The weather outside is frightful, but at least there's oatmeal cremepies

When foul weather looms, people gather supplies, and food is often at the top of the list. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, bread and milk were the top two staples when a snowstorm was on the horizon. But here in Hurricane Alley, we skip the milk -- the last thing we want to do is pack the fridge with more perishables when we might lose power. We do go for the bread though. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always comforting.

My family has its own traditions when it comes to stocking up for tropical wether. I think it was in 1999 when we first had Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies during a hurricane. I was pregnant, very pregnant, and close to my due date. So when Hurricane Floyd was bearing down on the NC coast, we decided to stay with friends in Wilmington (NC) to be closer to the hospital. No one wants to be stuck on an island, in labor, during a storm, after all. Of course we pooled resources to prepare. They had young children, so they were probably the ones who bought the oatmeal creme pies. We were there for what seemed like weeks as the storm slowly made its way through the area. Really, it was just overnight. I don't even remember why the oatmeal creme pies became a "thing," but they did. It was our inside joke from the whole experience. And to this day, this chewy, sweet snack food is still on our list of needed items when preparing for a storm.

This weekend was no exception. Tropical Storm Hermine was passing by, due to be gone by Saturday morning. Of course we all worked on Friday. Though school was released early, the boy was called in to work a couple of hours late that afternoon. And being the excellent child he is, he brought home the oatmeal creme pies as directed, the large back-to-school pack even. 

Fortunately, Hermine was only a Tropical Storm, but we were fully prepared in any case.