Ana headed to Minneapolis today for work.  She’ll be gone until Thursday afternoon so it’ll be pretty quiet around the house.

We’re under a blizzard warning and will be for the next 19 hours or so.  No precipitation yet, but it’s supposed to start raining shortly, followed by snow around 2am, and continue to snow until late afternoon/early evening tomorrow.

Let’s see, in one week we’ve gone from two F2 tornadoes to 70 degree days to a blizzard.  Ah, Illinois weather.

A couple years ago, Ana and I spent a weekend putting together a home emergency kit.  We used literature from various sources like the Red Cross and Ready.Gov and ended up with what seems to be a fairily thorough package.  It’s contained in one of those large rubbermaid tubs and has everything from cat food and dishes to first aid kits, flashlights and anti-bacterial wipes.   Sunday night was the first time we’ve had to crack it open – for a radio, some batteries, and another flashlight.  Everything in it is packed for ease of access, so one ziplock bag had a flashlight and a package of batteries that run the flashlight.  I’m glad we didn’t need it for more, obviously, but just having those things in one place kept us from running througout the house when we needed to be in the basement.

We’ve since looked at the spreadsheet of its contents and realized there are a few items that are near expiring, so we’ll be heading to the store today to replace them as well as the batteries we used this week. I felt rather stupid putting the thing together but it was one less thing to worry about as we hunkered down in the basement.

Since the storms and tornadoes rolled through Springfield last Sunday night, I’ve been looking around online at generators.  The kind that hook up to the natural gas line and kick on immediately are very tempting – and starting at around $1800 makes them a definite option.  But, I know deep down that it’s overkill so most likely won’t get one of those.  Instead I’m sure I’ll end up with a typical gas powered portable.  Nowhere near is cool, but would still keep me from bailing water the next time we don’t have electricity.

A generator in combination with a battery backup sump pump, and a regular spare pump should get us setup how I want.  I’ve been saying for months how I at least needed to have a second pump on hand for when my current one decides to crap out.

As many of you are aware, the Springfield area was hit pretty hard by 2 tornados late Sunday night.  Each of these destroyed parts of the city.  While there are some areas that are now completely unrecognizable, I wanted to let you know that we were left untouched.  We heard the winds and the transformer blow, but there was no damage to our house or the houses of our family members who also live in town.  I thank God that no one in the family was greatly effected and that no one in the city was killed. 

I’m sitting here working with my window open listening to the light rain outside, and the birds chirping away.  It may look like crap outside, but it sure sounds great.

I just wanted to submit my first post as a hello to all who read the Johnson Blog.  Now that I have my own password I will make a point to post regularly.