That’s for sure. I bought a generator just in case, but fortunately, I haven’t had to use it. I’ll probably pick up a few things at Sam’s Club and Target on the way home. They’re not insanely busy like HEB.
Read the USDA recommendations on food spoiling and power outages.
if you don’t open the doors every ten minutes you’ll be fine, especially if your house is a little chilly. Modern refrigerators are very well insulated….
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As to what I’m doing . . . nothing different than usual. I expect to be housebound Sunday and Monday - I’ll do some baking/cooking/reading/watch football and maybe knit. Since the snow is supposed to be dry and fluffy we probably won’t lose power. It’s par for the course living in New England although we haven’t had a whopper like this in several years - our winters have gotten milder. I am surprised to see the scope of this storm with cold weather in places that are usually warm.
Worse case we load up a cooler and put it outside. It’s going to be in the teens!
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I just returned from the grocery store. Wasn’t too bad when I go there at 11 but I noticed the aisles increasingly getting crowded.
Some of my food plans: French onion soup, home baked chicken wings, tostadas and guac - not all at the same time lol. And maybe baking some choc chip cookies though my son just gave me a few pieces of pecan pie!
And I’ll be reading The Holiday Cottage - I like to read one winter based book a year and I guess I times this right. I’ll be watching Traitors, maybe start the new season of Shrinking.
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My wife went to the grocery store mid-day yesterday, and most of the shelves were already wiped clean. We’re expecting 12–15” of snow, which is higher than typical for NJ, but it’s not like we’ve never seen this much snow before (we have).
But seeing all the panic buying, you’d think people are planning to hunker down in their basements for weeks without food or water. One of my neighbors bought an ungodly amount of potatoes, bread and eggs.
I don’t get it. 
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Lets also not forget that we are having a winter snow storm, so it is cold out there like a refrigerator. 
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My only emergency will be if we have too much snow that Uber Eats won’t deliver.
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Good news is if the power goes out you can just put all of the perishable stuff in a cooler outside. Nothing will spoil. I think she’s just big mad because she was gunning for a reason to have a warm getaway 
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My current internal debate is about Best Method for Snow Removal. Where I live we’re supposed to get 8-12 inches of snow first, then a few inches of sleet, then a coating of freezing rain over all of that.
So, do we shovel mid-storm or at the end?
If mid storm, we could be priming the sidewalks to just get freezing rain on them, which makes a perfectly slick coat of ice that is not removable. It’s going to be too cold all week for any remaining ice to melt, so we’ll have to just chip away at it. We’ve got sand to throw down for traction, so maybe it will be ok?
If we wait, then we’ve now got a potentially foot high amount of frozen stuff, that is a freaking glacier now that it’s been coated with a nice solid freezing rain/ice sheet. But once you crack through the glacier, IF you can clear that heavy weight then the sidewalk underneath shouldn’t be a sheet of ice.
It’s the stupid freezing rain causing all this drama. I also fully expect to lose power (all above ground power lines, lots of trees with branches that I’m sure will be coming down with the weight of the ice). My plan for that is to heat the house nice and toasty on Saturday and Sunday so that it will have some residual warmth that will hopefully hold for a day or two without getting too cold. We have a fireplace, but since we converted it to gas, it throws no heat anymore.
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I’d shovel mid snow, again when the snow ends. When it starts freezing rain, then you can salt the surfaces. The salt won’t work with snow on top. But if all you have is ice, then you can work on that.
If you get freezing rain first, I would wait for the snow to cover. Because the snow cover is easier to walk on.
Freezing rain is the worst. We had some earlier this month and it was no fun.
This is one weird storm. Snow, then freezing rain is pretty unusual, isn’t it?
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I’m in Ohio. If that was our scenario we would lean towards removing most of the snow before the ice hits - you’re at least able at that point to use a snowblower or hand shovel in smaller increments. If you don’t remove the snow then you are stuck with all the precipitation on the surface and it still is not going to move until it ALL melts.
After removing the snow and if the ice came we would then use salt at least in paths where we have to walk to get to the car or mail or whatever. Or if you’re my husband he is very generous with salt and puts down a lot. I don’t always agree but 
Even with all snow if they are talking more tha 6 inches - which they are - we will use the snowblower part way through the storm an again at the end.
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lol look at us Michigan/Ohio peeps thinking the same. 
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We have good news. We are not going out of town to a science center as the storm approaches! H said it was OK to go to an afternoon movie instead. Phew! Crisis averted!
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@deb922 and @abasket - the problem is that my husband refuses to use salt. Sand, yes, but no salt. The sand will give you traction, but it’s only the salt that melts it. Sigh. Nevertheless, I think we have to shovel midstorm (no snow blower here - we are in the DC area and so many winters there’s no snow that it’s not worth it, especially since we don’t have a garage or place to store it).
In the DC area we get the snow then freezing rain with some frequency. We’re right at the line where weather changes between the two. This time, if I understand correctly, about half way through the storm there’s supposed to be some warmer air mid-atmosphere. So super cold at the top, making snow; then it passes through warmer, melting it; but it’s going to be well below freezing at ground level, so as soon as it lands it will freeze. It’s just a mess. I don’t mind snow, I don’t mind sleet even. But freezing rain is just a nightmare all around.
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We are supposed to get some snow (but not not crazy like other place). Due to that and the cold snap coming, yesterday the grocery store was quite busy. Will have to say it was a joy to see the thoughtful manners of the drivers in parking lot. Lots of letting pedestrians pass, nods and smiles.
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We were out of town until late last night, so never mind the jet lag and huge time difference, had to get up and go shopping to have food in the house. I had also arranged to have Whole foods deliver food, so we are all set.
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This. I’m from the Midwest. I miss the snow but NOT the ice. People who’ve never been in an ice storm can’t imagine what that even is.
Remember the Little House on the Prairie blizzard story? You need a guide rope tied between the house and the barn!
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Oh, I remember that story well! My friends and I eagerly read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories in 5th grade. Does anybody know if they ever included a similar scene in the TV series?
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Oh for sure and it was great!