Well, we are finally, maybe, possibly on the back side of this delightful ice storm arctic blast here in Texas. I know everyone knows all the usual tips and tricks for prepping for Winter storms but I'm going to pop in to give you a few more that were new to me and handy as heck, even though we very thankfully only lost power for a total of about 2 hours.
1. Drip yo' faucets! Fo shizzle...I mean it should go without saying but man, some people never learn. Listen, I live in the land of $500+ water bills in the summer so I don't like to run any unnecessary water but like the Hubster said, $20 extra on your water bill is better than goodness knows what for busted water lines. Live in an apartment and think this doesn't apply to you....WRONG, ask the Merebear about that.
2. This is for us more mature people and I can't believe I never thought of it before. If you have an adjustable bed and you have a certain position you like that bed to be in to sleep, then put it in that position and leave it. If the power goes out, at least you are comfortable under the covers. Yeah, the bed looks funny when you make it up but it ain't like anybody coming calling on you is there?
3. Clean up the house BEFORE the bad weather. Listen, we all turn into veggies when we are stuck in the house and it's a tundra outside and you can tell yourself you'll clean but you know you won't. Go ahead do a nice quick clean before the storm arrives and you can veg out without looking at the dog hair and dust bunnies on everything. I said quick clean, not scrub the baseboards clean unless you enjoy that then by all means, proceed. If you are like me and have one of those amazing cordless vacuums, make sure you are all charged up, if the power goes out and someone makes a mess that needs to be vacuumed up, you've got the power to take care of it.
4. While we are at it, get all that laundry done. Sure, the power may never go out and you could have more than enough time to get all that laundry done but listen, all those winter clothes are bulky. They pile up quickly, especially if you've got littles running in and out playing in the snow. Start the storm out with an empty laundry basket and you don't have to pause your movie to get up and move a load or if the power goes out, everyone's got clean underwear.
5. Cook...everything you might want for the duration of the storm. Listen, this won't work for a hurricane but if you've got frigid temps then you have all the outdoor refrigeration you could need. I might add, you should probably have a gas stove for this to apply in the event of a power outage. I spent all day last Friday cooking meals for us and then they just went outside to the patio, covered of course. They were frozen solid and if the power had gone out, I wouldn't have had to open and close the refrigerator to get out food. This also frees you up to do fun baking things as long as you have power. Dinner is already done, so get in the kitchen and pretend Paul Hollywood is waiting for his dessert. Cookie baking is way more fun than dinner making.
6. Fill up your cars with gas, even if you know you won't be going anywhere. We learned this in Snowmaggedon. If you are without power for several days you can go to your car and get warm and charge your cell phones. Just make sure to open the garage door or back the car out of the garage. Let's be safe out there kids.
7. If you have a septic system, cover your septic sprayers with a big 5 gallon bucket. It'll create a nice warm air pocket so your sprayers will continue to to go off. Nobody wants to be out in single digit temps trying to unfreeze your septic sprayers and your neighbors will appreciate you not stinking up the neighborhood when those things finally do go off.
8. If your power goes out and comes back on, make sure you check your breakers. Our power went out a couple of times yesterday and once when it came back on it popped the breaker that runs the heater for the greenhouse. Thankfully I was out with the dog and walked over to check to see how the temp was holding in the greenhouse. This same breaker is the one with our big freezer and garage refrigerator so that could've been a mess.
9. Speaking of freezers, put a bowl with some water in your freezers. Let that water freeze then drop a coin on top. If your power goes out, you've got a quick easy way to check to see how much unthawing occurred. Nobody wants spoiled food.
10. Coffee....ok, let's be real in the scheme of things this may not seem too important but if you are a coffee drinker it's important indeed. I drink one cup every morning, not a lot and I enjoy it, every sip I enjoy. Since we have a gas stovetop, I had a friend who loves antiquing and thrifting hunt me down an old corning stovetop percolator. Friday I hopped online and found the directions of how to percolate coffee and taped them to the inside of the coffee cabinet. Now they are where I'll see them anytime I might need them. I also saw some people say that they boiled water and put it in a thermos type container and would do a pour over or use those handy little instant packets you can buy. Whatever works for you but there's no since in having that lack of caffeine headache if you can avoid it.
11. Wash your hair. Yeah, you heard me, just before the storm is set to hit, go ahead and wash and dry your hair. Don't say, oh I've got another day or two before I need to do that because sometimes that day or two turns into 3 or 4 or more and then you are over here looking like a greaseball. Some lessons are learned the hard way. 
12. Here in Texas we don't winterize our pools, they stay "open" year round so if the weather is going to be super cold and there's a potential for power outages, drain your pool filters. It takes Hubster about 5 minutes to do this, then we shut the power off to the pool. Believe me when I say, you only learn this lesson once. Replacing frozen pipes/parts on pool equipment is not cheap nor fun. We also threw a couple of pool noodles in the pool to give the ice some obstacles. Also, best to do this in the daylight before it happens as opposed to hearing your power go out at 3 in the morning and knowing it's single digits outside and your pipes are gonna go.
13. Take a hot shower as soon as you get up or before bed if you have power. At least you'll get a nice warm shower in if the power goes out and just like underwear, everyone likes to be clean.
14. PLEASE for all that is good and holy do not run your space heaters at night. Let's not burn the place down. Also, if you are running your gas fireplaces nonstop, make sure you open up the door/window for a few minutes to get some fresh air flowing in the house. Once again, let's be safe kiddos.
15. Get some fresh air, every day. If you've got pets then this won't be too hard as they have to go outside to do their business anyway so go out with them. Bundle up and get outside for a minute or two. I know it's cold out there but go get a good brisk breath of fresh air, fill up the bird feeders, stand there and listen to the quiet, I promise you'll feel better. We took the dogs on a short little walk yesterday and it's the first time I've left my yard since last Thursday. Just be slow and safe, we have a dusting of snow over the top of a LOT of ice so it's slippery but the dogs appreciated the time out of the house as much as we did.
My last little tip is CHILL the you know what out! Seriously, your house is going to get messy, you are going to watch too much crappy television, eat way too many carbohydrates but it's ok. Read a book, watch tv, play some games, take a hot bath, drink wine, eat cookies, whatever floats your boat but relax. You can't go anywhere so cuddle up under a blanket, pet the dog a little longer and enjoy it. It'll be gone soon enough and we'll all be running around doing a million things wishing we had time to just sit down and do nothing, take your chance while you've got it.
Take care my peeps, stay warm and take care of each other!
Samma
P.s. One final tip, fill up the bird feeders. You will be rewarded with so many happy birds in your yard. And hey, if you need some fresh air, go refill those feeders. Birds need love too!
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