Evacuation: What I got WRONG

Evacuation: What I got WRONG!

I should have given my husband a lingering kiss goodbye instead of rushing off to try to get out while we still could. It sounds melodramatic, but I don’t know if I’ll see him ever again. This is by far the worst part of all this for my heart.  (He’s essential personnel and had to stay)

I only had a barebones packing list. Packing consisted of grabbing cloth bags and running around the house randomly throwing things in. Apparently no rushed packing job is complete unless I forget one child’s underwear. After forgetting BOTH kids underwear for a 5-day trip over Easter, they both now know the meaning of “Going Commando” so it’s all good 😉

I should have bought airline tickets out while I still could (and before they went up to $2-3,000 each one way!) without talking to my husband. By the time he woke up for his night shift Tuesday pm, the tickets were all gone. And maybe I should have just bought two and flown the kids alone up to NY to my in-laws so I could have stayed behind to help as medical personnel?

I forgot to pack our wedding album! (Yet I managed to bring our massive folder of all our documentation for credentialing and my mom’s genealogy books)

I should have posted a FB status update that I was evacuating. During the entire 11-hour trip north (normally 5.5 hours!), my phone was blowing up with people checking on us.

I should have listened to my gut. About a month ago, I felt a VERY strong desire to buy a camper. I think Someone smarter than me was telling me I’d need it. Like to drive to Tennessee to camp right about now! For various reason I talked myself out of buying it.

In that vein, be careful what you pray for! Recently I prayed to have more patience with my boys. I’ve now been put in a situation where I really need to be patient.

I gave up chocolate; coffee and alcohol recently for a month long “cleanse” to try to get my reflux under control. The coffee’s been the worst. I finally gave up and drank two cups today just.to.make.it.through.the.day.

Thought I was doing great when the kids didn’t ask for the iPads for the first two hours of the road trip yesterday. But then their interest in their educational apps (that would function without internet, which was few) waned after 20 minutes. Doh! I had forgotten to load the Lego app on their iPads before we left!

I should have brought more books for the kids!

I didn’t bring enough clothes (see above about underwear). I thought we’d be returning home sooner. It’s looking like we have to stay another day.

I feel absolutely drained from lack of sleep the past three nights. The first two nights my mind was whirling with everything that had to be done or I stayed up late to pack. The first night at our airbnb place I thought I’d sleep well but I didn’t. A lot of it was because I was so dehydrated from not drinking much during the evacuation. I kept waking up all night, guzzling water and peeing. I think I need to dig out a sleeping pill tonight.

I let the kids stay up until 10:30 last night (the first night at our airbnb). This after waking them up an hour early to hit the road yesterday. Not wise! They still woke up at their regular time like.all.young.kids.do! They’ve been troopers today but they’re still dragging.

And the nagging feeling of “did I do the right thing?” never leaves you…..