So Long 2012... It's Been Real.

Oh 2012, where shall I being? You were not the best of years... in fact, you might have been the worst ever. I spent most of the year under the weather in one way or another. Even managed to land a lovely case of the shingles! Shingles... at 36! And let me tell you, it is one of the most painful things ever! Even worse than having needles stuck in your back, which I also had done this year. I learned that knee surgery will be in my near future and I'm ending the year with a migraine that's been around for almost 2 months. But, I'm still alive and I've avoided any hospital visits, so bright side there!

There were also couple of national tragedies that hit a little too close to home for me, namely Superstorm Sandy that hit the coast at the end of October and the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown... a small town 20 miles North of me. Both events shook me pretty hard and really made me be more aware of my feelings on certain topics.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom this year. There were a number of good moments. Spending 3 days in NYC at BlogHer `13, two of the days with my friend Laura, was awesome. Spent a day at New York Comic Con. Hit a few excellent toy events. Made some new blogging friends. Became a devoted Whovian. I also discovered my personal style when it comes to clothes and rediscovered a number of passions that were dormant in my life. Now more than ever, I can comfortably say what I like... and don't like, without caring what people think.

As for my resolutions from the start of 2012, they were mostly a bust:

• Do Project Life - this is going to be interesting... since I rarely leave the house - I made it *maybe* 5 weeks? It just wasn't a good fit for my lifestyle.

• Do Project 52 - going to focus this project on macro images - I lasted 7 weeks. 7. I'm pretty sure I narrowed my topic down too much, which became not so much challenging, but uninteresting.

• Lose 50lbs - I want to/need to lose more, but I'm being a bit of a realist with this goal - Nope, in fact, I think I ended the year weighing more than I started.

• Build readership on all 4 of my blogs  - Ended up with 7 inactive blogs. Yikes!

• Start up Pop Hearts Studio  - Nope, did nothing with this and I'm now not sure if I ever will.

• Try to find my drawing style  - Thought about it, did nothing. 

• Create, Create, Create  - I made a few things, wish it was more.

Then there was the 2012 Goodreads Reading Challenge - only completed 4 books out of my goal of 10. I have bookcases full of books waiting to be read and only managed 4. And for Christmas, I added some new books to my collection, so I'll be attempting the reading challenge again.

Oh, and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) in November... I lasted 19 days. Which was better than 2011, but still wasn't the entire month. Honestly, if it wasn't for the election or SuperStorm Sandy, I don't think I would have even made it 19 days. Those two topics alone gave me a weeks worth of posts!

Something I did manage to do pretty well with is my word of the year. I picked CONFIDENCE, and I thing I did a pretty good job of it. Did I waver a bit, absolutely! But over all I'm kind of proud of myself.

Anyways, I'm going to put all of that behind me and know that 2013 can only go up from here!

The Last 10 Days...

10 days ago, my dad left on a trip to visit family in South Carolina. He returned this evening. In those 10 days while he was gone:

• I left the house twice
• Mom and I made a huge mess
• Mom and I cleaned the entire house
• I took over 400+ photos of items for Ebay
• I watched Doctor Who once
• I blogged 10 times on this blog, zero on all the others
• I watched less TV than normal
• I listened to a lot of Christmas music... A LOT
• Mom and I ate at the dinner table once, the rest of the meals were on the family room couch
• I did zero work on my toy projects
• I bought a lot of toys at the store and on Ebay
• I did a lot of Ebay organizing and tweeting
• I ache in places I didn't know could ache from a crazy busy week

That's pretty much it. It's nice that he is home now and the house is clean. I need a break from all the work that I did last week!

The End of Days is Upon Us!

©Hostess (for now)

If you haven't heard, Hostess Brands, makers of Twinkies, CupCakes, Sno Balls, and other yummy treats has closed its doors. And the world is going Twinkie crazy. It's sad, I grew up snacking on these cream filled treats. They were lunch box staples for us children in the 80s. And they were good. Healthy... not so much. But still good. While my dad was the big Twinkie lover in the family, I was more of a Suzy Q girl. Even more, I was a Drake's Cakes fan... Devil Dogs being my number one treat, frozen of course. If you aren't familiar with Drake's, then you must not of spent a lot of time in the Northeast. They were a staple around my area. Some of their products were Hostess knock-offs, but others were unique like Funny Bones - peanut butter filled cakes; Sunny Doodles, Yankee Doodles, and Coffee Cakes. Yum yum!

