Hurricane Irene Prep

I cleared the yard, secured my DD's play house and sandbox with duct tape, bought food, bought water, and now I'm doing the last of the laundry. I still have to fold up our small canopy frame, find a place for a sheet of plywood in the shed, and put the recycling bin in the shed as well. The last things to do are to pick up the stuff in the house, make a meal, get our showers and baths, clean the tub and fill it with water, then hope and pray for the best. I'll be bringing our cat Gizmo in when the rain starts coming down. He's an outdoor cat and hates to be stuck inside, so it won't be fun for him, but it's better than him drowning outside when the wind and rain hits. We haven't been evacuated and I feel a little better knowing that the college right across from us has been designated as an evacuation site. We were going to go up to my sisnlaw's, but hubby says he wants to stay here. I'm still worried about those huge trees of my neighbors coming down on our house. I'm also thinking of all the scum who will make their way into evacuated areas and ransack those homes. Oy! I'm doing too much thinking. And when the power goes out, it will get hot and sticky and we won't be able to open the windows due to the wind and rain. I wish Irene would veer further off the Jersey shore. I'm not a happy camper with her coming to visit.