Sandy has come -- and gone.

Sandy's effects involved some tree damage, 5 hours without power, and 2 days with no school.  We heard late Sunday afternoon (after just about every other district on the East Coast) that school had been cancelled on Monday.  After doing a load of wash, I filled both the washer and the bathtub with water - we have well water and a septic system, so we need extra water in order to flush the toilets -- ah, the perks of living in an old house.  

I watched TV in the evening and caught up on all the Upstairs, Downstairs episodes, including the latest that aired on Sunday night.  Bed at 10:30 - so not me on a Sunday.

Next morning, the power went out at about 7:15 AM, not due to the storm but to an idiot who hit a telephone pole during a state emergency.  Power was restored by 9:30, but I got to try out my Jetboiler -- worked like a charm!!  The rest of the day, I posted and read on Facebook while the TV was tuned (minus the sound) to the Weather Channel. I also kept taking pictures of the creek level.

Good moment of the day: Frank called from Henning's, our local supermarket, and asked if I needed anything, which he then brought to me!  Bad moment of the day: while watching Netflix, the satellite went down and then came back on, and somehow I lost first the sound and then the ability to get onto Netflix at all.  I then watched an old NCIS since the power was still on and went to bed.  The power went out just after I turned off the light to go to sleep.  I awoke at midnight and moved all the stuff from the refrigerator to the cooler in the side porch.  Just as I fell back to sleep, the power came on and has been on ever since.

 This morning I got up, made coffee, and moved all the refrigerator items back. Oh, we didn't have school again today. We had some tree limbs down, but nothing too serious.

Biggest branch, same old dilapidated barn

It's 12:15, and I'm getting ready to finally read the paper. I just took another picture of the creek to prove to the flood plain police that our flood plain has not moved significantly...this for Bob.

It's still raining a bit...

Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee...waiting for Sandy.

October 28th -- wow.   The days are again flying past.  This month I facilitated a BUNCH of meetings with gifted parents and helped my colleagues navigate the often-challenging waters of IEP Plus, the program that we use to document said meetings.  Bob was home two weekends in a row, which was fabulous!! 

The first weekend, we headed for one of our new favorite restaurants, Cantina Feliz, a place in Fort

Washington started by one of Jose Garces' former employees.  Kick-ass happy hour -- $5 margaritas and small plates - so good and so cheap!

We arrived on a Saturday, so no happy hour, but still worth the extra few dollars.

Wild boar tacos!

Bob looking a wee bit scary with his brussel sprout huarache

We watched a HUGE party arrive for a birthday party...

The next day we went to Chestnut Hill's annual craft fair - had a great time and bought some interesting things for gifts.  On this day, we had our meal at Iron Hill.

Enjoying some Belgian style beer on the avenue in Chestnut Hill

After a week of working with my lovely students, it was time for yet another great meal, this time at the happy hour at Stella Blu, another great deal: $5 drinks and half price small plates.  This time we splurged and had pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

That Sunday was Frank's first concert with the Mendelssohn Club - quite enjoyable.  The group is much bigger than the choral society he used to sing with - they also perform with a chamber orchestra, which makes the sound balance so much better than it was in previous years.

 Afterwards, Chris and Frank joined us for some food and drink at Bridgid's.  

And then - Sandy formed.  Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on our area; landfall in Atlantic City area tomorrow night.  It's supposed to be a superstorm...whatever.  Anyway, Bob was back in New Jersey after dropping off a trailer, and he came home to bring home the Civic from where it was parked in Jersey.  He arrived home early Saturday morning.  Judy and her friend Cindy were due to visit, and we embarked on a trip to Sanatoga and the outlets -- a very productive trip, I might add.  Bob stayed home and started storm preparations for me.

With Cindy at lunch!

Judy very kindly volunteered to drop Bob off in Paulsboro to pick up the Civic - he had brought the tractor directly home.  So off we went to New Jersey and back.  On our way back, we found a camping thingie that boils water and uses propane to do so.  I cannot do without my coffee.

 

 

What I will do to avoid a caffeine headache.

 Upon our return, we had yet another really enjoyable meal.  Sense a theme here???  We headed to Parc Bistro, a great place where one can always get a table, even on a Saturday night.

Foie gras and pear in amazing sauce.

Sated, we returned home and went immediately to bed - up early the next day to make final preparations for storm control and Bob's leave-taking.

It's been a long, been a long, been a long, been a long time...

Wow - the month of September has flown by!  Since I've begun posting separately for our trips, I've neglected my everyday blog.  Now that school is in session, I'll continue to use it for day to day activities until our next big trip - to Rome for our 40th wedding anniversary!

Gifted stuff has taken over my time at school.  With four new GIEP writers, I've been spending my time teaching as well as preparing documents for my own case load.  We're far more aligned with the special ed. IEP than we ever were before - and it's actually a good thing. 

My classes this year are again really nice.  One new thing to add - when studying the Rubaiyat, I paired them to explain in one sentence the meaning of a single rubai.  Worked well. 

I also have a new projector in my room - the lamp on the old one died on Thursday morning, and by the end of the day, I had a new one - yay!!

Bob comes home a week from Monday, and the following weekend we'll go to see Frank in his first concert with the Mendelssohn Club - a big step up from the Choral Society, which is no longer in existence.