Les Miserables

Saw Les Mis on the big screen last week. Its my all time favorite show, so was looking forward to seeing the new movie. Ugh! It seems to lose something when done on film. I wasn't very impressed. Although I must say, Anne Hathaway did a fantastic job in her role! The others weren't nearly as impressive. Wait for the dvd.

Anniversary

We decided to spend our 26th anniversary in Atlantic City. We drove down, checked into the room, then decided to go out to see all the devastation from super storm sandy. To our surprise, the boardwalk and everything along it was intact. There was no devastation. After our recon, we were preparing to begin gambling when we got a call from the kids. Seems they were involved in a traffic accident! They were hit by a truck. Luckily no-one was killed or hurt. The police cited the boy for failure to yield and called a tow truck to remove the car from the intersection. Needless to say, we packed up and headed back to town. So much for our big night in AC. Now I'm driving a rental while the car is at the body shop.At least we still have our 2 kids!

Christmas

We had a fantastic Christmas. Spent the whole day in pajamas. Everyone was pleased with their gifts and just spent the day relaxing.

White Christmas

Looks like a white Christmas for New Jersey!
We've got about a half inch already! Woo Hoo!

College Boy

Our boy got in to college!!!

Holiday Luncheon

The following week was the IFC holiday luncheon, which was fabulous. The venue was absolutely gorgeous, the entertainment was fantastic and the food was most delicious. How will I ever top this one?

Bazaar

After Thanksgiving it was time for the IFC bazaar. It all came together quite nicely. Not as well attended as I'd hoped, but a nice day.

Thanksgiving trip

Had a great time with the family on the trip. Went to Jerry's, went bowling, played the quiz and poker at BWW, had a lot of good food. Also did some shooting, but in light of the recent tragedy, I won't post the photos.

Thanksgiving trip

Picked up the girl on our Thanksgiving trip. Everyone was happy to see her, especially Gil! He wore himself out with the excitement!

Moving Ahead

As you can see the tree clean up hasn't progressed. I imagine the tree people have loads of more urgent jobs at this time. But the chimney has been completely redone. The roof still needs repaired and I suppose the inside work will probably start soon also.We have pretty much gotten back to normal here, with the boy finally getting back to school yesterday. There are still lots of people without power and lots of things still closed.

Look out Shower, Here I Come!

The contractor has been here this morning, clearing branches off the roof, putting a tarp over the hole and making the furnace chimney usable until another can be built. He also
got the furnace and hot water heater going. Its still chilly inside, but it won't be long until we're warm. As I type, big flakes of wet snow are falling outside. They're predicting 3-5 inches by tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that this won't cause another week long power outage. And I'm one of the lucky ones! Many of my friends here still don't have power!

Tree Removal

Here are a few shots of the tree removal in progress and one of the aftermath this morning. They said they will come back today to finish up. Yesterday I spoke too soon about getting to take a shower. Still no hot water!!

Still huddling in front of a wood fire for warmth (and happy to have it!). But at least we can watch the election results on TV instead of sitting around the radio, as in olden days.

Saved!

  

Almost exactly one week after the storm, there's some action at the homestead. The tree guys finally showed up to remove the tree. The pictures aren't very good. Taken from cell phone. Then during the tree removal, the electricity came on! And stayed on!! And the Internet too!!! I feel like putting my sun glasses on, its too bright!

Now if we can get the repairs to the furnace chimney made, we can have heat too! Then off course the ceiling and roof damage needs to be taken care of before it rains. But at least we can shower now!! Woo Hoo!

Day 6 With No Power

Day 6 of no power. At first it was kind of fun, but now its not. Its getting colder out, especially at night. I try not to light the fire until 3 or so in the afternoon, to save on wood. Hubby took us to his workplace and we had a shower. That was nice. We found out the mall is open so we ate at The Cheesecake Factory there and walked around looking at the Christmas decorations. The tree is still on the house. No progress has been made in that direction either. School is cancelled for Monday at least and possibly all week. We can charge our phones at the library and get on the internet for 20 min. when our name comes up! The gas rationing has started, but we haven't needed any yet.

 Maybe next time I get on here I'll have good news! I hope!!

Quick Update

A quick update while the internet is on. Still no power. Charged the phones at the town hall today.
Tree is still on house, no progress made in that direction yet. Starting to run low on food, but still have plenty of firewood. At least the little liquor store at the end of the road is open everyday!
Electric crews have been working on our road all day. Maybe we'll get back to normal soon. Will keep you posted when I can.

Clean up Begins

The crews have been out today clearing the roads and now the electric workers are doing something with the lines on our road. Hoping to get electricity soon. School and work are both cancelled for the rest of the week. Internet right now but will go off soon. Phones, still intermittent. Contractor and insurance adjuster have both been by the house today, so maybe we can get the repairs started soon. Lunch/supper was fried fish, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and fried bread. Mmm Mmm! Thank goodness for the gas stove. And the fireplace, as it has gotten cold today.

No Way Out

Hubby couldn't find an open road out of town this morning. Landlord has mobilized a crew to sort out the situation. Just hoping they find a way in! Town crews are out clearing the trees from the roads. Maybe the electric company can come in and restore power soon. Hope so!

Back on Line

The girl did such a great job in my absence. I think I should just let her do the blog all the time!!
Still no electricity but the cell phones are back and hubby has some wires from the basement hooked to the generator to get the internet working. As soon as the generator goes off, we'll probably be incommunicado again.
Until then, here are some photos:

storm update: 30 october

Girl again:

I've just gotten a call from the family in NJ from one of their friend's cellphones that still works. They are completely out of electricity, AT&T is down so they have no phones or internet either. I didn't get to talk to them for long, but it doesn't seem like any other significant damage has been done. 

Please keep them in your thoughts, and know that they cannot currently respond to your messages, but are okay nonetheless!

Storm Update: 9 pm

Girl here, filling in for mom, who has been out of electricity for a couple hours (since about 7 pm).

A large tree hit the side of the house around 8 pm, slamming near the boy's bedroom and the dining area of the kitchen near to the bay window; luckily no windows were broken. She promises to post photos after it gets daylight.

There's also a large tree in the road in front of the house.

Hopefully things die down a bit overnight!

Here is a picture of the tree on the back of the house:

5pm

Not to be outdone by the tv weather people who have been on ALL day bringing us coverage, by standing out in the rain and wind, I put on my windbreaker and stood outside just a few minutes ago. My bangs did sort of blow aside just a bit, but it wasn't raining and I didn't need my hood.

4:30pm

Its now 4:30. The lights flickered once or twice today, but have not gone off. Its a little windier but is still only sprinkling rain off and on. A couple of smallish limbs have blown down into the yard. No reason to cancel school and work and close the library if you ask me. Note in the photos that not much has changed. I made Gil wear his Japanese hurricane suit outside, but he didn't really need it. I just think he looks cute in it. There was a squirrel out running around looking for nuts. He obviously didn't think it was such a big storm. At least not yet. The boy and I got our jack-o-lanterns carved. Now we're ready, in case trick or treat doesn't get cancelled.