Waiting for Rita

We've made all of the preparations and now we sit here waiting. In fact that is all we have done for the past two days- wait. My trusted favorite cat is here with me purring away. The dog is downstairs getting some much needed nap time as all the activity of the past few days has him very confused.
What have we done to prepare? On Thursday, I left work early to hit the grocery store. It helps that I work for someone who is also proned to panic attacks. The grocery store looked like nothing I have ever seen or imagined. There was no bread. They were rolling in large pallets of water but not bothering to stock them on the empty shelves as it took only a few minutes for them to be completely bare. A friend from Cuba says this is what the stores look like in communist countries. On the can veggie aisle my brain just shut down. There was barely anything to choose from and seeing that I am not the veggie eater in our house I just could not decide on what to pick up. I settled on two cans of peas and a can of corn. This strikes Carrie as funny that I only bought three cans of food. On the next aisle I picked up a giant box of Goldfish crackers. Much more my style. Picked up some ground coffeee and fruit then set out to get some kitty litter. There was not one box or bag of litter. I was amazed until it was pointed out to me that plenty of people will be bringing in pets that usually stay outside. Hmm. Something to remember for future disasters.
Yesterday we helped a friend close up her restaurant for what may be the last time depending on the kind of storm this ends up being. She says she will leave it all and move to her home in New Mexico permanently. This was more than somewhat upsetting. We had lunch, filled prescriptions, bought more cigarettes, and came home to wait.
It is the waiting that is killing me. The uncertainty. The constant news coverage. I had a blank diary that someone gave me (it even has a lock) so I began writing in it today. Random thoughts like how we have creamy peanut butter and if I had thought about it I would have picked up some crunchy. I have also been videotaping this event. This afternoon we moved lawn chairs to the end of the driveway to watch our empty streets. Eerie. Tropical Storm Allison snuck up on us. Rita is like that person coming to tickle you. You know they are coming. You are waiting for it to happen. The anticipation is what gets you first. I'm going to take Cat 1 downstairs now and see the latest update. Then I guess we'll wait.