Hurricane Preparation

I just spent this morning bringing in all the bird feeders, lawn decorations, wooden edging, bringing in everything from the screened in porch, making ice, doing laundry......ad infinitum.

Lots of stuff fit in the shed. Hopefully IT won't blow away. Meanwhile, the side of the house the shed is on was like a garbage dump. Old bags of mulch, potting soil, overgrown weeds....so I had to weed wack, kill two wasps nests before I could pick up a plastic chair and the piece de resistance:

I went to move the mulch and I did it carefully thinking that something would be under it - and I was right. I pride myself on being cool and calm around critters - I even like to pick up a lot of things other women run from screaming. However, when I moved the mulch, something BIG moved inside the bag - moved fast and exited the hole at the end of the bag. I thought at first it was one of my favorite lizards - the Jungle Runners we have living in our yard - but no. It was a rat. A nice fat one - not mouse sized at all. And it ran right at me, then dove into the shed. I screamed not once, but twice and my daughter came running out. She KNOWS I NEVER scream. Anyway, once I realized what had happened, I left it alone. I figure if it wants to shelter in the shed from this storm - so be it. We can do something about it next week - meanwhile, live and let live. I kept stuffing things in the shed and that was that.

I still have to make the bed, finish laundry, clean the floor
(why, you ask, if the house is going to blow away, am I cleaning? It's because I am a woman and I'm irrational that way, so don't bug me). Once I'm done, I'm going to have copious amounts of wine and then tomorrow when the big blow starts, I will be in a corner somewhere underneath blankets and pillows, rolled in the fetal position. I hate wind. I think I live in the wrong place, n'est pas??? C'est la vie.