Hurricane preparedness - West Coast style

Half of my heart, and therefore close family and friends, live on the East Coast and know what it means to prepare for a Hurricane or severe storm.  Not the ones you need to evacuate to weather (no pun intended) but the power will probably go out, you'll be home for a few days, cause cabin fever kind of days.  For most people, the emergency survival kits contain the essentials: flashlight, batteries, canned and dry goods, etc...things that you would need if you had to rough it for a few days.  Well, for my family, it would contain all of that plus a few cases of Diet Coke, Jack Daniels, and the fixings for dirty martinis. Our philosophy is, one does not need to give up cocktail hour just because a storm blew into town.

Obviously, hurricanes are not too prevalent on the West Coast so why would I need to prepare for one?  Because, not all storms are tracked by Al Roker or the Weather Channel.  My storm will be arriving from Maine via Delta this evening, awaiting a curbside pick up at the airport. Yes, my mother is coming back to CA for the winter...And, don't worry, my survival kit is packed with all the essentials...tequila, margarita mix, wine, JD, and did I mention wine?

Part of me does feel bad because she is an incredible grandmother...and, at times, really does try to be a good mom.  But, after 4 months of Facebook comments about how life in CA sucks and we should all move to her little coastal town of 12 people, on top of all the other status updates, my quota of nice has been used up!  Fortunately, reinforcements arrive tomorrow when 20 other family members arrive for a backyard barbecue...with more alcohol, of course.    All of this in preparation for the wedding I mentioned earlier in the week. These festivities will keep me a little busy for the next few days but promise to update y'all on the family fun later in the weekend.

For now, hope Hurricane Earl has missed your neck of the woods...and that you don't have your own 2 legged storm blowing in either.