perspective

did you know

that if you have a roof over your head,

gas in your tank (tummy & car),

electricity, lights and a dry room,

and a warm place to sleep tonight...

you're probably in the minority lately?

I was really struck by the words from a friend's relative that was shared with me recently.  I realize that this is probably small in comparison to world hunger, and those who are still recovering from other world catastrophes, but this is right here...  in our back yard...  and they're battening down the hatches for another storm to hit this week/end!

Please... keep them in your prayers and thoughts.  The cancellation of the NYC marathon should have been the least of our worries.  If you are able to donate to Red Cross or another organization, or help someone you know personally, please do not hesitate during this month of THANKSGIVING! 

There should be no boundaries to generosity & grace.

It’s a pity party day today.


Still no power, and from what we heard from neighbors last night…it looks like it could be weeks. I listen to the local radio during the day and it’s just all depressing. People calling in crying who have nothing or have trees on their houses and no one has power. They advertise shelters and hot meal locations. People are getting angry, it gets scary to go to the gas station. They have gas rationing and you can only go on odd/even days depending on your license plate number. People are desperate and they pull up to the stations ready for a fight. They now have cops at the stations. It’s just exhausting. And It’s really hard to leave the house because we have a fire burning for heat and I don’t want to leave that unattended, plus, when we leave we have to turn the generator off and it gets really cold in here.

People keep saying “go to a hotel”, etc. but, it’s a hard thing to do because since it’s so cold, leaving the house without power leaves it at risk of the pipes freezing. Also, we have trees laying on power lines and it just seems like not a good idea to leave things unattended in case something happens. I leave for a business trip tomorrow and get home Friday night. I am really looking forward to the break, although I feel bad for leaving him alone to deal with it all. It seriously is a two person job at a minimum!!

I have SOO much laundry piled up and we can’t run the washer or dryer on the generator. I took a bunch of work clothes to the dry cleaners the week before the storm and of course they are closed with no power so, items that I would bring with me are sitting somewhere and we can’t get them! My husband’s office is opening back up tomorrow. He was called in today to help test out systems to make sure they can get up and running for everyone tomorrow. Our dog day care place near his office is still closed, so I hope they get power before tomorrow so he can go to work and drop the dog off while I am gone!

Don’t worry, we won’t run out of food. There are some grocery stores open several towns over, so that’s not an issue. COOKING that food is a challenge. We have a crock pot and an electric frying pan that we alternate plugging in with an extension cord. Doing dishes is also “fun”. We fill up the crock pot with water and heat it up to pour in the sink to wash dishes, then heat up more water in the crock pot to rinse the dishes in. The house is a mess of extension cords and chainsaw parts and crap. I am just OVER it!

  Please think twice before complaining about the election and maybe instead, focus on doing something positive for a neighbor in need.