Local News Headline: "Nasty Night Coming"

We are gearing up for a big storm here. They are expecting strong winds, snow and perhaps freezing rain. We hooked up the horses to the wagon and went to the local general store to load up on provisions. Ok, we hopped in the van and went to Fred Meyer. Rob, such a gentleman, dropped me at the door and about 20 minutes later finally found a parking spot and the very edge of the lot and skated in to find that I was almost done with our shopping. I made sure we had things that we can cook on the camp stove if needed as the last time we had strong winds, the power was out for a long time. We were lucky to only have it out about 24 hours, others had no power for almost a week.

At the store I ran into one of my neighbors who was so worried about the power and what to do about the food in the fridge. Duh, their garage is totally an icebox right now, probably too cold! I figure the laundry room in my house is a tad bit warmer than the garage, so we can just make that area the fridge. I don't think food spoilage will be an issue.

The store was a zoo. I don't think I've ever been there when they had all 22 registers open. They had 4 u-scans, 4 Express lanes, and the rest were miles long. No one wants to be caught unprepared.

We are prepared with flash lights and candles and logs for a fire. We can cook out doors as long as the wind doesn't knock us down. I have my lexan coffee press and my jet boil stove that boils water in 90 seconds. As long as there is coffee we can survive.

The cats won't like the wind and won't like not having the heat registers blowing on them. But they will survive by cuddling with us. Not that we want to cuddle Figaro. We heard terrible squawking in the back today. Fig had a bird. A beautiful woodpecker. This is the second bird I've seen him with this week. We also had to very large mice left at the door. I know that cats are just doing what cats do, but I still makes me sad. My neighbor to the back, heard the commotion, saw what was going on and closed her curtains. I bet she hates my cats.

Please don't let us lose power. I can deal with the weather, I just hate being without lights and heat!