I grew up in Orlando, Florida, home of Mickey Mouse and humid heat. I grew up with rain, hurricanes, and power outages.  I’m no stranger to tracking a storm and preparing for the worst.

However DC knows more about snow than rain, and this was no snow-storm. The DC folk know this area barely prepares to deal with snow, either. ::coughSnowpacolypsecough::

Sunday afternoon we met with friends for a brunch which turned boozy once the official “school is canceled” email arrived.  Shortly after we headed to the grocery for essentials.  A quick piece of advice: if you are storm-shopping while tipsy, make a written list first. A paper list serves as a tangible item while getting distracted, oh candy, by every shiny, oh beer, thing. Even when waiting for a good half-hour-plus in line while one of us kept our spot and the other ran to grab random items, we still managed to forget eggs, flour, and bananas.

Monday proved wet, windy, and all around dreary.  We attempted to catch anything normal on cable TV, yet even our beloved Price is Right disappeared when more storm coverage replaced it.  We broke down before our satellite reception went out (which shockingly stayed solid the entire storm) and turned to DVR’d versions of “we’ll watch it one day” movies.

At some point we agreed the day off needed some work, and reluctantly tackled emails and graded papers. I even changed out of pajamas and into yoga pants and a (sports) bra.  Please worry not, as about two hours later I put my jammers back on for a true winner’s clothing cycle.

Thank goodness for helpful neighbors with stocked cabinets in our condo building.  No unscheduled day off is complete without homemade chocolate chip cookies.  See also: warm kitty cuddles and nail painting (separately, with ample nail drying time).  Divine.

Things I learned during the Super Storm/Franken-Storm/Hurricane Sandy/Post Tropical Cyclone:

• Connecticut is right under Massachusetts and next to New York, not Vermont.
• Bringing warm cookies to a neighbor makes for good bartering.
• You can put a raincoat on a dog, but you can’t take the thunder-phobia out of it.
• My car remains waterproof.
• Dogs do not like to pee in 50 mph wind gusts.
• Humans do not like 50 mph wind gusts.
• “Sub Tropical” is a real thing.
• DO NOT PACK AWAY YOUR BOARD GAMES WHEN YOUR HOUSE IS FOR SALE.  (all caps necessary)
• Never leave your work computer at work.
• Two people can create enough dirty dishes to fill a clean dishwasher in only two days home.

Once we found out Sandy gave us Tuesday off from work, the wine flowed freely.  Let’s be honest here, what else can you do after a certain amount of time inside?  Don’t answer that.

And through the entire storm my man remained by my side, not only because he wanted to, but because it’s awfully hard to leave on a business trip to go somewhere flooded.  While my heart aches for all those more gravely affected by the storm, I sure felt pleased to spend extra time with my husband. His eleven day work trip shortened to six days.  I can deal with six days apart (I think).

Sure the storm knocked every little last leaf from the trees, but it painted the sidewalk beautiful shades of fall.

We made it through safely and remain dry, for that I am thankful.