Sandy Aftermath

The worst part of the storm for me was trying to convince Little O he wanted to go to the bathroom outside, and not on my kitchen floor.  (I don't completely blame him, his legs are only 3" long, and at some points the water was at least 2" deep outside). 

The wind and the water didn't do too much damage to my place.  The basement flooded and I had some boxes that got soaked.  But, on a positive note, I was needing to go through them and throw most of them out anyway before moving, so this is kind of the impetus I need to actually dispose of them. 

My family is ok.  My friends are ok.  Nothing was lost that can't be replaced.

But the devastation of the storm elsewhere is heartbreaking.  It saddens me to see the Jersey Shore so decimated.  I grew up going on vacations there in the summer.  I have so many memories of being down there, and seeing pictures of how it looks now makes me want to cry. 

Same for New York.  New York is my home.  I know I didn't live up near there for very long, but everytime I go visit, I get this sense of being home.  It's where I belong.  And even though I'm not there now, I constantly am looking to move back. 

I'm glad all my friends up there made it through the storm and nobody lost anything that can't be replaced, but it breaks my heart to see so many things destroyed like that. 

J and I took the kids to the park a few weeks ago.  They're so adorable.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

The past few months I've been in kind of a rut, and it's been wearing on me.  I'm not unhappy or anything, but I'm not as happy and optimistic as I usually am.  I feel tired all the time (ok, that's more to do with how low my iron count has been lately, but still, I include it in there).  I can't seem to get motivated to go running or go to the gym (oh, hey, I finally joined one), and I just feel pretty blah. 

Cue the changes coming.

Change 1:

I love the house I live in.  The only three things I don't love about it are the neighbors (ugh, that's a whole post on its own), having to do lawn work (seriously, DESPISE mowing the lawn even if it is the size of a postage stamp), and the commute.  I live 35 miles from work.  It takes anywhere from 50-90 minutes to get to work in the morning, and 70-120 minutes to get home in the evening.  That's a minimum of  2 hours in my car every day.  (Could possibly explain why I'm so tired all the time?).  Like I said, I love living here, I love living near my sister and her family, but, I can't do this commute for another year. 

So, I found an apartment in West Norriton (basically Norristown), 7 miles from work.  I don't move till November 26, but I'm looking forward to the shorter commute.  I still plan to come to DE as often as I can, but at least I won't be making this drive every day. 

Change 2:

I applied for a new position in my company that would be a promotion.  I honestly had no expectations of actually getting the position, and figured it was a waste of my time, but I needed to do something new, so why not. 

I got a call on Friday afternoon, and they made me the offer.  I was flabbergasted (although eventually recovered enough to accept).  So, starting Monday, I get a pay raise and a new title.  Yay me?

This leads to Change 3:

I am signing up to take the GMATs in January and going back to school next fall for my mba.  I'm still researching doing a local school, or just taking an online program.  I haven't made up my mind  yet, but I still have time to decide.  Either way, it will be applicable for our company's education reimbursement, and I really need to take advantage of it. 

So I'm starting here, and we'll see where it goes. 

Random wedding cake

This will be a super random post. 

I read www.cakewrecks.com all the time.  I love that site.  It's amazing how badly a cake can be messed up.

However, every Sunday, they do all their "pretty cake" posts.  This past Sunday was rainbow cakes. 

I in no way am planning to get married, or ever really need this cake.  But just in case I completely lose my mind and decide to get married, I want THIS cake.

I love everything about it.

The rest of the cakes are also amazing, you should check them out here. 

Smiling's my favorite

I'm super tired today, and acting a bit grumpy, so a list of random things making me smile today:

I stopped by J's house on the way home to pick up some knitting I left there, and she totally fed me some super yummy dinner that was much better than anything I was planning to make.

I got to hold Ferb tonight (and all afternoon yesterday as well).  God, I adore that little baby.  He's so cute, even when he's fussy.  And I like to pretend that I'm giving his mommy a break from him, so it's like a win/win. 
Little V is also freaking adorable.  She is definitely in her toddler stage and is very opinionated about pretty much everything, but, I feel like everyday I see her, she gets more and more fun to be around.

I made a hat for Little H when he was born, but he absolutely hated the hat bc it wasn't cotton (it was baby alpaca), so it never got worn.   Ferb appears to be content wearing it (he even wore it for his birth announcement picture).  Always fun to see stuff you made get worn.

Speaking of, JP STILL wears the hat I made for him years ago (not sure how long ago, I know I was still living in Virginia at the time).

We spoke to L on the phone tonight.  I hadn't heard her voice in a few weeks, so that was nice. (waah, I still miss you L!).

Oscar had been super cuddly with me today.  I missed him this weekend.  Glad he missed me too.

So...I have plenty to smile about today.   What's making you smile today?