Getting Ready for School

We have cleaned up the after effects of Hurricane Irene. The painters and everyone have finished in the house. I have been at school all week going to meeetings and setting up schedules, my website and finishing the room. This weekend we will put the house back together. I can't wait to begin my new "normal". Tuesday the kids come into school. I just want to jump in and get started.

Irene Damage

Asbury Park Boardwalk

Hello Hurricane Irene!

This is a picture of Long Branch - a few towns over- during the hurricane. So far we have been very lucky. Brief power outages, nothing severe. The trees look like they are holding up pretty well. Just branches and stuff down. My back and side yard does look like a lake but if that is the worst of this hurricane I'll take it.

I did park my car under a tree I thought might fall. I am looking to buy a new one so I thought "Instant Kelly Blue Book Value"! Of course that guaranteed that the tree is still standing tall.

Hopefully everyone is staying off the roads. I doubt it. While watching the news reports, I saw pictures of people on the boardwalks in Long Branch, Asbury Park, Avon-by-the-Sea, and Belmar. We have a certain strain of stupidity here in New Jersey that apparently must be upheld for the whole nation to see.

PANIC

This pretty much sums up the feeling around here for a lot of people. I did go and fill my gas tank up this morning. I sure hope it doesn't flood too much. I would hate to see my car with a full tank of gas floating away.

Everything is put away, tied down or nailed down. It is truly the calm before the storm. We are supposed to be hit with Irene tonight. I know we will lose power - we have been pretty much guaranteed that. So this could be my last post for a few days.

I have to give kudos to our governor, Chris Christie. Upon seeing pictures of people still laying on the beaches yesterday he stated,"Get the hell off of the beaches and get the hell out of your beach houses." Perhaps if someone had been this forceful in their statements during other hurricanes the loss of life would not have been so great. You know, many people complain about our governor but you have to admit he tells it like it is. People just sometimes don't want to hear the truth.

Anyway, good luck my fellow East Coasters....see you at the end of this mess.

Batten Down the Hatches

The warnings are out, the evacuations are in full swing, all the water and bread is gone and now it is the calm before the storm.
Literally. We are sitting waiting for Hurricane Irene to hit. We have voluntary evacuations but we are sticking it out. We are being told to expect no power for three days or so after this hits. If someone sneezes around here we lose power so this is pretty much expected.

It should be interesting.

Hurricane Season Begins

The above picture is probably what will be occurring tomorrow and absolutely Saturday here at the Jersey Shore. We have so many stores right within walking distance. Nos shortage of eggs or milk or bread. But the people here -- they hear the word "hurricane" and they go ballistic. They buy more food than you would need for a week, a month!

Now I'm not downplaying the damage a hurricane can do. But dear Lord, you could reach out and touch your neighbor here. The good thing about jersey people, when the chips are down they will give you their shirt....unless it stops them from getting their bread or milk.

Earthquake On East Coast Today

There was an earthquake today in Virginia. My daughter called me on my cellphone (I was in the JC Penney dressing room).

"Mom, the house walls just moved I think there was an earthquake!"

Of course I laughed and said,"Earthquake? Really?!"

Little did I know that there was an actual earthquake and it was felt as far away as Maine.

I get home and pull into the driveway and you would have thought Armageddon was just beginning. Neighbors running out of the house shrieking and crying about the earthquake. Neighbors thanking God that they had their children with them. Asking if a tsunami would be forthcoming.

I started to get a little nervous. I have a friend who lives in Virginia..should I call her?

I dialed the phone and my friend Denise answered. Immediately I asked her if she was OK. She said she was in the hen house cleaning and she didn't feel a thing. Huh.

I turned on the TV. Must have been a slow news day. People reporting on a non event. No damage, no one hurt but there were the reporters interviewing everyone asking if they felt the earthquake? How did the earthquake feel to you? What did you think as you felt (or didn't feel) the earthquake?

Only one guy on FOX News had the guts to tell everyone to calm down. It was a non event.

There were shots of a water tower that had crumbled some in NYC. Let me tell you, from the picture of the water tower a chipmunk could have sneezed on it and it would have toppled.

I went on Facebook and the posts were hilarious. People posting songs like "I Feel the Earth Move", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Shaking". Someone suggested they should show the movie "Earthquake" from 1974. Someone posted a picture of toppled yard chairs. Someone else wanted to sell "I Survived the VA Earthquake 2011" t - shirts for $15. I laughed. It was good to see people with a sense of humor and a sense of not blowing some small thing out of proportion.