I'm mentioning Drake's, because in 1998 they became part of the Hostess family. That means with Hostess saying goodbye... Drake's is a dead duck. (Drake's logo was a duck). This closing also means the end of Wonder Bread... which I have eaten all my life. It's one of the few sandwich worthy breads out there. My childhood lunch memories are slowly dying in front of me. *tear*

But I guess good things don't last forever... despite the rumors, Twinkies don't last forever! Now, I know there is still hope that someone will buy the brands and hopefully not change them, but with more and more people eating natural and clean... Twinkies aren't really something you'll find on a number of menus. But I can see some of the items hanging around in some form. Sadly, Twinkie the Kid might have his days numbered.

If someone doesn't buy the brand, then stock up... if you can find them. I've seen a number of listings on Ebay... for $1,000s to $1,000,000s of dollars. Guess it all depends on how bad you'll need your fix.

I'm going to do a little recap of stuff floating around the interent about this... feel free to google to get all the reports, memes, and comics that have been done:

<insert jokes about Woody Harrelson's Zombieland character and Twinkies>
<Insert jokes about marijuana becoming legal in two states and Twinkies going down>
<Insert reports that this is all the Mayans doing>
<Insert articles that First Lady Obama is to blame>

You get the general idea. While overall it is sad to see so many American workers getting laid off so close to the holidays, and the issues that are being brought up about unions... so economy wise it's a sad day for people. But since it is about a snack food cake, it's more jokes then it should be.

So, good wishes to all the workers heading into the holidays with no jobs. Hopefully a miracle can come from this. And to all you Twinkie hoarders and those trying to make a quick profit... shame. Just share the wealth. Crack open a case with some friends, remember back in the days, and enjoy what's left. I know that's what I'll be doing...

Frozen, of course.

Beware

Lately, we've been having a number of break-ins on the block. Houses during the day, cars at night. It's been pretty down right disturbing. Was thinking of grabbing a "Beware of Dog" sign, hoping it my be a deterrent... even though we don't have a dog.

Too bad they don't make a "Beware of Woman with a Baseball Bat and Anger Management Issues" sign.  Because that would be true... and probably work better than a dog.

Open Letter to the People of Connecticut

I'm not a fan of leaving my house, so I rarely do. When I do head out on the town, it doesn't take long for me to remember why I hate to go out. So I'm going to take a minute to hope on my soapbox.

Dear People of Fairfield County, CT:

When it comes to spending time with your fellow nutmegers, here are a few tips that will make it a more pleasurable experience for everyone envolved:

1) Just because you can afford the largest SUV on the market, doesn't mean you should own it. Please, for the sake of everyone around you... TEST DRIVE! If you can not handle that large of a car and park it properly, don't buy it.

2) Speaking of parking, there are white lines painted on the ground for a reason. You are to supposed to park within the lines, not hanging over them. If you can't fit in the space with room for you and others to get in and out of their vehicles, park somewhere else. And your car is not that important that you need two spaces for it.

3) While walking in parking lots, walk near the cars... not smack in the middle and take your sweet time. That line of cars forming behind you should tell you that it's time to move off to the side.

4) And while we are on the subject of walking down aisles, if you are a group more than 2... don't all walk side by side. And if you do and see someone coming, step aside. No one is that important that you need to block the walkways.

5) Indoor voices are not just for kids. No one wants to see a bunch of college girls running around a store acting like they are on a playground. And no one wants to hear your entire phone conversation from three aisles over.

6) Just because you can fit a piece of clothing on your body, doesn't mean you should. Please, please cover up your butt cracks and muffin tops and every other part of your body that no one wants to see. And by cover up, I don't mean squeeze it into something so small that you test the limits of the fabric.

7) There are only a few times when it is okay to wear sloppy pj pants in public. Hanging out with your friends on a Friday night is not one of them.

