It's a Sickness Really

I have spent the better portion of my Saturday scrubbing sinks, washing clothes and dusting every nook and cranny in my house. What sparked the sudden industry? Why, there's a hurricane brewing in the Gulf, of course!

When bad weather looms on the horizon, I have an almost manic need to clean and organize my house. I make sure that every stitch of clothing we own is clean and neatly folded or hung in the closet. I steam clean the deck furniture cushions. I go through all of the clothes that have been laying on my closet floor for the last nine three months, and hang them neatly. I clean my window sills and baseboards.

I obsess over the yard, wanting to be sure it gets mowed and trimmed before the storm comes. I even water the plants, knowing all the while that we are going to get more rain than we can use in just a few days.

I take photos of all the rooms to document our stuff for insurance purposes, and make sure that everything is in it's place. I update the portable, red file box with current immunization records, insurance and account information in case we need to leave quickly.

I will do this up until the moment that I am sure that the hurricane will not be close enough to cause any damage. But if it were, you can be sure that no matter the possible damage inflicted on my home, it was clean to begin with. I'm not sure why this is so important to me. Maybe it's just another symptom of my control freakishness. I guess I figure that if everything is clean ahead of time, then there will be less mess to clean up later.

Yeah. I know.

Sigh.

As it stands now, it doesn't look as though Hurricane Gustav is going to cause more trouble than some fallen branches and some heavy rain, but experience has taught me that you can never truly predict where a hurricane is going to make landfall. We have a pretty good idea, but sometimes they make crazy turns and and jumps so we're keeping an eye on the NOAA website.

I wonder if I can convince Trevor to go cut some branches out of the pecan trees in the backyard before Tuesday?