Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy came and went, but she officially left behind her mark that will be permanently engraved in the east coast forever.  The shoreline of New Jersey was reshaped on Monday night, leaving countless homes, boats and other structures floating in the aftermath of water and sand.  As I watched the news on Tuesday afternoon after we recovered power, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  My heart goes out to those who lost, and to those who need to recover.  

There are many places in my area that are still without power and we are on day four of no school.  To this point, it is uncertain when all of the schools will have electricity based on the vast amounts of people the electric companies still need to reach.  Only time will tell, I guess.  

Over the weekend, Fred and I got our home "hurricane ready" by bringing in all summer items such as plants and furniture.  We cleared the gutters, bought non-perishable food, filled coolers with ice and made sure that every candle was out and flashlights were filled with fresh batteries.  Anticipation was exciting, yet scary.    

For dinner that night, we cooked on the grill because Fred had it ready to go and easily accessible on the front porch in case power was lost.  Our friend {Jim} also stayed with us on Monday night to join in on the hurricane craziness.

Fortunately, we didn't lose power until 9:00 pm so we had light and TV up until that point.  The girls took turns playing hairdresser and I certainly wasn't complaining. 
 

Clearly, Willsey had his fill and passed out on the floor...not impressed by the hurricane or the latest Food Network magazine!

Before we lost electricity, we heard transformers blowing all around us, followed immediately by a green glow of light.  We knew by the closeness of the sounds that we were soon to follow and sure enough, it happened.  For situations like this, I save all of my leftover, half-used candles.  I call them my power-outage stash. 

For the night, the girls set-up shop on the living room floor, complete with sleeping bags, princess pillows and Willsey!

Overnight, the wind was howling and it was so hard to get to sleep.  Both the girls and the dog were nervous, but flashlight puppet shows on the wall helped to calm any nerves for the time being.  In the morning when I awoke, the sounds of the wind had ceased and it was calm.  Fred was already up and outside surveying the grounds before heading out to find coffee.  After driving to several places, Wegman's was the only place in town with electricity because they have a really large generator.  We had a breakfast of coffee and bagels purchased by Jim the day before.   

Considering the possibilities, we only lost one tree.  But in the larger scheme of things, my family is extremely grateful for everything we still have.  

We survived the storm, but my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone else who lost homes, properties, businesses, etc.  Stay safe and recover.  That's what Americans do.  

Running for the week hasn't been all that bad:
Sunday: 5 miles
Monday: Off because of weather
Tuesday: 5 miles in the afternoon {Fred thought I was nuts}
Wednesday: 5 miles
Today: Track workout with the Moravian XC team

Have a great day!