8) Cars have lights and blinkers for a reason. Use them.

9) This is New England. It gets cold. Dress for the weather. And more importantly, dress your kids for the weather too.

10) This is Connecticut, not Detroit, not LA, not Miami, not NYC. You are not fooling anyone trying to pretend that it's anything else but CT.

What it all comes down to is manners, mutual respect, and being aware of your surroundings. When you start to lack those, it's rude. It's annoying. And it makes people think less of you. 

Bio of a Baby Blanket

As I mentioned in my post on Monday, my mom is one of my biggest cheerleaders. I wrote this story in 2005 for an English assignment and to this day, she says it's one of her favorite pieces. Happened to come across it the other day and decided to share. A lot has changes since I wrote it, but Gryffin and the blanket are still a big part of my life!


___________________________________________________________________

Bio of a Baby Blanket

I’m not sure where I was born or where I spent the early days of my life, though I do know that I was created by someone. The first real memory I have is being inside a dark space, then suddenly I hear some noises and I see a bright light (though not so bright that I was blinded). I remember being held up and shown off. I am 28 inches by 37 inches and yellow with tigers, sheep, and giraffes on me (the animals are a weird combination, I know). I was a baby shower gift for Janet, who was currently pregnant with the person that I would become so special to. I was not the most popular item that day, and Janet didn’t want to use me, but April sought me out. She picked me as her favorite. She wanted to love me.

During my early years, I followed April around from her different homes, (life of an Air Force brat) doing the normal things that a blanket like myself did (though I do not do normal things now). She slept with me every night and used me to wrap her dolls (I wrap a much different thing now). She cuddled with me on the couch and took me with her to sleepovers. We were inseparable.

As the years went on, April started to grow and change (which she is still doing). She didn’t play with her dolls anymore and I often landed under the bed, as she kicked me off during the night. Her bed was white with gold trim and very princess like. It was a twin size and when April hit double digits in age, her feet used to hang over the edge (hence the being kicked off). When we turned 11 years old, there was a major change in our lives. This was the year she got a new bed. It was a full size, solid pine bed with drawers under it (that is still her bed to this day). I was so excited for the drawers under the bed! That meant no more falling underneath it. But then the worst possible thing happened. April stopped sleeping with me. Was this the end for me? Was I not going to be loved anymore?

From that moment on, and for the next few years, I hung on the footboard collecting dust and watched April’s life go by. She grew up; graduated from 8th grade, then from high school. Soon, she was packing for college. Would she take me with her? As I watched her pack her things, she removed me from the end of the bed and threw me in the wash. Yeah! I was getting cleaned before I headed to Western CT State with her. How awesome for me, I was going to college. I came out of the dryer, all warm and toasty (a feeling I am now able to feel again), and I got folded. But I didn’t go in her suitcase; I headed into a closet. A cold, dark, and lonely closet, where I sat on a shelf next to Barbies and Legos that I hadn’t seen in years. At 18 years of age, the end of my life seemed near.

Years go by before I will next see the full light of day. April returned home from Western after only a year, due to grade issues (she never was the best student, and still isn’t). She moved back into her room and I saw brief pieces of light when the closet opens, but I was never removed from my spot on the shelf. At the age of 21, April moved out of her room and into an apartment. As she packed to move, I was removed from the shelf and put in a box (boxes are as bad as closets). I moved with her to the apartment, but I never left the box. After a year she returned home to her parents, but I didn’t go with her. I stayed in my box and headed into storage (to this day I have been to two different storages places). I could tell it was storage by the unpleasant smell. This whole process repeated itself at the ages of 24 and 28. At least she hadn’t gotten rid of me.

At 28, I was taken out of my box and moved into a wooden chest with the rest of her blankets (still in the dark). But then something changed. I heard April crying all the time and she is rarely got much sleep. This was not my April. She was not happy. The home we were in was cold and dark and a very unhappy place. April now lived the same life I did: cold, dark, and lonely. I started to worry about her. I heard her talking on the phone to her mom a few times a day, and the calls were very sad. One day we had gotten a visitor. It was Christmas time (based on the music I heard) and April’s mom had come to visit. One day April and her mom left the apartment only to return a few hours later carrying a lot of items. Since I was stuck in my chest, I was not sure what the items were. There was a lot of excitement and activity coming from them. Whatever it was, April was happy again. It was the happiest I had heard her in awhile. What made her so pleased?

