people.

Saturday we woke up to a blanket of snow, and the cold stuff still falling (actually, a lot of sleet later in the day). I do love snow…as long as it stays outside and I stay in. Still haven’t touched the stuff (though I’m going to have to make a run out to my car to get another can of Diet Dr Pepper this morning). Spent the day doing a little laundry and a lot of reading. Started The Help…so good!

Sunday church was cancelled and the city was just starting to wake up from the snow.  Five inches of snow may seem like nothing to others, but that’s a lot here in the South when we don’t have the capabilities to do much with it.  Another day of reading The Help, with a short break to watch Hairspray with the roommate.

And then today, the party continues.  Of course, I can’t quite neglect work like I have the last two days, but I really just need to make a few calls to cancel our appointments and handle any new emails/voice mails that come in.  All which can be handled here without leaving my comfy reading chair.

I will be going back to work tomorrow, possibly.  Though honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancel school again (I don’t work in a school, but that’s how we determine if we’re open or closed for taxes).  Even if I have to go in to work, it’ll be at noon at our yet non-busy site.  Not bad!  When this is all over, I’ll be ready to be around people again.

A Three-Day Indoor Vacation? Please!

It’s weird having gone three weekdays without a word on the blog.  I just don’t have the energy to say anything and not much to say.  I’m looking forward to a slow weekend to rest from people.

I’ve slept about 9 hours every night this week, and I’m still exhausted.  I don’t think it’s from lack of sleep at this point, just an over-stimulus from people.  Weddings, traveling, and tax season are all full of people…a lot for this introvert.

We’re expected to get 5-7 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.  I really hope it happens, because I want an excuse to never leave home.  Nobody is scheduling tax appointments for later this afternoon, just in case.

Tax season is going well.  As in the past, I’m loving it, even though it leaves me exhausted.

I hope you all have an excellent weekend…I hope to be back to myself come Monday!

Yesterday went smoothly, though it was pleasantly exhausting.  I love my job…have I mentioned that before?  Seeing the joy in someone’s face as they know they won’t have to pay as much as $500 to get their money back is priceless.  I also have had several returning clients get so excited to find out that I’m still here as they want me to do their taxes again!  Makes your day to be wanted like that.

This’ll be a short week as tomorrow night I’ll be flying out of here (barring snow!…though it’s not in the forecast).  The last two times I’ve tried to leave the state, the weather has changed my plans.  On top of that, it thundered here on Sunday, and people here in North Carolina say that means that it’ll snow in 7 days.  Have you heard that saying?  I haven’t, and neither had my friend who’s from Pennsylvania.  Is it just a North Carolina thing or have you heard of it, too?

I’m looking forward to this trip as almost all my extended family will be there.  While obviously my brother Riley and Amanda will be in focus as the groom and bride (I know that we don’t say it that way usually, but if I say it the other way, it’ll look like I’m calling my brother the bride!), we’ll also get some good family time in, too.  I took good notes on how to be a good Maid of Honor at my last wedding, so I hope I’m up to snuff!