The Hurricane Matthew
Sums up yesterday pretty succinctly.
Someday, she'll learn whatever law of physics that states toddlers cannot drink a smoothie from their cup while lying on their back.
We woke up yesterday with a few more things on our hurricane 101 checklist to complete. We were anticipating a very strong storm hitting us almost directly, which put a lot of pressure on both Adam and myself. For most of the morning, we were short with each other, I was quick to annoyance with Amelia, and my face was at war with me - you'd think I was back in high school with the new blemishes covering my skin. Uh! The stress level was worse than we ever should've let it become, but we finally hunkered down in the early afternoon following an apology from each of us to each other and both to Amelia. With all that's happened in the past two weeks, I'm thankful that we were able to look each other in the eyes after the added exhaustion of preparing and say, "I'm sorry."
By noon, we'd completed all the work needed to be done outside and by 6PM, we had spaghetti prepared, fearing that if we'd waited any later to cook, we'd risk losing power and not having a meal to go into the night. We had also finally finished filling all the water jugs, filling all the bathtubs (which I twice almost overflowed), charging our phones, and cooking all the noodles and rice we'd need for the upcoming days without power.
And the very last preparation - a GoPro stand that Adam screwed into a palm tree at the front of the house. Because that's definitely on the Hurricane 101 checklist.
Right around 7PM, the power flickered a few times and then, it was lights out for the Conleys for the rest of the night. At that time, the storm wasn't even close to what it would be in the upcoming hours, but because a transformer blew down the road, we were left in the dark earlier than almost anyone. At the time, Amelia was actually finishing up dinner and those last few bites of sweet tater were consumed by the light of a flashlight...a flashlight that quickly became her most prized possession.
An hour in and we were all smiles!
One thing I hadn't looked up (which is saying a lot because I basically spent two straight days researching what we needed to prepare before a hurricane!!!) was how long food can last in your fridge without power before it goes bad. Fearing that we didn't have much time, we got the coolers ready and Amelia helped us save all our food. SO happy we ran across this tip to make ice last longer: freeze water in jugs, as it melts much slower than cubed ice!
Two hours in: so far, so good!
We made several trips to the front of the house where our only non-shuttered window (it has a built-on hurricane screen that is never removed) gave us a view of what was happening outside. Most homeowners around here have the metal shutters that are screwed onto their house, making it impossible to see the outside world without opening their front door. We were thankful to have this little ray of light dark, as Amelia was able to watch the palm trees dancing in the wind.
Around 9:30, Amelia was getting sleepy and the storm hadn't really picked up yet, so we quickly got her ready for bed. In our bedroom, there are three small windows that also have the hurricane screens instead of shutters, so before we tucked Mimi in, we hopped up onto the bed and peered outside to get a glimpse of the backyard. That's when we noticed this. A crack in our window!!! I was panicked and very upset. We've never - in the year that we've been here, opened these blinds because we like sleeping in as dark a room as possible. And so, we had no idea that the window was broken! Because we had no power, I couldn't use the internet, so I texted my mom and sister, asking them to research the best remedy to this awful situation. At this point, we were still anticipating a CATEGORY 4 hurricane rocking our city, so I was distraught. Our first instinct was duct tape. They both texted back with the same conclusion. We spent the next 15 minutes taping and reinforcing that cracked window and decided that nobody was going to sleep in our bedroom.
So, to the living room we moved!
We shut the blinds in the bedroom, removed our toiletries from the bathroom, and closed the door on our room for the duration of the night. If anything were to happen in that bedroom, we weren't taking any chances on being in there. Amelia was giddy about the change and hopped into bed with a smile on her face. She slept the whole night through. From 9:45 to 10:15AM.
With only one place in the house that we wanted to be, Adam and I cuddled up on the bed in the guest bedroom and watched the storm through the window. We talked all night. It was everything we needed to be together, alone, and without any distractions. Well, besides the 70MPH wind gusts outside. We reflected on the year, the end of the season, Jose's life, Ale, our parents, our child and future children, our siblings, our friends, and most of all, our God. It was one of my favorite memories in our marriage and I woke up this morning feeling so grateful to the God I serve for bringing me to the man I love. We also talked about my grandparents after this little critter skittered across the window screen. My Papa loves these little lizards and it made us smile watching him dance to and fro. We call all the little lizards we see in Florida "Riz."
By midnight, we'd been given the praiseworthy information - while playing a game of Gin Rummy (my Dad's favorite) - that the storm unexpectedly stayed off the coast further than we were anticipating. What was supposed to be the eyewall passing through our town was a hurricane that wasn't dictated by the paths of a weatherman. We were ecstatic by the news and thanked God immediately for His protection and favor during one of the most stressful nights of my life. We only ended up experiencing maybe 70MPH winds, hardly any rain, and very very minimal damage in comparison to the havoc Category 4s are known to bring. We are thankful but do realized that our diversion was another's woe. And so, we pray for the families and people affected by the storm that they maybe weren't expecting, continue praying for those already affected, and plan on sending aid to those most desperate for relief.
Our first hurricane experience was once we'll treasure forever. It was easy on us, gave us new perspectives, and brought us closer together as a family. Thank you Jesus!
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