The Dad and I are not panickers, nor are we preparers. I'd like to say that we go with the flow and live in the moment, but the truth is that we just don't think of these things until the last minute and by then, what's the point? All the bread, milk and eggs are all gone from The Walmarts!
Case in point: Last weekend, during Daughter 2's basketball game, we noticed that the coach was escorting a player over to the sidelines and there appeared to be blood involved, but the game went on and we continued yelling for our little precious's team until the stranger behind us said, "Isn't that your little girl over there with the nose bleed?" Well, of course it is, but we are choosing not to panic.
Another case in point: This week, the meteorologist in the lower 48 states have been predicting massive amounts of snow for our area and pretty much everywhere else in the nation. We should be stocking up on kitty litter and firewood and hot chocolate and candles and matches and blankets and bread and eggs and milk. That's what we should be doing. But it's not at all what we did.
We thought about hitting the grocery store and getting all of our needs supplied just in case we are snowed in for the next three months. We thought about it... then we decided to hit the mall instead. After all, The Daughters were with Nana and we were all alone. Going grocery shopping would be so lame. Hitting the sales at The Gap, though -- that would just intensify our coolness, right?
Then the day of the big storm came. It was due to start late last night. We finished basketball practice (where I was coaching - but that's an entirely different post!) and Daughter 1 and I hit The Walmarts to get fresh blueberries so we could make blueberry muffins, ya know... just in case we actually did get snowed it. We would certainly need something fun to bide our time, right?
To no one's surprise at all, there were no eggs! There was no milk! There was no butter! The bottled water, soda, and beer were completely out of stock! I snickered at how much everyone else in town had completely panicked. I, on the other hand, had my blueberries, and I was totally in control!
We went home where The Dad had allowed the hype to go to his head. "Honey," he said breathlessly, "I've been thinking that we need to get water, just in case the pipes burst."
Then the hype went to my head. "But, but, but -- we just came from The Walmarts and they don't have ANYTHING to drink... not water, not soda, not beer, not milk... nothing! What will we do?"
"OK," The Dad said, taking control, "Let's think: We still have that big water jug that we used for softball. I'll go down to the ice machine north of town and fill this up with water."
Great plan...but, it was just beginning to sleet. So, I kissed my true love goodbye and made him promise that he'd go slowly and that he'd be super careful. No, not just super careful - super duper careful! We packed his vehicle with two extra quilts and he took an extra cell phone just in case his cell phone quit; he'd need a back up. I put a couple of candles in a bag along with a lighter. It'd help light up his way if he needed it and wouldn't that tiny flame maybe provide some sort of heat? Maybe?
And he was off. I paced the house. No, that's not exactly right. I surfed the channels. About three minutes later, I heard the garage door open. Then The Dad appeared, carrying the water jug. It seemed, by the way he was flinging it around, that it was empty.
"Honey!" I exclaimed, just knowing that something must be wrong for him to return to his family water-less, "What's wrong? Why are you home?"
"Well," The Dad began, looking just a little bit sheepish, "I got to thinking. We really don't need to fill up the jug at the ice stand."
Clearly, the man was not following panicking procedure. He needed to stock up on the one thing we could still stock up on!
Then, the dad set the jug down in front of the sink and pulled the sprayer over to the opening. "We can just fill it up from our OWN water."
This, my friends, is why we are not good panickers!
