Un-Restored Shore

We managed to snap a few shots of what remained of the Sandy destruction. In some ways it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. In some, it was worse. Remind me when I become a millionaire not to buy ocean front property...

...because when I become a millionaire, I may forget.

Down Comes The Jet Star

Well, I was hoping to make it out to the shore to see the infamous view of the iconic Jet Star submerged, albeit partially, in the ocean. Not your everyday scene. But today they began dissambling and if Johnny 5 from Short Circuit taught me anything, I know that's not good. Kind of bummed, since we're planning on going down next week, but hey, the rebuild must go on. Bring on the Drone Star.

The Pavilion Lives To Sing Another Day

We've all seen a lot of the photos from the damage Sandy did. It's a mess out there. The people who I know live there are all okay and seem to be in good spirits. I'm glad we took Yuula out to Seaside this summer. Don't know when they think they'll be able to get it all up and running again, but I'm guessing it will never be the same.

This is Avon. That little white building on the right with all the windows is the Avon Pavilion where my sister got married. It stands unharmed, and with all the destruction around it too. Glad. It was kind of a special place. I sang a mean version of The Guess Who's These Eyes in that place. My parents spend almost every Friday night there over the summer as well with his band. It's almost surreal.

Halloween Lives In November Now

Surviving Sandy: Day Six

 This day, November 3rd, was the day that Halloween was pushed back to. That's fine with us. Just another reason to escape the igloo at 8 Arrowhead. Or are we now 5134 Arrowhead? I think we're both.

 Downtown Stroudsburg has some perfect trick-or-treating houses so this was gonna be great

 Yuula was has really come to love this lion costume

 Just look at this turnout!

 There were a few scary characters but Yuula kept her eyes on the prize: CANDY!

 Good thing she's too short to see these jokers

 We had to make a few stops to refuel

 Passing by another creepily wonderful house downtown

 Oooh, now a creepy tree and brick wall

 And then a slightly inappropriate and geriatric Batman roamed the street keeping the youth safe

 Some people really went the extra disgusting mile

Afterwards, we decided on Sweet Creams, since it was kind of the only place within walking distance that had power, and we love it. We are trying to run the full menu, each ordering a different sandwich and going halfsies, therefore expediting the process. This round was the Florentine Flatbread and the Smokey Mountains. Delicious. Yuula had pizza and chips. And we had ice cream. 

And then the power came back on....

Avoid Frustration And Frostbite

Surviving Sandy: Day Five

This was the day we woke up and just got out of the house. Slight frustration and frostbite was setting in but outside was considerably more mild than the past couple of days sooooooo park time!

This slide may have been a little out of her league

 This is not a very entertaining race

 Now we're getting somewhere

 This is a whole new kind of slide for this girl

Throw in a little Mediterranean see-saw

Roundabout with the big girls and hanging in there too

After the park we headed over to the outlets, which is usually a pretty depressing place. Saw some pretty suite outdoor speakers from the Bose store tho. Now I just need and extra $450.  And Yuula got a free balloon from Hartstrings.

 We made an impulsive appointment with our dealership to have our oil changed and tires rotated. Hey it was free, warm and free wifi. Don't judge. Plus Yuula made a new puppy friend and they had staring contests.

 Oh, and Yuula got her second free balloon of the day

 Why not try for pizza for dinner again tonight, but real pizza please. We actually took the time (because that's all we had) to try and find a legit pizzeria, the best in town, and I really think we did. My mother is watering now just thinking of the delicious sausage and pepper masterpiece that was served to us that night at Pizzaro's. Plus, they had photo hunt!

Thank you Mommy. I love Pizzaro's!

On this night the film choice was The Dictator because it was the only comedy that did not star Adam Sandler of have Madea in the title. But I'm afraid it sucked just as well.

Bills, Bruises, Buffets In Brrrr

Surviving Sandy: Day Four

Laura had to go in to work this day. No heart in corporate America. Despite a hurricane and massive flooding, people gotta buy tchotchkes. But Yuula and I layered up and decided to do some heavy reading. Yuula on her book collection and I on that stack of papers that's been mysteriously collecting under my desk for a year or so.

