We've had a chaotic weekend. From parties to planning it's been very unusual. Now she is here whether it's been officially labeled yet or not. It's 11:15 here on Monday morning and the winds have steadily been picking up and it's rained off and on. My Dad even told be about a fallen tree limb that luckily didn't damage anything (it was small). To those of us in her path, stay safe!
On Friday night Zach's best friend, Niko, had his Halloween themed birthday party. All the other kids had store brought costumes and almost all of them were some super hero. Zach was a leaf pile in a homemade costume by my Dad. He was a leaf pile for Halloween two years ago. This year we gave him a choice, leaf pile or pumpkin with a black cat sticking out. He always looks at the picture of the two of use from two years ago and proudly chose leaf pile. As the kids talked about their costumes he never spoke up and sure enough at the party he played with the other kids and had a great time enjoying the compliments on his cool costume. Halloween will be interesting.
We always had homemade costumes, it's a talent of my Father's. When I was a kid, there were more homemade costumes in general. It surprised me that he was possibly the only kid with a homemade costume. He'll probably be a superhero next year but that too will be homemade. I didn't think at 3 we'd have the "are swords okay toys?" talk with other parents but it happened. It was a fun Friday night.
On most Saturdays Josh and Zach take alone time in the morning and when I wake up I make eggs for breakfast then they grocery shop. Because of the storm, Josh wanted to leave ASAP to avoid lines. So we made the grocery list on Friday and when Zach woke up they went shopping instead of waiting for their usual breakfast. Josh and I talked a lot while they shopped about emergency substitute foods, what batteries we'll need if we loose power, and other storm preparations we thought of as the morning went on. Zach was a trooper all morning but really enjoyed that nap after lunch!
Normally, Friday night is date night but because of the party my parents offered to babysit on Saturday night. They miss Zach. The last few weeks they have come here on Sundays for dinner but we weren't going to do that because of the storm so they wanted their Zach fix. He did a cool pumpkin project with my Dad. My Dad did a great job cutting a cat face on one end and a tale on the other of one pumpkin before we arrived. During babysitting they glued felt to a different pumpkin to make a pumpkin face that Zach is proud of.
Sunday morning was spent with crunched in Daddy time since he had a different birthday party. A friend of mine from High School's oldest son in about to turn 3. They had played together at the pool this summer and she has expressed interest in play dates. I thought he'd take his nap in the car afterwords but he heard me mentioned something about planting a couple of my Mums that hadn't been planted and that meant no nap until WE were done. I thought he was asleep when I told Josh my plans. OOPS! He finally went down for his nap around 4:30!
Today has been happily uneventful so far. We still have power so I am finishing up the laundry and have been able to cook. We've been watching TV and Josh read to Zach while I folded and put laundry away. We'll probably continue to do a mix of the same most of the day. There are fresh batteries in the CD player so we can dance a little if the power goes out.
Yesterday, we brought the garden flowers inside so I've had the lights on way more then usual to give them a fighting chance of lasting. My Electric bill for November is $59.53. It'll be interesting to see what it is for December. But it'll be worth it.
One thing I did to prepare this weekend is to tell everyone I could to stay safe. We have no control over what actually will happen. We are as prepared as possible and between Irene and the October storm from last year so is our town and apartment complex. Around the complex they took any precautions they could to minimize damage. That included taking care of risky tree limbs and starting to repair the pipes to prevent severe flooding. The pipes are a huge expense so the rest will be done starting in the Spring. PSE&G emailed me that they changed the wire covers to be more durable. The town has the employees all ready for any damage control and had access to free sandbags (with quantity limits). All that's left is putting my trust in God that we will all get through this.
Zach has been great so far. He remembers Irene and the snowstorm from last year. He still mentions downed power lines. At least we haven't needed to calm him in addition to preparing and he's done what he could to help prepare. My Dad loaned us a flashlight for him and we will be getting him his own for Christmas. His only issue seems to be cabin fever.
In the meantime, I say this again not just to everyone in this storm but to anyone who is ever stuck in any natural disaster: stay safe, you are in my prayers. To those who work on cleaning up the damages whether it be wires, tree limbs, flooding, snow, or anything else: Thanks for your hard work, it's crucial to reestablishing normalcy and is greatly appreciated.
As I finish this the rain is picking up and so is the wind. We will be in contact with both sets of parents throughout the day to ease worry. From the inside it doesn't look that bad but I sense that if we were outside it would be really bad. Here we go again! I am starting to forget what the end of October looks like without storms. Maybe next year will remind me. I prepared for the worse since that's better then being underprepared but I have hope that it will be manageable. As long as we have power it'll be easier to remain calm........until tomorrow when we venture out and see what the damages are. STAY SAFE EVERYONE!!!
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