Superstorm Day 1

So far, not much has happened for us on Day 1 of the Superstorm.  School was cancelled for me and Ben is able to work from home so neither of us have to be on the roads today, thank the Lord!  Right now, it is raining and the wind is picking up here and there but overall, not much has happened.  I wish I could say the same for the Eastern Shore, which is where all of my family lives, though none of them live on the water thankfully!  It has been pouring there since yesterday and it's pretty windy.  The main damage so far is in Ocean City, MD.  The water has already crossed over the dune line and is starting to wash into the streets, even farther in the lower areas of OCMD.  And the sad news so far is that over night the fishing pier was destroyed by the storm surge.  Officials are saying about 100 feet of the pier has been destroyed and washed away. :(  Hurricane Sandy isn't even here yet!  She is still off the coast of NC I believe, making it's way towards the Mid-Atlantic.



Officials are now saying that the storm is going to come right across the Eastern Shore/Delaware/New Jersey.  They thought it was going to hit more of NJ/NY but now Sandy has changed course.  The worst of it is supposed to happen tonight.

Here's a shot of the pier before and after.  I hope my beloved Ocean City doesn't wash away!

Here's another shot of the waves coming over the beach onto the boardwalk last night.

Prepping for the Frankenstorm

Have you guys heard of the Frankenstorm that is coming???  Hurricane Sandy is going to merge with a winter storm coming from the west and a cold front coming from the north and will morph into a super storm, dubbed the Frankenstorm!!  The problem is that no one is quite sure where the storm is going to make landfall...anywhere from Virginia to Main it could hit.  It also depends on what news agency you are watching.  The most common projected path is for the storm to make landfall at Delaware/the Eastern Shore of MD (where I am from!) and passing right over us as it makes its way inland. We also aren't quite sure when the storm is going to hit.  It could be anywhere from tonight to Tuesday and it's expected to stay around for a few days.  Right now, the storm is off the coast of South Carolina and the road from NC to the Outer Banks has already washed out!

Ben and I have been lucky in that we haven't had to do too much to prep for the storm.  I picked up some water on my way home from school on Friday and we made sure we had plenty of peanut butter, bread, granola bars, and cereal.  We also made sure we had plenty of food and water for Riley.  Since we are on city water we shouldn't lose our water capabilities.  Our biggest thing will be losing power.  We have candles and some flashlights ready to go.  Ben's parents were kind enough to loan us some of their freezer space so we took our freezer food over there yesterday.  They have a generator and will be powering their freezer if they lose power.  We didn't want to go through what we did this summer when we lost power and lose all our food!  

We also shouldn't have to worry too much about the rain since we are on the third floor of our building.  We also don't have too many trees around so hopefully the wind won't be a problem either.  Our biggest concern is taking Riley out during the storm to go to the bathroom.  Hopefully we won't get blown away!

For as long as we have power, I will try to post pictures and updates.  Right now, it's cloudy and a slight breeze has started.  The rain from the storm is supposed to reach us later today with the wind coming tonight.  I am procrastinating and not writing lesson plans for the week yet until I see if I have school or not.  We shall see what happens!!!

If you are in the path of the storm like we are, stay safe!!

UMD Football

Since it is fall and all (though some morning temperatures make it feel like winter!!  33 degrees and frost...really Mother Nature?!?)  we have to do fall activities of course!  Last weekend, Ben's office mate, Kelly, scored some free tickets to the UMD vs. Wake Forest game!  She asked if we wanted to go with her and we said yes of course!  Who's going to say no to free tickets, especially if it is their alma mater?

So the three of us drove up to College Park and since it was Kelly's first time there, we had fun pointing everything out to her on campus.  Our tickets were for the nosebleeds but we had a really good view of the field!  Over the summer, UMD put in a new turf field and the field looked really really snazzy!  The field is a one of a kind in the nation and it has something to do with lowering the temperatures on the field so play is more comfortable for the players, etc.  Something like that.  All I know is that it is the only one in the US.

We really had a good time at the game.  By the 3rd quarter, we were ready to go though.  The game was being played very s-l-o-w-l-y and since we were at the top, it was really really windy so we were freezing!  All three of us decided that Starbucks sounded like a warmer idea then finishing the game!  We headed to Starbucks and on the way home, heard that the Terps had managed to win.  Go Terps!

Beautiful new field!

The Mighty Sound of Maryland getting ready to take the field!

An upside down M.

Go Terps!

University of Maryland

An upside down shield of Maryland.

What a cutie!

The halftime show was Warner Brothers (I think...it was hard to hear everything the announcer was saying.)  Here's Bugs Bunny!

The Jetson's space car.

Flintstones!  It's their (upside down) car.

After the game, we came home and just relaxed by ordering a pizza and catching up on our shows.  Later in the evening, this is how I found Riley on the couch.  She's so lady-like!

What a silly dog!