Holy Turkey Day Batman!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! I stopped by to pick up some stuff from a friend last night and he says to me "You look beat." My reply was "Get used to it, I'll be like this til, ummm, after New Year's." LOL Seriously though, we have stuff to do every weekend between now and the end of the year, so that leaves weeknights to get cookies made, gifts purchased, cards out (sorry guys, not gettin' homemade ones this year!), and other holiday things done in addition to homework, housekeeping, daily chores etc. UGH! I'm losing my mind already. In the last week, I sent JD's permission slip back to school sans the trip fee and sent his data binder back without signing it. Invest in 3M people, I'm gonna need Post-It notes...lots of 'em!

My shopping list seems shorter this year, but maybe it's just because I'm planning to do several "family" gifts and gift cards are on alot of people's lists. I want to try and make some ornaments with JD, something he can paint or color to give to his grandparents and we're also doing a book of his artwork for my mom and dad. In fact I just scanned a bunch of his drawings yesterday and hope to be able to upload everything to Snapfish this weekend and get that ordered.

As far as the full weekends go after Thanksgiving we have my company holiday dinner and then a night out at Cantina; a visit to Michele for a haircut (this is on the list because for those that don't know, I get my hair cut about 2x a year by my friend Michele at her house, so it's usually a long visit with catching up and the kids playing...to me it's an event and I love it!); a trip to the Science Center to use our Groupon; possibly a small football gathering; Reece's Union's Christmas party; the annual cookie swap with my girlfriends, and then it's the weekend before Christmas. Hoping we'll get some time to go see the holiday lights either at Adventure Park or in Columbia at Merriweather Post too.

We'll be heading to my parents next week for the holiday and JD is looking forward to seeing mom-mom and pop-pop. I've still got homemade bread and a pie to bake before we go up and JD has a dentist appointment the day before Thanksgiving as soon as he gets out of school. Thanks goodness I took Wednesday off. I'm also in charge of the turkey this year, so I think I'll bring my girly apron that a friend gave me for Christmas last year. I remember my mom and gram would put on their aprons to cook holiday dinners and it's a wonderful memory. Thinking this new recipe I found on Pinterest for Apple Cider Sangria might be in order too. I would love to get some people together on Friday night to go out and catch up while we're there, but seems as though there are no takers based on the results of my Facebook post. If not, we can try again at Christmas...or not.  ;-)

Powerless...

That title refers to the state my parents house has been since super storm Sandy rolled through last Monday and how I and alot of the community in West Amwell Township, NJ have been feeling. I realize this was a huge storm that casue widespread damage and feel very luck that my parents didn't have any damage and still have their house and possessions, but they live on a major road and it's still closed and hasn't been dealt with. We've asked them to come stay with us for a while to visit and spend time with JD, but they'd rather stay there. It's their home and I understand that. However, I think they're getting a little bored without TV.

There are some things that my parents have on their side though.

1. Luckily, my brother lives in the area and for the first 4 or 5 days after the storm, while he and his girlfriend were also without power, they stayed at my parents. They are now back home, but my brother stops daily to start the generator in the morning and checks on them on the way home.
2. They have a generator. There are many people in the township who don't have one, which means no heat in this cold we've had recently and more importantly, no water. There is no city water in the township; everyone has wells and no power = no well pump.
3. They have a propane stove and water heater and the heat is fuel oil. They can cook and when the generator is running to power the thermostats, they have hot water and heat.
4. They have a land-line phone that's not cordless, so they can make and receive calls.

I joined a group on Facebook for West Amwell Township NJ and the community members on there have been great about sharing information. They have also been very verbal and contacted and continue to contact their representatives, the governor's office, the power company, the state utility board and the local TV stations and newspapers. Just yesterday, a crew from Channel 6 news WPVI from Philadelphia went to the elementary school to interview residents and township officials and they also went to some residents' houses to see how they are living. Amazing work by a very small community that pulled together to be heard!

I've been hearing that utility crews have been on my parents road today and am keeping my fingers crossed that they will have power back tonight or tomorrow.

Update: Mom and dad finally got power back on going into Day 13 (Saturday Nov. 10th)!