Hurricane Sandy

We experienced very high wind and some rain during the Hurricane. Luckily we live far enough up that we didn't have any flooding and had very little damage done to our house.  We lost power Monday night at 5:00 pm.  The first few days were not too bad and the kids enjoyed running around the house with flashlights. By Wednesday (Halloween) it started to get cold here.  There were rumors that the power would be out for weeks or even a month.  That's when things started to get scary.  I started thinking about heading west at that point.  I also found out that my mom had fallen off a ladder and had hurt herself very badly.  I wanted to be home to help take care of her.  Thursday night we were able to borrow a generator from some friends who's power was restored. This brought new hope and decided that I could tough it out here. However, because of the extreme gas shortage we only ran it for a few hours before bed.  Friday was the first day Jason was able to go back to work. He works in Far Rockaway which is one of the areas that was hit hardest by the storm.  Many of his co workers lost their homes in the storm. That morning we went too a play group at a friends house.  On the way there I noticed only 2 gas stations were still open and the lines were endless.  I was thankful I had a full tank.  We took warm baths while we were there. The first warm baths since the storm.  It was heavenly! It was scary to see the fear in the eyes of my friends.  I can't even put into words the emotions I felt that day.  While there I decided to book flights home to Utah for the kids and I.  As I drove back to our house I noticed that all the gas stations were taped off and had no more gas. The National Guard had tanks protecting one of the two gas stations that had been open only 2 hours earlier.  We went to another friends house afterwards, she fed us a warm lunch.  I felt so desperate and so thankful at the same time for friends that invited us to hang out in there warm houses all day.  While there Jason called and told me a little about the situation in Far Rockaway.  It confirmed that I had made the right decision to book tickets out of New York.  It was hard to go home to our cold, dark house that evening.  Not to sound ungrateful, we always reminded ourselves how lucky we were to live in the middle of the island where there was no flooding and that we still had a house.  The kids and I flew to Utah Saturday.  Jason flew to his brother's in Missouri Sunday.  Luckily it was his scheduled week off.  That night after we were all gone our power apparently came back on :/  We stayed in Utah for a week.  School was for nearly 2 weeks from the hurricane and nor' easter.  The kids only missed 2 days of actual school while we were gone.  Church was also cancelled for 2 weeks after the hurricane.  Our flight back to New York was another night mare. it was a red eye which normally works out very well for us because the kids are so tired they sleep the entire flight.  The 3 younger kids did sleep well, but Britannia got some stomach bug and threw up a million times.  I was stealing barf bags from all the seats around us after she went through our five.  Luckily I had packed extra pj's for the boys because one of the bags leaked onto her pants and she had to change into David's bottoms.  As our time to arrive came and I started to relax I realized we were circling New York.  After a half hour of circling they announced our arrival to Syracuse, New York.  They said we would refuel there and wait until we were cleared to land in JFK because the fog was too heavy at the moment.  Luckily all four of my children were sleeping at this point and didn't know what was going on.  However, 3 hours later they did wake up.  Most of the other passengers had departed the plane to hang out in the airport at this point. I decided it would be a good idea to do so as well so we would get some breakfast.  Kash didn't agree, he threw a huge tantrum in the terminal and tried to re board the plane.  I was so exhausted and worn down that I lost it right there in the terminal and started crying.  Two weeks of extreme emotions all came out in front of my kids and hundreds of strangers right there in the Syracuse airport.  I was so humiliated!  Then it was announced that we could board the plane to JFK.  So without any breakfast we boarded the plane and had a smooth flight the rest of the way home.  I was thankful to be home even Jason had to go back to work after he dropped us off.  I started unpacking and catching up on 2 weeks worth of laundry for 6 people.  After 3 loads of laundry we lost power again and I started to cry again.  I walked outside at the same time as all my neighbors and we all had the same terrified look.  I texted Jason to let him know that we lost power again. He called LIPA (our power company) and found out they had turned it off to work on the lines.  This time the power was only out for a hour instead of a week.  I have never felt so blessed to have lights, heat, warm showers, and working appliances in my whole life.  Life is starting to fell normal around here again, we are able to get gas easier and our schedules are back to normal.  My heart goes out to those who's lives were disrupted my the storm especially those who won't be "normal" for a long time.