How many bottles would I have to drink between now and Christmas to make this happen?

Challenge accepted.

Just in case a hurricane wasn’t enough, mother nature decided we needed a nor’easter too. We got slammed with 4 inches of snow last night. So after missing 7 days of school we have a 2 hour delayed opening this morning. I’m just glad we still had time this week to squeeze in these bad boys!

Meet Grady, the cutest little sea turtle ever. And also the cutest refugee ever. Even if he didn’t get to Trick-or-Treat (2 years in a row) like thousands of other children in the Northeast, we still had fun dressing him up in this darling costume for a little photo shoot.

Did I mention our condo has turned into a refugee camp? We have been offering hot meals and hot showers to some of our friends and family who have been without power due to hurricane Sandy. Our dear friends have been without power for a week now and do not expect their power to be restored for at least another 5-7 days. Cuh-razy!! Did I mention they have 2 dogs and a 3 month old baby? I can’t even imagine. We welcomed them with open arms! We’ve been entertained by their dogs frolicking around with our crazy puggle, Gus, and of course by their adorable giggling little boy. Our nights consist of large glasses of red wine, gourmet dinners (because what else is there to do than cook and bake when you’re practically house bound by gas rationing), games of ticket to ride (the best board game ever), and sponge baths by the kitchen sink. I am thankful for our warm condo, electricity, and that we are able to provide a place of refuge for friends in need!

Well it’s been one week since Sandy hit land here in New Jersey. The level of destruction wrought by this hurricane exceeded the scope of what any of us could have imagined, but we are determined to rebuild and move forward. Unfortunately close to half of our town is STILL without power. That’s 7 days now! Some residents are being told it could be another 7-10 days. Holy moly! We’re also going on day 6 of schools being closed. Tomorrow will be the 7th school day although we already have off for Election Day. Fingers crossed they hope to reopen schools Wednesday… or else we’ll be going to school through July!

The gas crisis is also getting desperate. They have issued even/odd days for getting gas in 12 counties including ours… that means if your license plate ends in an even number you can only get gas on even calendar days. If your license plate ends in an odd number you can only get gas on odd calendar days. That is, if you can find stations that are open! We have friends that have waited hours… we’re talking 3-4 hours in line for gas only to find that the station runs out! There are also people standing in line by foot to fill up gas cans to run their generators. I have never seen anything like this! The hubby and I figured we had enough gas to make it to Pennsylvania to my parent’s house this past weekend where we could fill up. Imagine driving 70 miles out of state just to get gas! I called 2 stations on our way only to find out that they were out of gas too… all the way into PA. Finally the third station I called was open. We made it with only 12 miles worth left in our car phew! They didn’t even have regular left. And it was all NJ plates… amazing.

Many grocery stores around us are also still without power and have completely depleted their supply of meat, dairy, produce, frozen foods, etc. Some remain open with limited generator power, only selling non perishable items. It was so eery shopping at Target a few days ago. They were running on generator power and some areas of the store were very dark. It looked like the end of the world! I managed to get what I needed with the help of the light from my iphone! Here’s a look at one of the food aisles…

Well, we survived Sandy! All family and friends are safe. However, millions are without power. We must have super power here in our condo, as it managed to survive 2 hurricanes. We were part of the lucky few…

From an emergency town council meeting yesterday at city hall, where council members discussed the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy:

“80 percent of the town is without power and they are estimating it will take 5-7 days to restore it. There are currently over 100 fallen trees in township roadways. The council urges residents to take extra care at intersections, where 50 trees block traffic across town. Numerous traffic signs were damaged by the storm, and traffic lights are out at seven intersections.”

Just got the call… school is cancelled for the 4th day in a row. The school is still without power and the janitor texted us that they have not heard anything as far as when we are going back. Last night I tried to make a trip to the grocery store. The first 3 were closed!!! Thankfully trusty Whole Foods was open so I stocked up. But the streets around town are a mess… giants trees and dangling wires down everywhere. I had to take about 4 detours. It pretty much looks like a tornado went through our town. This is truly devastating!