Bills, expired coupons, offers, etc. It all had a place, and most of it was the trash can. But it had to be done. Some of it was kind of important. Guess I should hope for power outages more often.

Then Yuula fell down and hit her head on the stairs. Little bump that a bottle can fix easily.

I decided to fend off concussion and take her for a walk. She was all but too eager to comply, and it's not like it was any colder outside than it was inside.

We found an old walking buddy who was all of the sudden hard to shake.

It wasn't long til boogers started running heavy and served as temporary refreshment.

We took some silly shots

I have a large schnozz

When Laura got home we packed up our dirtbag family and headed out to CiCi's pizza. A warm meal for a cheap buck and also a place that we could camp out at for as long as we needed to to let our bones defrost. 

We hopped on over to the new megastore bargain book store. Bought Yuula  few new reads and I picked up a copy of Richard Dawkin's "The Ancestor's Tale" for only $1. Should I still read it?

Then we wandered around Target pretending to shop. Yuula took after her mother and decided to do a little redecorating throughout the store. We bought nothing. I think we may have bought a candy bar.

We rented Safety Not Guaranteed to watch by the fireplace bed this night. It was okay. That girl from Parks & Rec is funny, but I think I dozed off a few too many times to actually get what the hell was going on. They disappeared. Is that good? 

Mall Hallow's Eve

Surviving Sandy: Day Three

We woke up this morning with the realization that this was not going to be the day we got power back. Neighbors were found wandering the streets muttering blasphemes such as "Saturday, Sunday at best" and "Jersey is running out of gas". We had to decide whether we should go buy shotguns at Walmart and hunker down to protect our homefront or load up the car with the bare necessities and head for greener pastures. Scary Halloween decisions. We decided to dress Yuula like a lion and take her to the mall.

I had heard of these mall trick-or-treats but refused to believe they could replace the real thing. I was right. What a travesty. Ghosts were rolling over in their graves. A line that wrapped the interior of the mall twice, a systematic "parade" from store to store with communistic candy rationing. The GNC was handing out vitamins and they weren't even Flintstones! Let's remember to never attempt that again. It shouldn't be hard.

Yuula did get a decent share of candy however. Her first box of Nerds was a hit. I think she even ate one off the ground. Yeah, she definitely did.

Giving up and sucking a lolly

We met up at the mall with the Trunks and since it was the girls turn to decide where to eat we ended up at a mysteriously empty Chili's. 

But that was fine with us because it gave the girls a chance to run around some open space. That and the spilled margaritas, the waitress didn't hate us, no. Not one bit.

just let them

This was the first night we transitioned from blanket fort to sleeping on the daybed mattresses in front of the fireplace. Temperatures outside were starting to drop and we weren't messing around anymore.

Seeking Asylum In The Greater Lehigh

Surviving Sandy: Day Two

The blanket fort actually gave us that extra layer of warmth, recirculating our hot breath that first chilly morning to warm our toes and fingers worked like a charm. And it was fun to boot.

First thing on our minds was some warm breakfast and hot coffee. We weren't on the road long til we saw this doozy.

Wandered the wasteland til we found out the Lehigh Valley Mall was to open to the public at 1pm. Called the Trunks and rendezvoused accordingly.

The girls took advantage of the section cordoned off for the coming of Santa, til the big mean mall security guard scolded them and told them they'd get coal in their stockings.

The inevitable return to the icebox we call home happened a little early this night, as we intended to heat up our blanket enclosure by a little aerobic activity, creating a game where Laura pushes Yuula onto a pile of pillows and she rolls down into my lap and I throw her back to her mother. This went on for about 3 hours.

and dancing...

I thought, what better time to teach Laura the rules of backgammon

It didn't take long for her to start cheating with the help of her child. Have she no shame?

Some storm inspired arts & crafts took place

then she passed out