Thankful Thursday

 

This  week with all that has happened due to Hurricane Sandy, I realize just how truly blessed I am.  I'm thankful that all my family is safe.  None of them suffered any damage to their homes.  And as of today everyone has power or has been able to make their way to somebody's house with power.  I'm thankful that all of my blogger friends and their families in the affected areas are alive and well.

 

 





I'm thankful that I was able to share my voting experience with Moo and JJ.   This is a huge milestone.  No, they may not remember it but I was glad that I was able to have them there none the less.  Moo asked a lot of questions about what I was doing and why.  I felt proud that she was taking such an interest my voting.  I'm setting the foundation early.

I'm thankful that my husband doesn't complain about me pursuing my freelance career.  It's refreshing to have such support.  I'm thankful for all the love and genoristy that is being shown as the East coast starts to rebuild and heal from Hurricane Sandy.  I'm thankful that our state has cracked down on gas stations to prevent them from raising prices during a natural disaster.  I hope that more states will follow.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Halloween

Well, the treat buckets have been pulled out, costumes are going on and we're watching all of the Halloween cartoons on the Disney Channel and NickJr.  Moo is beyond ready to get out and start trick-or-treating.  We're just hitting up a few houses on our block this year because it's entirely too cold and windy to have them out.  The nebulizer hasn't had to be used in a while and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

This year Moo is dressed up as Snow White.  I was finally able to convince her to give her princess costume from last year a break.  And JJ will be dressed as Iron Man.  He hasn't been interested in putting on his costume all morning due to his obsession with a McDonald's straw.  Kids. 

I'm super excited to see if we'll get any trick-or-treaters of our own this year.  Once, I take the kids to collect their candy from the neighbors, we're coming back home, turning on the porch light and pigging out snacks while we wait for candy collectors.  Let's hope that we don't have any battles when it comes time for Moo and JJ to turn over their loot and go to bed.

Also, we're still waiting to hear from some family members in New York.  With all the power outages and down cell phone signals, all we can do is pray that they are somewhere safe and warm with food and water. Thankfully, all my family in Jersey, VA and DC were able to go further inland.  So, please keep my family in prayer. 

Lift up Alicia from Mommy Delicious in a special prayer too.  She and her little man lost power yesterday evening.  I hate thinking about everyone who has to literally stay warm by putting on tons of layers and blankets at night and venturing out to find shops with power to occupy during the daytime.  It's rough out there for real you guys.  I'm in the process of trying to contact some charities and local churches here to see what they are going to due to help with relief efforts and maybe team up with them to help out.  

Please everyone be safe, dress warm and have fun! 

 Happy Halloween!

Deuces Sandy

These last few days have been rough to say the least here on the East Coast from the Carolinas and all the way up to Maine thanks to Hurricane Sandy.  This storm was large (she spanned a 1,000 feet) that people dubbed her Frankenstorm before she even made land!  Thankfully, we were spared the worst being snugged between the mountains and the coast.  Our biggest worry has been all the heavy winds knocking over trees and downing power lines and a threat of snow or freezing rain.

Last night there was a little wet snow but it wasn't sticking and was turning into a rain drizzle before it even made it to the ground.  And due to our previous bad storms, I think our city pretty much made sure that any old or dangerous trees next to power lines where either cut down completely or trimmed back.  Our neighbors in the mountains have been getting lots of snow and had power outages.  And the Carolina coast took a quite a beating in the Kitty Hawk and Outer Banks areas.

Source: Google Images

My heart really goes out those further north in New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maine.  Seeing how badly flooded out their outward towns and cities got broke my heart.  A lot of people were still in the process of rebuilding after Hurricane Irene and let's not forget those twisters we had.   Then seeing those nurses and doctors having to evaluate the hospital in New York had my eyes filled with tears as they showed video of medical staff carrying babies out to ambulances.

I felt like such a nervous wreck because many of my bloggers friends hadn't and weren't able to evaluate and I was a tweeting and Facebooking fool trying to see if they were ok.  Even more nerve wrecking was the fact that I have tons of family in DC, New York and New Jersey.  I had heard from a few and they assured me that everyone had gathered further inland to wait Sandy out and would be ok.  However, I still stayed up until well past midnight thinking about them.  

These colder months are absolutely horrible for severe storms like this (not that there is a good time per say.)  Not only do have to battle the storm itself but then with so many without power, that means a lot of families are freezing and struggling to stay warm.  Not every one has a fireplace or kerosene heater.  I can't say how happy and thankful I am that we can chuck up these deuces to Sandy.

Now, the real work of rebuilding once again starts for so many.  I hope that you will join me in keeping those affected in your prayers and thoughts.  Tweet and Facebook them words of encouragement and kindness.  Donate to charities if you can.  And if you have power, make sure your neighbors who don't have blankets to keep warm and take them clean water and food is possible.

Regardless, of how badly your area was hit, please know that we are all in this together!