Love, Erika

The Year that Halloween Got Cancelled

I had this nightmare...... that 2 days before Halloween there was a crazy blizzard and it dropped more than a foot of snow on New England, and the damage was so bad that they had to cancel Halloween.

Hmmmm...... not a dream. Very much a reality. I CANNOT believe this happened. I don't think I ever imagined in my wildest dreams that something so unthinkable could happen, but it did. 8 million people without power for days on end. What the HELL just happened, was all I could think. Bitter much? I'll tell you who was bitter--ME. The damndest thing I ever saw. Ridiculous. We lost power Saturday night and got it back just today, Wednesday, around noon. They had to cancel Halloween because nobody had power, so no lights =  no trick or treating. Unreal.

Anyway, the first day of the power outage was the regularly scheduled trick or treating at the mall. I took Drew knowing this could very well be the one and only Halloween activity he would get to participate in. Meanwhile I  think I would rather have stabbed hot needles into my eyes, than fight the crowds at the mall for this joke of an activity. UGH. Heinous. I LOVE Halloween, you know this, but I swear this is truly one thing that is so incredibly painful that I hope to never go again. The stores run out of candy within the first 45 minutes so it's just a madhouse trying to throw elbows and get around. But Drew has a great time and doesn't know that this is NOT how it's supposed to be. He's so shy and doesn't want to merge to the front of the crowd so I have to chuck him up there just to procure one little Now & Later for his candy bucket (which he can't even really eat). so it's just lame. But he still loves it, so that's what matters. Here are a few of my really bad photos which ironically look like a pretty tame experience. I don't know how I manged to make it look peaceful and fun in the photos. :) It was NOT, believe me.

Anyway, I'm not done with this topic but they're planning on rescheduling trick-or-treating for this weekend. Hopefully the jack-o-lantern that we carved on Saturday night before the power went out willl not rot before then. :)

The NH wind storm of Feb 2010

On Thursday night we experienced the most violent wind storm that I ever hope to witness ever again. I remember in the evening sitting in the living room watching tv while Dave was in the basement, and hearing the wind and rain whipping around. I IM'd him and jokingly said "OMG we're going to die!" But that was early in the night. As time went on it got worse, and worse.... and worse. I went to bed, but did not sleep. Finally by midnight I leapt out of bed, couldn't lie there any more feeling like a target since the bedroom is on the end of the house that is right up next to the woods with tall trees all around us. I heard trees popping and snapping, and got that sick feeling you get when you hear a tree break, and the few seconds of waiting before you hear the crash of it hitting the ground (and hopefully not the roof). And then finally the power went out.

When our power goes out, the first thing that happens is that the basement starts flooding immediately. The water table around our house is naturally high, but especially with all the major rains last week, the sump pumps were running nearly constantly. So when the power went out, the water just kept pouring in with nothing to pump it out. Dave had to run out and try to start the generator right then and had a little trouble with it, but finally got it. Meanwhile we ran around downstairs sloshing through 3 inches of water and got everything off the floor that could be damaged. So we were picking up boxes, toys, cat litter bags, anything that we could pile up on a table or raised surface. 

That night was a long night. Neither Dave nor I slept with the wind still screaming around. It seemed it would never die down. And the kids were sleeping fitfully since their white noise machines were no longer working, they would hear every squeak and crack in our crackly house. And of course the temperature started falling.

Anyway, to make a very long story short....  our ordeal that seemed like 2 weeks long was only 3.5 days in reality. But in winter in New Hampshire, not having power is not really a cake walk. 

We were lucky. There were 269,000 people without power and that is about a quarter of the entire state. While we were among some of the last that got their power back, we didn't have any of the tragedies that you always hear about in storms like this. We didn't asphyxiate on fumes from the generator, we didn't burn the house down, we didn't freeze to death. In fact, the worst things that happened to us were that we were cold at night, we melted a plastic bucket and table from hot ashes, and Parker got a nasty diaper rash from improper cleaning and lack of bathing. And I had to throw out a nice meatloaf that I made Thursday night because we didn't get to eat the rest of it until Tuesday and  by that point we figured it was best to just toss it.

We have a small generator and its #1 primary function is to keep the sump pumps running. And additionally Dave had it rigged up to have the refrigerator plugged in, and also a lamp and it kept our iPhones charged. it's funny how after a while you just don't hear the roar of the generator anymore, that thing is so loud. Thank GOD for the iPhones, they were the only thing that kept us in touch with the outside world. We were madly stalking the PSNH Twitter page for updates.

