Thankful for electricity

We are experiencing a massive power outage in our area, courtesy of Hurricane Ike. We've never had winds this strong! If the wind gusts were Category 1 hurricane force winds, I can't imagine the damage a real hurricane could cause!

We are so thankful to be fortunate enough to (hopefully) dodge this bullet due to our close proximity to the local substation. I say hopefully because you just never know who could end up losing power while they're trying to restore it! Our neighbor told us that he's lived here for more than 20 years and has only lost power for any extended period only a handful of times.

However, the rest of my family - parents, brothers and sister - are all without power. I took the kids out this morning foraging for provisions for all of them. We waited over an hour for ice! Thank goodness for those great managers at our local Biggs for passing out cookies and bottled water.

Anyway, this situation has caused me to think about stocking up for the winter. Snowstorms and power outages are not uncommon in our area during the winter months (or in March of this year!). While my grocery stockpile should at least provide us something in the event we're snowed in, I'm going to need to start building a stockpile of things like bottled water and batteries. Look for a more detailed post on this topic a little later.