I saw a bright light (though not so bright that I was blinded) as the lid to my chest was opened. April pulled me out and held me up to show me off. I saw a bunch of bags all around the apartment and something gray sitting on the floor in a ball. April folded me up and laid me near to the gray ball. It began to move and walked over to me. Oh, it was a kitten. April patted me and said to the cat “This is your new blanket. Welcome home, Gryffin.” What was this? Was I getting a new owner? I heard April refer to the cat as her son, so I guess I was passed on to the next generation. Gryffin was warm and cuddly and I was reminded of when April was young. She was happy, which made me happy (there was a long time were I wasn’t so happy). And I saw the light. And I was warm.

Now at the age of 29 (give or take a few months), I spend my days getting chewed on, slept on, and just plan walked on. I am happy that I am being used (instead of being stuck in a dark place); even if the teeth and nails are sharp. At least I am loved and I feel useful. My new playmate cannot talk to me (at least not in the traditional sense), but he is warm and playful and cuddly. I won’t be wrapped around any of his toys and I won’t be used every night. But I am loved once again.

I Have a Crab on My Finger...

Don't worry, it's not real... it's just a Floppet!

Sigh...

Ever have one of those days were your head hurts so bad that all you want to do is take a drill to your temple to relieve the pressure? And where you say "I'll just sit down for a moment" and it wake up to find it's 3 or 4 hours later.

That would be my day today. Now, as the day winds down, I'm left with a pile of shattered plans... and I still have a headache.

The Writing Roller Coaster

Roller Coaster at
Dorney Park in PA

When it comes to writing, it's been an up and down sort of relationship for me. As a child I enjoyed it. Book reports, short stories, poems... I couldn't get enough. And I was pretty good at it. A book I wrote for a writing competition in the 8th grade actually earned an honorable mention. A book... 45 Pages, 27 Chapters - though to be fair, each chapter is only one page. But, still. It even had pictures! I still have it. Someday, I might even type it up and post it online.

Even in high school I didn't mind the creative writing or research paper assignments. Papers on books, however, I started to hate. A book report in elementary school, no problem. Analysis of a literary classic, no thank you. As the analysis papers started to outnumber the creative writing projects my dislike for writing grew. And it got worse and worse as I got older. Every correction on a paper sent closer to the edge. The older I got, the more mistakes I got corrected on and the more I dreaded writing. It got to the point in college that I would have a full on panic attack over having to write a paper. Had to take English 101 4 times (or was it 5) before I passed it. Thankfully, my last English teacher was very encouraging and that calmed a bit of the anxiety. But it's not completely gone... If I get pressed with a deadline I get terribly freaked out. And it takes everything I have to try and get it done. It's why I only write for my own blogs these days... Can't handle the pressure of someone else's deadline.

One of my reasons for getting papers back with the dreaded red marks is I am a terrible speller. And that spelling issue led to a hatred of really long words. We did have computers back in the day, so I was able to type out the larger assignments. And there was spell check, although it was pretty basic. It told you if something was wrong, but no options for how to correctly spell the word. And with no real Internet at the time you had to crack open a dictionary to find the correct spelling. Or if you were like me, rewrite the entire sentence to avoid using that word. I had to do that a lot on in class work where a computer wasn't an option. I still do it today, though thanks to spell check being everywhere, I don't have to do it a lot. And I know there are critics who say spell check makes you lazy or a poor writer, but I feel because of it I'm a better writer and my spelling has improved.

Even with spell check, to this day I still have issues with words like thing/think, change/chance, and of course, then/than. There isn't a spell checker in the world that can cure me of those errors. If you are ever reading something I wrote and see something with those words and it doesn't make sense... replace it with its match. I'm constantly doing it on Facebook and Twitter. Even when proof reading my posts I tend to miss them. The only way I really know if I made the mistake is my mom points them out to me. I've gotten a whole lot better at proofing my work, so I find I'm making the mistakes less and less.