Dave was kept so busy the whole time, hauling firewood in and out of the house, keeping the fire going, and trying to dry out the wood since the wind had blown the tarps off the woodpiles and everything was soaked. Also he was going out to refuel the generator every few hours (even throughout the nights), and making trips to the gas station a couple of times a day for more gas. It turned out to be an expensive weekend with all the gas, and all the takeout we bought since we couldn't cook or fix anything.

I'M SO GLAD IT'S OVER.

News Stories:

http://www.wmur.com/news/22686255/detail.html

http://www.wmur.com/news/22689993/detail.html

 

Better Late than Never: Spring 2008

So this was a project I started in 2008 and never finished.... I wanted to do some kind of time-lapse slideshow of the arrival of spring, so I took a series of photos every single day from March 13-May 3rd so that I could track the melting of the snow and the grass greening up, etc. I actually took five different views each day in the exact same spot, two out the front door and three out the back door, but I will only trouble you with one view of the driveway and some of the front yard.  And it's funny because I noticed that was when we got the Rav4...... in some shots you can see my old car, and then poof! There's the Rav4 there one day. And also Mulch Day!! My heart went a little pitter-patter when I got to that part. Oh that's a good day.

The first slide is from March 13, and then there is more or less one picture for every day up until May 3rd which is the last slide. Ironically I went to NC the next day and when we came back all the leaves were on the trees, so I kind of missed the big arrival of spring after all that work. LOL.

An email to my Mom

Hi Mom,

Today I went to CVS and Walgreens and spent 94 cents and 68 cents, respectively!!  This is fun. That includes a pack of Huggies diapers, 3 bottles of Excedrin, 2 tubes of some firming cream (I don't even know what it is, but it was free!), a tube of toothpaste and a can of shaving cream.

I have crocus about to bloom!! The next sunny day we get, they will be open. I think tomorrow!!!

But there is bad news about other plants.... as the snow melts I'm starting to be able to see my littlest Japanese maple by the back patio. It looks like all the lower branches are ripped off. And my forsythia way in the back of the yard looks like its lower branches are torn off too, from what I can see. I can't get to it yet. It's so sad. My azaleas in the front yard are all smashed and broken. The snowbanks were so heavy and icy this year, all our solar lights are all smashed into the ground, and all my plant signs are bent and destroyed.

However it looks like the daffodils are coming up like gangbusters!!  Lots of my perennials are really sprouting good already. I don't have ANY tulips left except for ONE that somehow survived getting eaten last year. Just ONE out of a hundred or so, I can't believe it.

We took Drew to the Made in New Hampshire Expo today which is a really cool event with lots of local vendors and stuff to see and sample. Kids under 2 were free except those in a stroller which was $3, so it cost us $20 just to get in. And it was SOOOO crowded we really couldn't see anything. We did have some chocolate covered strawberries, a sample of pulled pork from KC's Rib Shack, a bowl of seafood (shellfish) chowder, and I bought 3 packs of whoopie pies. YUM! 

We decided we won't be taking Drew anywhere with us for awhile, it's just not worth it. We can't have a good time while we're watching him. Donna said she would take him so we can go out sometimes which will be wonderful.

Love, Erika

Endless Winter

I have to share with you our Sunday newspaper this week..... the headline is ENDLESS WINTER. So many articles about how "winter's refusal to let go is fraying the nerves of many folks in New Hampshire."  I like this quote:

"It's terrible!" said Sam Haidar, who faced snow piles 2 feet over his head outside his Manchester house. "My God," I said. "Please stop."

The winter total is 108.9" so far and they say an average NH winter is 64.6 inches. It's not all that far from breaking the all-time winter record which was set in 1873-74.  This is the sixth snowiest winter on record, and all of those were set in the 1800s except #3.

Here I am shovelling show above my head. Yes, above my head. I don't believe I've ever done that. Why am I doing this? Because I have hostas and daylilies under there that I'd like to see before July. With snowbanks this high if you don't help them along they take weeks and weeks to melt on their own (assuming you get any kind of sunshine at all).  The newspaper says Manchester is already $700,000 over their budget of $1 million for snow removal for the year, while salt prices are up 26% and fuel is up 15%. And there is still have the month of March to go. Shoot me now! 

Happy Leap Year

So yesterday was Feb 29th! Weird. And today is March--thank GOD-- and we can start maybe allowing ourselves to think about spring a little bit?? Not much though, because we're still getting dumped on. Another 6-8 inches today, 15 hours of snow. This has to let up at some point. And even after it stops snowing, there is the long and arduous process of melting all the snow which we figure may take until July by our best estimations.

