Friday, November 2, 2012

Hunker Down

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that phrase this weekend - "hunker down." With the approach of Hurricane Sandy we decided to heed the advice of those on Twitter and "hunker down" we did.
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Watchin' the storm a-brewin'.
We actually weathered the storm fairly well, other than the lights flickering a few times we kept power throughout the whole event.  We were even able to stream the entire "Wait Until Dark" movie from Amazon all throughout the worst of it!  (Perfect stormy night movie I might add).  I almost felt a little guilty. 

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Good thing we visited the pumpkin patch before the hurricane!
 
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And we had no large limbs fall, we actually had to sneak over to our neighbor's yard to nab a branch worthy enough to be used as our "Thankful Tree" (more on that later).

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Which is all very surprising since we tend to have limbs fall around the house at least once a month.  Just this summer alone we got a hole in our roof, lost a section of our gutter and had to repair the hood of Jon's car - all compliments of the trees in our yard.

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I *think* he liked riding the pony, you never can tell ...
 
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In case you're wondering, I still love them.  The trees that is.  All the work is worth it (then again, Jon does the brunt of the outside work).  I love how they shade the house in the summer, how they cause the light and shadows to dance across our walls whenever a breeze blows across the bay.  And I love how, in the dark days of winter, our house is flooded with more light once the trees lose their leaves.  And of course, I love the leaves.  I love the colors.  I love how they swirl and float to the ground.  I love the way they crunch underfoot when we go on walks.

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And speaking of those leaves, they hunkered down too.  The practical part of me, along with my husband, was hoping the storm would knock the majority of them down so we could get most of the yard work done in one weekend.  But those leaves are tenacious and despite the piles and piles of leaves that will need raked tomorrow, my right-brain is thankful for the palette still sprinkled high up in the branches. 

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Check out those birds!
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Jack and I have gone on numerous "leaf walks" over the past few weeks, trying to find the most beautiful, colorful leaves.  We weren't having any success prior the storm.  Not that Jack minded, his ultimate goal was to get his fingers and toes just cold enough to beg for some hot cocoa once we returned.  But the leaves have finally peaked and we gathered up and pressed a few of our favorites to laminate and hang on the window.  Here's to preserving some fall all year round!

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So yes, we made it through the Frankenstorm unscathed.  In fact, the most difficult aspect of the whole ordeal was being trapped inside the house with three little kids.  Our friend "Miss Kylee" was in for the weekend, and we opted to hold her captive two extra days rather than send her back to the Jersey Coast during the hurricane.  Uncle Jared also came to visit and both of them were a huge help in keeping the children occupied.  PlayDoh, water paint, crayons ... books and puzzles ... choo choo train tracks and legos.  We went through all of them over the extended weekend.

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"Pleeeeaaaasssse hold me!"
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Oh I so wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes!
And with the kids outnumbered, for once, I was even able to get some projects done myself - a new valence in the dining room and some botanical art for our bedroom.  In fact, I actually finished an entire book during Hurricane Sandy.  And I have a new author to recommend - Georgette Heyer.  I downloaded "Cotillion" ages ago on my Kindle when Amazon was offering it for free, but never got around to reading it.  I started it on Friday and had it all neatly finished by Monday.  I LOVED it.  Heyer was a Jane Austen fan and wrote during the 1920s but about the Regency era.  While I could never love any author as much as my Jane, Heyer has definitely made my list of favorites.  And she's funny too!  The best part is she's written a whole slew of books, so I should be set with reading material for the next 20 storms or so.  Okay, back from my tangent ...

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Jack, checking out the llamas on our hay ride.
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Jude, picking his nose on our hay ride.
One of the advantages of being in the path of a hurricane is that Jon had off work for two days.  We thoroughly enjoyed having Daddy home with us for an extra-long weekend.  And while I think he appreciated the break as well (and the more-than-adequate excuse not to do yard work) I'm sure he was quite ready to head back to the office after spending four days trapped in the house with the kiddos. 

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Prior to the storm though, my hubby did manage to leave me alone with the boys right in the middle of pumpkin carving time.

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Jack asked for a "spookey smile that goes up and down" (on the right) and a girl-smile with curly hair.
So we are here and thriving.  Since the storm passed we've only had a little bit of sunshine and a lot of rain and clouds.  It's also gotten much, much colder.  Which means trouble.  My spirited, doesn't-adapt-to-change-so-well 4 year old insists he wants to wear shorts every morning, even after I moved them out of his drawers to the top of the closet.  And my sensitive, doesn't-like-to-be-uncormfotable 2 year old fights me every time I try to put his coat on.  I now have to plan to leave the house about 10-15 minutes earlier than usual, just to give Jude adequate time to throw a fit and lay on the floor writhing in agony ... all over wearing a coat.  Sometimes I wonder: is it worth it?  Two-fifths of us have already started with the runny noses, I'm sure full-blown colds are just around the corner.  Will wearing shorts or not wearing coats really make a difference?  All I know is we've hunkered down long enough.  There are groceries to be got, sticks to gather and leaves to rake.  So boys, you best put some clothes on!

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Yay!! So glad you liked the book. I haven't read that particular one yet, but I've been pleased with her other ones. I was a little giddy when I realized she had so many! I read a couple in quick succession and then had to wean myself away from them because my household was suffering. :) I started "Mistress and Maid" during the storm but haven't gotten too far yet.

J9 said...

I thought that was the same one you recommended to me but I lost the email and couldn't remember. I should have credited you and your wonderful advice! I read The Black Moth this week and now I'm reading Beavallet, but neither are as good as Cotillion. Did you know you can borrow the Kindle versions from the library? I really need to take a book break though!

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