Pictures from Hurricane Irene

Brady dealing with the storm the way he deals with most things.

Brady and Casey after Casey had a sedative to keep her from freaking out over the thunder.

The only bad thing that happened was that I woke up with no power and unable to make coffee.  I am particularly dim before I've had coffee and completely unable to cope with life.  Trying to figure out how to boil water without the use of the electric stove was a bit of a challenge.  Thankfully S pointed out the only attempt that worked or I'd probably have burned the house down by now and still wouldn't have had a cup!

There's candles in the coffee can.  It didn't get hot enough to boil.

This one was set up outside but I didn't get a picture of it then because I accidentally lit the whole camp stove on fire and had to pull out the propane and run away:

This was what I used for attempt #2.  Epic failure.

Attempt #3.

Attempt #3  It took forever but finally worked!

Finally able to deal with the aftermath.

 

Stickin' it out!

The dogs, the birds and I are staying put.  I feel like there is some project I've been putting off that I could totally do if the electricity goes out but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.  So, to keep myself entertained I'll be reading, giving myself a pedicure, writing... err... what the hell did people do to entertain themselves before electricity?  Maybe that's why everyone got married and had lots of babies?  Just to decrease the chances they'd ever wind up in their house alone with nothing to do.  Hmmm...

The Bucket

I am prepared  :)



I am kicking myself for yesterday's post!

So apparently Hurricane Irene is going to hit us and apparently it will be bad.  I can't help but feel like I tempted fate yesterday when I said that we never get hurricanes.  Oh!  And I live in an evacuation zone.  Yay!

Thankfully, S & J have offered to come get me and the dogs if we need to evacuate.  My folks will be away for the week so I'm REALLY hoping that nothing bad happens to the house.  (Yes, I'm probably over reacting with being so nervous, but seriously, when was the last time people in NYC had to think about evacuating because of a storm?)

Tonight's To-Do list:
Pack a Go Bag
Pack a doggie Go Bag
Rustle up some candles and flashlights
Prepare to remove any valuables from the basement that may be ruined by a flood
Put together a FuckIt Bucket for waiting out the storm, including:
          Reese's PB cups
          M&Ms
          Chips
          Maybe some Hostess cakes...

Oy!

Rrrruummmbbbbbllle

I know that the only damage from the quake yesterday was to the facades of a few buildings in DC and along the coast.  I know that it was not "the big one".  Nonetheless, I was terrified.  I do not handle stuff like this well.  Part of the reason living in NYC is so nice is because we don't get any real natural disasters.  Sure, every now and then we get the tail end of a hurricane or the occasional blizzard.  We even get tornadoes on rare occasion.  The thing is, we never get them with the force that other places do.  It's nice.  It's safe.  Having the ground shake is unacceptable! 

Sorry, I just had to get that out.

So I'm trying to get in to see some condos in Bed Stuy this week.  There are a few of them in one building on the A train side of the neighborhood.  It's supposed to be more happening over there and it's the furthest from the projects of any place I've seen so far.  The condos are small 350-390 square feet.  The two that I'm interested in have a backyard.  I'm kind of really excited about the idea of moving into such a petite place.  I'll really have to be creative about the layout, the furniture and storage.  Granted, I may see the building and nix it for various reasons, but for now, I'm letting myself be excited.

Ran today.  Same as yesterday.  Nothing new on that front.  I can't wait to be able to get my elliptical out of storage so I can alternate running days with elipting days...

Okay this post is rambling and going nowhere....

Mini Goal

I went to get dressed this morning and noticed that almost every shirt I own is black or white.  Mostly black.  Mostly tee shirts and slightly-nicer that tee shirts.  My wardrobe has become extremely boring and monochromatic.  Also, half the stuff I own I've owned for years.  I'd write about how long I've had every single piece of clothing that I'm wearing right now is, except it's really that embarrassing.

I've decided that I meed to revamp my style and replace the stuff that's either worn out, out of date or I'm just plain bored of.  My goal is to add color and get out of my comfort zone.  I definitely need to start by getting a new fall jacket, new sneakers and a pair of flats.  I really need to see if someone will take the ride out to the Lord and Taylor outlet or to Jersey Gardens.  I need some big stores with sale clothes.

Oh!  I went for a run this morning.  Five reps.  The fourth and fifth were hard and I could have used my inhaler but I can't find it.  I'm going to work on five reps until that's a bit easier. 

Excuses, excuses!

I haven't run since Friday morning.  I slept too late over the weekend and this morning I wanted to cry when my alarm clock went off.  I couldn't sleep at all last night.  I was fully prepared to push through it and make myself get up this morning but I realized I had to choose between hating myself all day because I didn't go for a run or hating myself all day because I'm so tired I'm just wasting space at the office.  I chose to hate myself for not running.  At least I'll start my work week out on the right foot.

I may go for a run after work.  I've been looking forward to running all weekend.  I think I'm going to start trying to push myself.  Last week, I did three reps per run.  This week, I'm going to try for six.  If it's too much, I'll cut back, but I want to start feeling like I'm making some progress.  At least, if I have to cut back, I'll know what my current limit is and be able to work on increasing it.

I went and saw two condos on Linden Blvd this weekend.  The neighborhood was okay.  Nothing to write home about.  The condos were big but plain.  Boring.  The building was a pre war tenement.  It had 52 units.  The rooms were big but the kitchen and bathroom came off as an after-thought.  The windows were functional, not pretty.  It was very true to the time that it was built.  That said, I saw ways that it could be modernized but it just didn't grab me.

I took a ride around my prospective new neighborhoods on Saturday.  I totally ruled out the Crown Heights condo.  The one that has the park right in front of it.  The block was a little scary at night time.  S & J thought the Linden Blvd place wasn't safe but I actually felt more comfortable there than any other place I looked.  Nonetheless, it didn't grab me so I'm not so concerned.  The original Bed Stuy condo, the one right by the Marcy Houses, actually seemed to be the best.  Don't get me wrong, a few blocks away seemed scary but that particular block and a few blocks around it seemed okay.  I think I may try to spend some more time around there so I can get a feel for if I could live there.

I have another place to see this week.  Maybe two.  We'll see....