got it :-) Lucy

Spelling doesn;'t count in a storn but SAFETY does. Ensure you have an evacuation plan. Remember that others will be attempting to leave the same route you may have planned and you could get into a gridlock on the highway. LEAVE EARLY. You can always come home if the storm bypasses you. Have your necessary documents and family papers in as water tight box that you can store them in. Leave them in this box year round so that you can pick it up and go. Store family pictures on disk and be ready to pick them up and go. Have sufficient prescription medication on hand to cover you for a week and have written prescritions from your doctor in case we suffer like New Orleans did. HAVE CASH - can not say that often enough Take pictures of your garden so that you can remember it the way it was in case of the worst. Remember, we have warnings with hurricanes and can prepare and leave. With tornadoes we have no warning. GET OUT AND STAY OUT when law enforcement tells you to. YOUR property is not worth your life. We would miss you terribly and would not have you to sommiserate with after the storm. Stay in communication with family and friends. Cell phones may not work after a storm nor phones. You may have to contact the American Red Cross so they can send a ham radio message to the chapter where your family lives to let them know you are okay. DO NO PROCRASTINATE Remember this is a tropical area and after a storm and immediately before one supplies will be hard to come by. KEEP LOTS AND LOTS OF INSECT SPRAY FOR AFTER THE STORM You will need it in the steamy hungle that will be your life for a while. Others, please add your tips.

Great thread. My family gave up giving gifts to each other some when we were in our 50s - we all have too much stuff, so we visit each other instead. But I recently married a man whose family is into expensive presents of clothing and jewelry and expensive technology. He, and they, have given me some beautiful things which are not to my taste and I will never use. Some I have been able to exchange - the problem is that I have too much as it is and am trying to have less, not more. So exchanging doesn't work for me. My husband has refused to pass on my suggestions of more practical gifts (like an outdoor compost bin). I am going to try telling my husband that every time he buys me a piece of clothing or jewelry I am going to have to give away something I already have. He knows I am down to what I really love. We are also about to combine households next month, which means paring down even further. Maybe that will make him change his view!

Good for you! I think the gift card is the best idea but also it would be nice if you could treat yourself to something you wouldn't normally buy because of the cost. I would love to be able to buy fresh flowers every week but can't afford them so if I had the gift card I could do that. I am with SamKaren. LOL I would end up spending most of it on cat and dog food, pet treats and kitty litter. I would get items to stock my pantry-things that can be used throughout the year. I wouldn't buy meat - steak around here runs around $9.00 a pound when not on sale so I have gotten used to not buying it. I hope you get a gift card but make sure you buy yourself something for a treat and not for just everyday food items. Anne