Hurricane Sandy

We were among the lucky ones affected by the hurricane that swept through the East Coast almost 2 weeks ago.  It was a scary night spent in the dark, listening to the howling winds and the giant crashes of trees falling. But we were safe and our house was not damaged. So many others cannot say the same and my heart goes out to them and their families. We did lose power for nearly 11 days and were lucky enough to have friends to stay with- first in Brooklyn and then in the town next to where we live. It was definitely an adventure- trying at times, sort of fun at others.. but let me tell you, there is NOTHING like sleeping in your own bed. We are so grateful to be home....

 this tree fell into our neighbors yard at 3:30 on Monday- and that is when our power went out.  

We heard this loud boom around 8:30 on Monday night- and unfortunately for our neighbors 2 houses down, it was this tree crashing into their home. Luckily they had all gone down to the basement beforehand and nobody was hurt!

 the next couple of nights were spent like this.. 

 and days like this...

Bundled up inside- it wasn't really safe to go outside the next few days because of all the downed trees and wires. We visited friends who had power (phone charging and coffee!!) but mostly hung around the house and drew pictures and played..

 We knew it would be a long time before power was restored and it was getting cold and hard to manage with a toddler so we took our friends up on their offer to stay with them. This is our first morning waking in Brooklyn. It was also the first morning that we saw some of the images of destruction that Sandy caused. Unbelievably heartbreaking....

 Settling right in with her favorite friends..

 Veda was mostly a trooper throughout the 11 days- though with all the moving around, her sleep got a bit messed up and she started waking up VERY early. Daylight savings did not help...

The part of Brooklyn we stayed in was mostly unaffected which was both comforting and slightly surreal. There were visits with old friends and lot's of trips back to our favorite playgrounds..

On Sunday we moved back to NJ- to our dear friend's house 1 town over who's power was turned back on. Veda and Lily making conference calls and working from home one morning...

 

On Wednesday night, the region was hit by yet another storm- this time a Nor'easter, dumping snow and bringing down more power lines. Luckily, our friends were not affected. 

With our hopes growing dim of when we would ever have our power restored, I was not too excited about the snow- despite it being the first of the season. Veda, however was pretty psyched. Luckily we had this snowsuit that her friend Penny had given her (which fits her perfectly, despite being size 6-12 months- what 6-12month year old is that big??)

Before Sandy hit, we had carved pumpkins and were gearing up for a Halloween that never really happened (which is the 2nd year in a row for our town- last year, a freak snow storm caused tons of trees down and power outages). 

We did get in 1 Halloween party though. Here is Veda in her owl costume that I made. She refused to wear the wings unfortunately.. but she still wears the hat, so hey... 

Now we are home again and feeling blessed trying not to take anything for granted. I've had a serious urge to clean and organize since we've been back which has given me the opportunity to gather things that can be donated. We we're sort of in survival mode for those 11 days but now that we're home, I'm feeling a need to find ways to help. Wondering what the best organizations are to donate to and other ways I can be of assistance. Love to hear other ideas if you have them...