This Full House Archive

Tag: hurricane irene

  • Don’t Mess With Mother Nature, She Probably Has Teens

    The kids have been on spring break since Friday and, since my oldest is scheduled to work this week/weekend and needs the car to, you know, get there (it's about a 30 minute ride down the Parkway, in Jersey speak) we're pretty much rooted close to home.

    Boy and His Dog

    By yesterday afternoon 2 out of 4 of them weren't speaking to each other (because, girls are pretty much women in training, just so you know) the boy and I needed some fresh air.  Also, the roast had about another hour left.  So, we took Doofus-dawg for a quick walk before dinner.

    Broken Sky
    It also gave us (meaning, the boy and me) a chance to talk, reconnect and perhaps address a few issues (because, teenagers, they hazem) that otherwise may have gotten lost or mixed in with the rest of the miss-matched socks in the house…YO!

    Broken Basketball NetWe've weathered some pretty bad storms, lately (literally and figuratively speaking) and Mother Nature hasn't been very kind to our neighborhood, either.

    Broken Path
    Hurricane Irene reduced one of their favorite paths, once a bridge into a fairy world filled with magical possibilities, as a place to be feared, neglected and left totally abandoned.

    Broken Tree
    No matter how many times we changed our direction, we were reminded of just how fragile our world has become and my son was trying really hard to understand why I would want to take pictures of such random things.

    Broken Sidewalk

    I tried to explain with this broken sidewalk.  Yesterday it served as a medium for space travel.  Who knows what story it will tell, tomorrow?

    Splash of Color

    I don't know if it stuck.  The boy is only 13.  Also, he asked that I stop taking pictures so that we could get home and check to see if dinner was ready and, well, 13 year-old boys really do get hungry, A LOT.

    "Hey, but thanks for the walk mom."

    Aaaaand, next time, I'm thinking about dying my hair purple.

    "My head feels a whole lot better."

    Mine too, enough said.

    © 2003 – 2012 This Full House

  • Further Proof Our Life IS a Sitcom
    Or, Would Make a Very Comical Cartoon

    Backstory: Hurricane Irene ripped us a new one (figuratively and literally) damaging our roof and chimney, which now causes our ceilings and the front of our house to leak like a sieve, every time it rains.

    Flashback: to September, which, turns out, was one of the stormiest months we've ever had, here in Jersey (of course!)

    FB Our Own Personal Rain Dance
    Flash-forward: last night, my awesome friend Sue (who also happens to be my next door neighbor, in my dreams, I wish) Facebook's me while I'm out buying lottery tickets.FB Sue Rain Dance

    Missed it (DAGNABIT!) so, through the magic of the interwebs, I go and watch the episode this morning:


    Sorry about the 15 second ad in the beginning (ABC folks gotta keep their lights on, too, I guess) the clip itself is only 30 seconds long and a gosh-darned good example of what it's like to live in our house, when EVERY TIME IT RAINS!!!

    Now, if you'll excuse me, the clouds are beginning to roll in. 

    If anyone needs me, I'll be in the kitchen.  Breaking out the pots and hoping that the insurance check clears and/or ABC calls, sometime, soon!

    Stupid roof, dumbass Irene.

    © 2003 – 2011 This Full House

  • After the Storm

    Blue Skies
    We heard it was coming, a few days after experiencing our first earthquake and it was supposedly one of the biggest storms to hit the New Jersey coast in recent memory.

    We prepared, each in our own way and as much as we could, considering our house loses power whenever the town burps or hiccups, stocking up on can goods, batteries, candles, lots of ice and Ibuprofen (okay, that last one was for me) thinking that we would be without electric for a day or two.

    Five (5) days later, my middle girl called me at the laundromat to say that the lights came on and I cried.

    We fared better than most.

    A week after the storm, it was announced that the federal government has approved New Jersey’s disaster assistance request for state residents in ALL 21 counties impacted by Hurricane Irene.

    Just a few miles away, there are people we know who are still without power and/or draining a swimming pool in their basement.

    As we wait our turn to estimate the cost of the damage caused by Irene (at last count, our living room ceiling sprung about a dozen leaks and the wallpaper by our front door burst open to expose a magical water fountain underneath) there is nothing that could not be repaired, or cannot be dealt with, over time.

    Not when there were lives lost.

    Although, I feel it safe to admit that…YES!…the last week or so has been very stressful.

    Except, the part where we spent two gorgeous days and nights with my parents (see pic above!) or, hosting an impromptu virtual sleepover with online friends (thanks, you and Gabs do good face, Jenn!)

    Oh, and ALL four of the kids are actually looking forward to starting school tomorrow (FTW!)

    I, on the other hand, am very, very thankful to be able to sit here, in this house (filled to capacity with unmatched socks and mildewy as it may be) I get it.

    People have experienced worse…of course, they always do…but, we WERE lucky and I am just happy to have the chance to write…again…after the storm.

    Howeverrrrrrr, the next person who insists that…pssshhhh…Hurricane Irene was NUH-THING!…gets a Wet Willy (look it up!)

    © 2003 – 2011 This Full House

  • Easy, Breezy, Pinot Gris-y

    In between earthquakes and hurricane warnings (what a week we're having, Jersey, eh?) my husband, Garth (NHRN) and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary and had an awesome dinner with my in-laws, last night!

    I tried to keep the conversation light (thanks to 2 Mojitos and an awesome glass of Pinot Gris) alas, my husband's boyscout powers, along with the category 2 hurricane and extreme flood warnings, had been activated early in the day.

    "You guys have everything you need?"

    My in-laws are both in their 80's (but, you STILL look good Mom!) and, well, let's just say that they didn't seem very worried about the weather.

    "Ah-yup."

    Still, I told them that the kids and I were going to go down to check on my folks (they live about 15 miles inland from Seaside Heights) then, I would stop by their house (my in-laws live about 10 minutes away from us) to help secure stuff and drop off a case of bottled water.

    "I don't expect there'd be a problem."

    My father-in-law is from New England, enough said.

    "But, you want to be able to have coffee!"

    I mean, seriously, you really have to wonder about some people's priorities.

    "Category 2 hurricane and you're worried about coffee?"

    I'm sure the table behind us MUST have heard the muscles in my neck snap, as I whipped my head in my husband's direction (I mean, my neck STILL hurts a little) seriously, he's lived with me for 21 years.

    "Maybe coffee would help make them worry about it, you know, less."

    Okay, at this point, I realize that it sounded as if I was being beaten by the stoopid stick. 

    It's not every day you experience an earthquake AND a hurricane in the same week.

    I stood my ground.

    "This way, you have water, all you have to do is just fire up your Keurig and you're good to go."

    Wait for it.

    "That's actually a great idea.

    Wait.  For.  It.

    "Iffffffff, they had electricity!"

    AHEM.

    "How about those Giants?"

    [blink, blink]

    "They're actually going to go ahead and play the Jets."

    [sound of crickets]

    "You know, on Saturday?!?"

    [heavy sigh]

    "Sure, I'll have another glass of wine, thanks!"

    All I'm saying is, thank goodness, I married a boyscout….stupid Irene!

    © 2003 – 2011 This Full House