Weathered The Storm

With the past 2 days off of school due to the Hurricane, we have had a four day weekend of sleeping in.  It certainly was an adjustment to all of us to get back into the routine.  CB and I were up at 6:00 and Pink and Tink at 7:00.  Everyone but Rella was out the door by 8:00 am and Rella snoozed until an unprecedented 9:00 am!!  That gave me an hour to myself to sit in our infrequently used sunroom and gaze out the picture window at what is left of the leaves on the trees with a cup of hot coffee.

I was rewarded with this view:  two small does and a handful of wild turkey hanging out in our yard.

[These photos with the turkey were taken through a screen window which made them a bit blurry ] 

I mean, seriously.  You can't buy this type of beauty.  What a great way to start the morning.

Then, I heard my little bed-headed, stinky-breathed, warm little munchkin full of snuggles and a big appetite plunking down the stairs at 9:05.  I was happy to see her.

We fared VERY well in Hurricane Sandy.  Despite the devastation around us in New Jersey, especially at the beaches, our little town remained pretty unaffected.  No trees down, no major power outages (our power stayed on the whole time) and no flooding.  We are very, very fortunate and when I watch the news and see the photos and read the stories of so many houses destroyed, cities crippled, and I believe about 55 people dead, it is sobering.  I will not dare to complain about the loss of 2 "snow days" for "nothing" or the postponing of the school's Halloween parades or Trick or Treat... it could have been so much worse for us.  My heart goes out to all of those who are inconvenienced or suffered any degree of loss.  

Halloween is officially today, but all the celebrations will occur Friday and Saturday.  That buys me a little time to get my act together and more time to simply enjoy it all.  So far, we've had lots of Pre-Halloween fun at a neighbor's "Pumpkin Hunt"

and at several fun parties for the kids...

and the grown ups.

There is so much more to enjoy with the extension of Halloween and I'm counting my many blessings through it all.