Did you all get your free McSkillet burrito this week? I sure did! It was yummy. I got coffee with it, and did not specify how they make it (dumb!) so they ended up putting cream in it and it did not set well with me. I was to' up from the flo' up. Gross.

So I've been working on a new hobby: couponing! And I don't mean clipping a few here and there. I want to be one of those crazy coupon ladies who gets a $100 cartful of stuff for like $12 bucks. Hee hee. I've been studying websites and blogs, and there is a serious artform to all of this. These people are hardcore. It also takes a lot of time and planning which I'm trying to work out the kinks for, and also I need to get organized. Too many coupons and sales flyers to keep up with. But I will make it work.

My first decent deal was at PetSmart. I signed up for the Pet Perks rewards card (I used to be against any and all loyalty cards on basic principle, but when you're a couponer, you are not above such high falutin' ideals. You're just after the best price.) I bought a 20 lb bag of Science Diet Light cat food regularly $31.49 and saved $6.00 with my card, and also used a $10 coupon that came in our last bag of food, which brought it down to $15.49, a savings of 51%. Darn cats are such pigs.

The cover of the Pottery Barn catalog makes me happy. I LOVE yellow, and this just fills my eyes with warmth and happiness!  Ahhh, what a beautiful color.

Um, so I need $2100 bucks. Any ideas how a SAHM can make some money? I signed up for a few survey websites before deciding that's pretty much a waste of time. Buying 1 lottery ticket per week isn't paying out either. <sigh> If I can get this coupon ball rolling, this may be more lucrative in SAVING money rather than actually making cash.

Lastly, a good weekend breakfast: I made these Breakfast Pies today and they are delish!!  Anything involving sausage, eggs, cheese and biscuits are ranked very highly in my book.

Snowblowing

I know a lot of people who read my blog have never seen a snowblower before, and neither had I until 6 years ago. Today I shot this video of Dave snowblowing the driveway so you can see them in action. Not super exciting, but think of the alternative! If you had to shovel the whole driveway yourself, you'd be laid up for a week.

My archnemesis returns

So yesterday we had our first significant snowfall of the year, I think it ended up being about 6 inches. I was sooo happy to not have to go out in it!  If not for Drew I would have been out on the roads spinning out at 5:45am.  No thank you!  I was happy to have everybody safe at home all snowed in. Even Dave is on vacation this week so after Drew took a 2 hour morning nap he built a fire in the woodstove and got everything toasty. It was a good day for some cinnamon buns (Pillsbury, reduced fat) for breakfast.

An early morning view of the damage (more fell as the day went on).  I wouldn't have even gone out in it at ALL except I had to walk across the street to feed the neighbor's bird while they're on a cruise in the Carribean.... LUCKY!

Then we got inspired and set up Drew's Christmas card photo shoot and he did SO well and they are so very cute. I can't spoil the surprise yet, but I was very pleased with them.  We had a lot of "help" from Moby who continuously crashed the backdrop.....

What fresh hell is this?

Yes, it's still snowing way up here in New Hampshire. (photo by Dave) This was Friday morning (today).  We're also supposed to get another Nor'easter on Sunday/Monday but hopefully they're saying it should be rain instead of snow. Flooding rain, yes, but I'd much rather take that than another foot of snow. Dave said he would put me on suicide watch if it snows again.

We've started watching the new show "Notes from the Underbelly." It is freaky. It's like our life right now. After the first segment, during the commercial all we could say was "wow." It's about a couple who decided to have baby and all the should we/shouldn't we stuff and all the crazy stuff that goes with pregnancy and making room for baby yadda yadda yadda. It was like all the conversations that Dave and I have had, and the people that we know, all kinds of stuff. I guess it's universal. TOO funny.

I'm trying not to get sick with the creeping crud that is everywhere at work. People are dropping like flies with this nasty cold that includes a fever and being laid up for a week. People come in moaning about how they have a fever, and I'm just muttering to myself, "get away from the pregnant lady...." I haven't been sick yet and I hope it stays that way because I can't take anything if I do.

Oh!! And also! If any of you are big fans of the Gordidas dinner kits (yuuuuummmm) you will know the glory of the zesty ranch sauce that comes with it.... too bad it only comes with one foil packet of it. Well, now your wishes have been granted! Dave found THIS at the grocery store yesterday.  No more fighting over the last of the baggie.  I can't seem to find a picture of it. But it's beautiful in an inverted squeeze bottle. 

How do you spell everlasting damnation?

N-E-W  H-A-M-P-S-H-I-R-E