It was three weeks ago today that I first learned of Hurricane Charley. I wasn't that worried about it since I wasn't that aware about the damn thing. I was working late at the office (number crunching...not my favorite thing to do) and my sister called and asked if I was ok. I didn't know what she meant by "OK". Turns out she knew more about the upcoming hurricane that I did and she lives in Minnesota!

The next day proved to be even more nerve wracking. As the day progressed and I attempted to work the area became very eerie. I left work in the afternoon to go back to the house to start to prepare. My best friend, 'S' had to evacuate her condo so she evacuated to my place since it's not in an evacuation zone. But screw the zone thing...what about winds!!!

For whatever reason...this is so unlike me...I felt the need to clean. And not just straighten up clean...I mean really scrub the shit outta my place. Spent a shitload of money at the grocery store on crap that I normally wouldn't buy. Course the batteries won't go to waste. Hey, I am a single gal. But I digress.

'S' shows up and we spend the rest of the evening watching the updates on the hurricane as the local channels provided continuous coverage of the storm. It wasn't until Friday morning that we decided to get the hell out of dodge. Packed up the animals, packed up the flashlights, candles, food and water and migrated across the bay to my friend's house...away from the water. (By the way...thanks again, C & D, you guys are wonderful friends for putting all of us up for the night.) My friend and her hubby were just wonderful.

Needless to say...the storm took a turn south of us and we didn't get hit, thank God. Unfortunately the Charlotte county area did get slammed and the storm created a path of destruction diagonally across the state. Exiting Daytona still a catagory 1 hurricane.
What an experience. I slept very hard that night once I knew we were out of danger.

Now, today...another hurricane heads towards Florida. This one on the east coast but supposedly to criss cross the state again in the opposite direction and possibly to affect Tampa Bay. I'm not sure I can take this one.

The anticipation alone is what's killing me. The continuous calls from worried family members. I'm pissed since my sister was supposed to come down here this weekend. But it doesn't seem right to have her and the LP come down only to be in the middle of a hurricane...even a tropical storm. Reschedule that damn trip is what I say. Imagine that...it's actually going to be nicer in Minnesota than it is in Florida. We were going to rent a boat...tool around the Gulf. Just relax. But it's just not going to happen. I'll just have to let it go and accept what is.