Hurricane Sandy

Frankenstorm - or what this storm was nick-named before it was to arrive, hit New Jersey on Monday, October 29, 2012.  I have to admit that I didn't think anything of all of the weather reports and news reports several days before 'Sandy' arrived.  My excuses were my usual - we weren't affected by tropical storm 'Irene' last year - only some minor water in the basement a few days after and I'm from Buffalo.  I still recall my first winter here in NJ (2006) and remember being at work and someone hoping they would send us all home early because snow was to be expected in the afternoon.  A whole whopping 4 inches.  Yes, inches.  Being from Buffalo, I had been used to snow and used to ALOT of snow, so since that time, I've come to downplay any of the weather reports about 'bad' weather.

By the end of the work week (the week before) we were told to take our computers home just in case the building was closed or we weren't able to come in, etc.  I did as I was told, but knew in my mind, I was going to be in the office on Monday.  No way a little rain and wind was keeping me home.  Over the weekend, we did our usual business - went out to get milk and eggs from Halo Farms and even stopped at a Halloween store to pick up something for my costume (Grandma from the Addams Family).  Sunday night came without rain - I was starting to think these meteorologists really had it wrong and even as Monday morning arrived without anything to talk about, I decided to call the work weather line just to hear that we were going to open as usual.  I was wrong - and this wouldn't be the first time I would be.  Work was closed so I was able to have another whole day with my babies!  The entire day went along and I kept thinking when is this hurricane supposed to start  - and then it did.  Mid afternoon, it started raining a little.  By the evening, the wind had really picked up and I started to think that we may lose power, but probably not for too long.  Even Tony didn't think much about losing power either but just hoped that we'd get the babies fed, bathed and in bed before we did.
We did reach our goal of getting everyone in bed and were about to eat ourselves when the lights went out.  We had set out a few flashlights and candles so planned to eat romantically when we heard this big thud.  We both wondered what it could have been and as we looked out the back window, but because of the extreme darkness, we didn't see the full extent of the damage in the back yard until the next morning, but we could at least see that one of the large trees in the back yard had fallen.  Tony went outside and came back to report that actually two large trees were gone.  I just kept thinking of the other tall trees around the house and what would be their fate and the fate of the house.  We went to bed pretty late - hoping for the best.

Work was closed again and we were still without power, but luckily it wasn't too cold.  Tony went to check on his parents and came back with some sobering news that the entire town was without power and there were more than our few trees that went down.  We dealt without power the rest of the day and decided to take the babies out for a walk so the rest of us could see the rest of the carnage.  I took a few shots of the backyard, but they came out pretty dark.  I'll have to take a few more - it's all still there...probably will be for a while...

Here's the babies sitting on one of the downed trees and then a couple of the neighbors trees that came down.

Olivia wearing her miner's light while we were without power!

Sitting on the tree (didn't want them to fall), so daddy held them up.

Again, Olivia ready for the dark.

In our rain gear!

Was that tree always there?

The left side of the house (not ours)

...and the right side.

Olivia in her rain wear

Amelia in her rain wear

Little Tony in his fireman jacket (reflectors and all!)

To wrap up the storm coverage - we were without power until Saturday afternoon, but got a generator late on Wednesday night.  We spent one night over at Grandma Cz's because they had hot water and heat from their wood burning stove, but dealt with the inconvenience of no power the rest of the week.  The babies were essentially unaffected by the whole ordeal other than not getting to go out for Halloween oh and getting evacuated shortly after getting the power back due to a possible gas leak.  All was fine in the end and we were very lucky to have only lost some trees and part of our neighbors fence in light of how badly this storm hit others in the state.  Thoughts and prayers to those that lost so much more.