Wanted: Snuggles

There's a lot of things I crossed off my hurricane supply list: 9-volt battery for my alarm clock that has a radio, brightly colored duct tape to make safety Xs on the windows, bread, non-perishables like granola bars, chips, crackers, candy, all the bottles of water in all the world. All check. There are flashlights on every floor. I gathered every candle (I think there are almost 40) in my house and piled them on my mom's dresser, along with a lighter and two half-empty giant boxes of matches. We brought in all the random crap from the backyard and put it in the basement. I have all the board games gathered in the living room, my GRE prep book spread out on the dining room table, two fun books to read next to it when I need a break. My cell phone and MP3 player are fully charged. I will fill one of the two bathtubs with water tomorrow afternoon in case we lose water pressure.

...Maya Reid don't play. I am generally a rather anxious person, and when NJ is facing a land-hit by a hurricane for the first time in 108 years, I feel like it's the day before we found out about college admissions all over again. My stomach is in KNOTS. I'm as prepared as I can be, I know. There's nothing else I can do, I know.

But my grandmother and my mom's ex I'm still in I-want-you-to-be-my-daddy with live in mandatory evacuation zones and aren't leaving. *increases worry* My mom is already having some fairly serious car trouble, so the possibility of flooding could do us in transportation-wise. *increases worry* There's a leaky window in my mom's bedroom and our roof has problems from time to time. *increases worry* My area is just entirely unprepared for something like this. *increases worry*  

I read a news article earlier saying Atlantic City Electric is warning people to prepare for power outages that could last for days. *increases worry*

Some official from Cape May County has said on the news [this is a paraphrase], "To all the people ignoring the evacuation, who want to try to ride it out, this is what you need to do. Get an index card, write your name, address, SSN, next of kin, and next of kin's phone number on it, and put it in the bottom of your shoe. We'll need it to identify your body." *increases worry*

Governor Christie said on the news this evening, "Get the hell off the beach." That's a direct quote. *increases worry*

And see, there's one thing on my emergency preparedness list that I can't get [well, okay, one thing in addition to a backup generator, a gas stove instead of the electric one we have, and a landline telephone]...someone to cuddle with me during the whole thing. [My family isn't a touchy-feely people. They give me major side-eye when I even want hugs.] I want to wear the necklace my best friend got me for my 16th birthday because it makes me feel safe. I want to wrap myself in the quilt my grandmother altered for me. And I want someone's arms around me, want them so bad it hurts. But I will settle for my two teddy bears from my father, one given to me the day after I was born, and the second given to me the day I graduated from high school. I know it's stupid to think this stuff will protect me, but...I'm a silly sentimental woman most of the time.

And maybe this isn't the most eloquent way to say it, but I'm scared SHITLESS.

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UPDATE: GREG IS COMING HERE TO SURVIVE THE STORM. IRENE, YOU HAVE MADE MY LIFE WONDERFUL.