Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Eventful Week

It turned out to be quite the eventful week last week. It started on Tuesday, August 23rd, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit in Virginia, which was felt all up and down the east coast. I was in a meeting when the building started shaking and, once it stopped, we all left to go outside. There was no cell service available but Brian was able to get word from Evan's school that it was closing so he went to get him. Then, all of 4 days later, we were facing a hurricane. Hurricane Irene was the source for lots of humor as she was named after my mother, of course. Our friend Ben put together this comical picture and posted it on facebook:


But Hurricane Irene turned out to be no laughing matter for the real Irene. Cranford got hit really hard - worst storm in history for the town. The Rahway River winds through the town, but couldn't hold the wrath of Irene. For those east-coasters who were saying this hurricane was all hype, you haven't seen the photos of Cranford.


This is downtown Cranford - you can see the water is up to the heads of the parking meters:

Another shot of downtown Cranford - the water is halfway up that building in the far right:This is my parents' street, about 6 blocks up from their house. This bridge you see in the middle and to the left was supposed to go OVER the river . . . in this case, the river went over the bridge:Just a random picture of a house I ound online - their fence was almost covered to to the top in water:My elementary school, which is a stone's throw away from my house. Not sure how that is going to be open in a week?



My parents had water fill up their basement from floor to ceiling. But they didn't even have it as badly as others, where water filled up several feet onto the first floor. Their power has been out since Sunday and they are being told it will be a week before it comes back on.



Irene was just a big rain storm for us in Pennsylvania. I was fearful of the big trees in our neighborhood (which have a history of falling on houses), so I made us have a family sleepover in the tv room. Evan slept until 8:00 AM that day, so we are thinking of making it his bedroom :) After the storm ended on Sunday morning, we decided to try taking Evan out to dinner with some friends to Hibachi - a Japanese steakhouse where they cook on the table right in front of you. We have avoided taking Evan out to dinner for quite awhile now because he just doesn't like to sit still. We thought Hibachi would be perfect because it would provide him with mealtime entertainment. Oh boy was I wrong and don't I wish I had brought my camera. At Hibachi, they start the "show" with a big fireball on the griddle in front of you. The table across from ours began their dinner preparation and the fireball went up. Poor Evan started screaming crying, as though we were under attack. Half of the restaurant looked at him with humorous pity as he screamed and cried. When it was our turn, the chef kindly didn't light the fireball, but all of the quick action of the chef with the griddle still was enough to freak him out and more tears ensued. He quickly got over his fear once the fried rice was served, but I think Hibachi may have terrorized him more than anything else. We should probably stick with the normal restaurants for at least a little while longer as our sensitive boy can't handle it just yet.

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