Natural Disasters

The fact that we have had two "natural disasters" in one week feels very natural for my life right now. I am still really raw from losing my daughter but trying to do my best to move on. I have good days and bad days and mostly the good days are winning out.
On Tuesday of last week the East Coast felt the strongest earthquake since 1944. The center was in VA and tremors were felt all over the east coast. My hubby and I were both home and neither one of us felt anything. My mom was at an appointment at the hospital and felt it very strongly and was really nervous when the offices were evacuated.
This weekend was hurricane Irene. They had been talking about this hurricane all week and I was pretty sure that we wouldn't get much. We usually don't and I was hopeful that history would prove me right. My bestie and her hubby live near the shore and were nervous about the thought of an evacuation. Since we had double date plans for Saturday anyway they decided to bring an overnight bag and their dog "just in case." We started the weekend out in our brand new wellies that my bestie bought us to round out our hurricane preparations. Mine are purple and I luv em!
Saturday afternoon we went started out at the local burger joint for some nourishment before the movie. The movie was so supremely not great that I won't even tell you which one we saw. We were there with 2 other people. I was so SURE that the movie theater would be packed considering the rainy day and that Irene wasn't supposed to come for hours yet. The theater was deserted. Mental note for the next hurricane. We all went to bed Saturday night anticipating the worst according to the news.
Sunday we woke up (I was the last to get up) to some heavy rains and winds. We still had power, thank goodness (coffee maker needs power). I made a yummy breakfast of ham and cheesy eggs and my bestie made a super yummy tomatillo salsa. Very tasty. We love to cook when we are together. We spent the rest of the morning watching the weather station and anticipating the storm. The rain was heavy and the winds were strong; just not hurricane strong. For lunch we went all out and made homemade tortillas, steak, baramundi for tacos, couscous and more yummy tomatillo salsa. Yup I said homemade tortillas... DELICIOUS. For dessert I made banana bread from scratch and we topped it with caramel ice cream.
The winds died down, the rain stopped and Irene passed. We never lost power, our property sustained very minimal damage and we were all safe and stuffed.
You definitely want to get stuck with me and my bestie in a storm. Hope you are all safe!
Ciao
S

Journey

I have always believed very strongly in the fact that we all have a story and a journey that we are on. No two stories are alike and everyone has to explore their own journey.
Having said that I have always been obsessed with my own journey and what path to take and what implications that would have. There aren't a lot of decisions at this specific point in my journey, but never before have I been so anxious to see what is next.
I am so grateful for my hubby who lets me be as emotional as I need to be, who understands that every minute is a different obstacle and who pushes me to be as strong as he knows that I can be (even in the moments when I don't feel so).
I am blessed with a mother, mother-in-law and sister that stand by me, cry with me and hold me up. Everyday there is love, courage and strength.
Daily there is a pile of cards that come in the mail to offer hubby and me sympathy and strength in this tough time that we are going through. We are humbled at the love that we have been shown.
I don't know where this journey will lead us but in my heart I know my daughter will light the way.

S