Oh, Sandy

Let me preface this post by saying that where I live had no way near the devastation of other parts of New Jersey. That being said, however, allow me to tell you about how the rest of us fared...

This storm was like nothing I have ever seen before. We lost power on Monday, before Halloween.  (My last post was a scheduled post, and in fact, with the exception of that quick picture we took, the girls have not been in the costumes I made. More on that later.) We had a generator and made out fairly well until Wednesday when our generator broke and we were forced over to my brother's house, who was also running off a generator... four adults, five kids age 7 and under. Fortunately our house was spared, and our family was safe, which is more than I can say for others in and around our town.

The trip over was not easy. Most roads were closed, cars were few and far between, and we had  to pack hefty supplies of food, clothes, formula, baby gear, gas cans, etc., since we didn't know how long we would be staying. The doors of our car barely closed, but at least we had someplace relatively warm to go.

On Wednesday, once power started getting restored (not to us though), and roads started getting cleared, people began the hunt for gas. Even by then some gas stations had already been drained of gas, and many of those that were fully stocked were out of power and unable to pump. By Thursday morning at 9:30 am gas lines in our town and the town next door were over a mile long. Being relatively close to the PA boarder (about 30 minutes), we went west for black gold. By Saturday the gas rationing started, and our town instituted a 15 gallon max, which meant you either filled your car or heated your home... not both.



Luckily we got power back Saturday night around 7 pm  but my parents (who live in the same town) and my brother (in the next town over) are still without. I spent the day yesterday throwing everything out of our fridge/freezer and our garage deep freeze which, might I add, was filled to the brim.

Diva's school, which is about 3 towns away (and the schools in this town and other nearby towns) is still closed and without power, and (their words not mine) tomorrow is doubtful. Poor Diva is still talking about how Halloween is coming at the end of the month... she has no idea. Halloween has been postponed not once, not twice, but three times (now scheduled for Nov. 10!), making this the second year in a row that Halloween has essentially been cancelled. Soooo glad I busted my butt on those costumes!

And I would be amiss if I didn't mention that the forecasters are predicting a Nor'easter to hit on Wednesday and continue on slowly through Friday, which may only mean more power outages, gas shortages, and a prolonged state of general chaos for us here, never mind along the coastal regions.

All in all though, we've nothing to really complain about. There are those who have lost so much, and I have spent my morning putting boxes of clothes and diapers together to send along to those who are in desperate need. I urge anyone who can help to do so in whatever way possible.

PS- The big reveal scheduled for Nov. 12 probably won't happen since I haven't been able to get my sewing space together and my Tiara seems to be slightly malfunctioning. More on that later.