goodnight irene

a few nights before hurricane irene hit we went to my husband's company picnic. they set up a mini-carnival just for employees. lots of rides and no lines. my kids ran around barefoot and went on as many rides as they could manage, stopping only to eat a quick bite of hotdog. it was a memorable summer night.

24 hours later irene hit us. we were well prepared (food and water for days, tub filled with water, a stack of library books, a sheet fort and flashlights). we did get an evacuation notice, but decided to 'weather the storm'. for us it was not as bad as the news was making it out to be. we had a few large limbs down but they did not fall on anyone or anything. no flooding. we did loose power, but only for about 24 hours. about half the poeple i work with still have no power (3 days later!).

i feel very lucky that we escaped practically unharmed. it has been a rough week for us with a very unexpected loss of my father-in-law and a cancer diagnosis for my dad, so i think hurricane damage would have put me over the edge. we are getting through it day by day. hugging each other a little more. staying calm and carrying on...