What are some of the things we can do to protect our house, car, pets, plants, pipes, and other stuff?

Put covers on the outside faucets, cabinets partially opened underneath sinks, plants in the garage and under the covered back patio.
Dang glad I checked my wifes antifreeze/coolant in her car this am because it was dang near out.

What other things can we do to protect our stuff from this hard azz freeze thats coming?

Drip in kitchen sink, outside water off, a couple of plants inside, central heat vents wide open, and empty the ice from my Refrigdare.

Faucets aren't just dripping......I have them trickling at a pretty good rate. Have 1 dripping warm water

Fill up vehicle fuel tanks. May have to use for warmth if power goes out (cautiously).

Swimming pool pumps and above ground pipes covered...

I'm gonna recommend having at least 3 days drinking/flushing water on hand.
This is gonna be a bad one, and when things begin thawing (around Wed) there's gonna be water leaking from places you never knew they could leak from.
Maybe not you, but the other bajillion other people who did nothing - gonna tax the system.

Also, I've been doing lotsa checking with one of those non-contact thermometers - a good time (record lows) on Sun/Mon nite to see some 'stress test' numbers.
Particularly the water-temp coming from (inside) home fixtures located on outer walls!

Light Bulb in the doghouse is nice for the puppy's.

Yep, lots of little things help:
1. Close your garage doors. If your heating and plumbing is in the attic, you can even temporarily cover the attic vents on each end of the house with plastic, to prevent cold drafts thru the attic
2. If you have window A/C units, cover them with a blanket to towel to eliminate drafts thru them
3. Roll up a towel and put at the bottom of the outside doors to seal against drafts
4. If you have a screen door/storm door, then close the glass if its down
5. Leave a trickle of water from the faucet in ANY exterior water piping, this includes the hot water line, because its not hot if nothing is flowing thru it
6. Cover the outside water faucets, and disconnect any hose attached to them
7. If you have any windows with poor insulating ability, go to UPS Store or home improvement and get a couple rolls of bubble-wrap to cover
8. If you leave any water running, remember to protect the P-traps from freezing too, or you risk overflowing the sinks
9. If you've been putting off filling the spare propane bottle, do it now.
10. Ice storms take down power lines for days. Get that generator gassed up, have extra, and make sure it starts/runs BEFORE you need it
11. If you have any toilets in un-heated outbuildings, shut off the water to them and drain the tank and bowls

all these are great

BUT

If the ELECTRICTY goes out, I'm screwed. NO fireplace

Breakout the hand warmers from my backpack

I went through it in 1978 I believe. but I had a fireplace , lots of blankets and a horny girlfriend to keep me warm

Line out your plumber now. They are fixing to be really busy. Might be easier to find ammo than a plumber for the next few weeks.

I totally forgot about the Generator. Thanks for the reminder!

Should be obvious, but... when dripping/running water for sinks on outside walls, be sure water is running through both the hot and cold water lines.

Also, I wrapped some exposed pipe from my wetter well. The plumbers were out and about.

Check on all of your elderly and sick friends, some may need some help.

For you diesel owners, put some anti-gel in the tank before Monday. That is, if you can find any.

Heading back to Homey Despot to get 6 bags of sand for the sidewalk and maybe the driveway after the stuff falls. Two are for me the other 4 for are for my elderly neighbors.

Gallons of whiskey, a warm lady on a pile of blankets next to the fire place, see you boys next week.

Ha, just saw hop's post about diesels. I was a day late and dollar short...again!

Where do you???????

I turned off the well and drained the faucets and tank. Only 1 faucet (county water) to try to keep from freezing now.

My pool is running 24/7 right now in freeze guard. A note to folks with pools -- keep an eye on the water level. If it drops (especially likely if you have a heater turned on due to increased evap), the pump may kick off due to water level/skimmer back pressure. If that happens, your equipment is screwed.

I've been watching mine and went to fill it today to find a frozen spigot. Time to deal with that issue

Just went through this exact same scenario. Got everything sorted now. Good luck!

Last night at 10:00 my boy did good. He took the dogs out back to do their business before bed. When he came back in he asked why the pool was overflowing. Station 6 on our sprinkler system is tied to filling up the pool. Every Monday and Thursday evenings I have it set to come on for 10 minutes to keep the water level right. Well we had water going everywhere because the servo on station 6 opened up to come on, but would not shut off. The pool was literally overflowing into mine and my neighbors yard.

So there I was with a headlamp and a shovel last night digging in the front yard to find the main sprinkler box and the shut off valve. Dang it was cold! I’m always telling my kids if they see something that doesn’t look right (like a toilet that won’t stop filling or whatever) to say something to me so we don’t have big problems. I’m sure glad he did say something or we would have had a real mess on our hands this morning.

Hey Greg, sounds as if you are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Bill, I can’t imagine the ice skating rink I would have had in the yard this morning. My boy turns 13 today and is gonna get dinner anywhere he wants tonight