Our first Blizzard of 2015

We are just a few hours away from the predicted blizzard.  Right now, it is the calm before the storm...with an eerie quiet feeling.  Except if you are at the grocery store or gas station!  When I dropped Liam off at Preschool this morning, every gas station in town had a line of 5-6 cars at each pump.  It feels oddly like Christmas Eve, when everyone is bustling about trying to take care of last minute things.

The bulls-eye of the storm seems to be right over Marshfield.  Our snowfall predictions are in the 20-30" range...although some reports have it as high as 36".  Wind gusts are expected to reach 75 mph at times.  We are being told to expect 'long lasting power outages.'  All of the stores are sold out of snow blowers and generators.

Boston Blizzard Forecast

All of this wouldn't be quite so troubling, except for the fact that our generator is not working!  Dave is trying hard to troubleshoot and fix it.  If we lose power and he can't get the generator working, we will be camping out in the family room just like we did in the last blizzard. The propane stove will keep us warm, and we have air mattresses to sleep on.

As you can guess, the kids are very excited about all of this.  Evidently they forgot that it got old REALLY when this happened two years ago.  Last time we bailed after a few days - as soon as we could get out of our driveway, that is - and ended up at our friends' house for two days.  I really hope not to do that this time.

I prepared an emergency kit with flashlights, batteries, a radio, an 'old fashioned' telephone that doesn't require power.... and Oreo's.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday, and froze several plastic water bottles in case the fridge/freezer go out.  If we lose the ability to cook meals, we'll be eating rice pudding, hard boiled eggs, rotisserie chicken, cooked bacon, caramel corn...and lots of sandwiches and fruit/veggies.  And of course, I made a big pot of coffee so at least I can start my morning off right. 

I also went to the library this morning and stocked up on books for everyone.  The laundry is done, so everyone should have plenty of clean clothes to wear. I need to make sure all of our cell phones, iPads and Kindle/Nook are charged up and ready to go.  If we lose power, obviously that means no internet, so I won't be able to update the blog.  I hope I didn't forget anything...

Wish us luck!

UPDATE: Dave fixed the generator!  It sure pays to have a handy husband. We did a practice run this afternoon, a 'fire drill' as Dave called it.  Hopefully all will go smoothly.