Speed is another reason for errors in my writing. I think way faster than I write or type. This causes words and letters to get a little "out of order" so to speak. There is a classic quote by A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh that pretty much sums me up in the spelling and writing department:

“My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.” - A. A. Milne

Thankfully, these days the writing bug seems to be returning. Because of a lot of praise for my writing in recent years and my biggest cheerleader, my mom, I've been pushing myself to write more and worry less. If it's a tricker piece, I have editor friends that are happy to help. If it's a more personal post, I don't sweat it... The mistakes add character. ;) And I've come to rely a lot on my dictionary widget on my MacBook, you know, for those tough words. Also, general experience, lots of reading, and a ton of college classes has done wonders for my vocabulary and spelling, though it's not nearly as impressive as I wish it was. Maybe by the time I'm 60, I'll be able to toss around those massive words that my professional writer and teacher friends use... Though, if I did, someone might think I was body snatched, because big words aren't really my style. Unless they are words like Raxacoricofallapatorius... then it's okay, unless you ask me to spell it.

 

Surrounded by Heroes

Since today is Veterans Day, I thought I'd take a minute to tell you about the heroes in my family. 

Throughout my life, the military has always been there. I spend 14 months of the first 2 years of my life living on a air base in Germany, thanks to the most important hero in my life, my dad. We also lived on a base in Florida when I was small. When I was 6, my dad went into the Air Force Reserves and that's when we moved to Connecticut. And he stayed in the Reserves through the 1st Gulf War, which happened while I was in high school. That was an interesting time... during the war he was put on active duty and stationed- thankfully - in New Jersey. 

Even I took a go at the military, I was in the CT Air National Guard for a few months. Spent one month in basic training... it was amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat! And the food was YUM! But sadly, health issues sent me packing and ended my short military career. As it turns out, I was the last one in my entire family to have some sort of military career. I still have some cousins under 18, so maybe one of them will carry on the tradition. Hopefully, we won't still be in a war when they are old enough to join.

Here are photos of my military men. They are all so handsome in their uniforms! 

Dad - Air Force

Grandpa Baker - Marines

Grandpa Simon - Army

 Uncle David - Army

Uncle Alan - Air Force

Uncle Jack - Marines (w/Grandma Baker)

Sadly, Grandpa B., Grandpa S., and Uncle David are no longer with us, though none passed during their time in uniform. Grandpa B. was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in 2005. The service was very well done, with men in full Marine uniforms. Very moving and quite impressive!

Arlington National Cemetery

Again, thank you to all that are currently serving and have served in our great United States military. If it wasn't for you, we would not be able to live the lives we have here in America.

Shots on a Saturday

Some random photos of a Saturday in my household.

My mom has this habit of writing notes on the bathroom mirror with window markers. When she first started doing it, I told her it made our bathroom look like it was a crime scene. So, what should one do when you find yourself in the bathroom at 1am, unable to sleep, and come across the stash of window markers... you leave a little note for your mother to find in the morning. 

Or at 2:30 am, when she actually found it. Her reaction... laughter, lots and lots of laughter. It's a good thing I was still awake, otherwise she would have woken me up. At least she thought it was funny. It would not have been a fun day if it scared her!

The rest of my Saturday was spend here:

My living room, hunched over a camera, and surrounded by tons of bags and boxes full of items waiting to be photographed. Some were items for my blogs, the rest... all items for Ebay. Mom spent the day hunched over a laptop researching and writing descriptions for said Ebay items. Tomorrow forecast... more of the same. Shoot, edit, list. Shoot, edit, list. All in the name of cleaning the house! 

I Got Nothing...

None of my writings are quite ready to go live, so here is something from my favorite poet, Ogden Nash:

Always Marry An April Girl

Praise the spells and bless the charms, 

I found April in my arms. 

April golden, April cloudy, 

Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy; 

April soft in flowered languor, 

April cold with sudden anger, 

Ever changing, ever true -- 

I love April, I love you.

- Ogden Nash

And this photo of my kitty, Gryffin.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have something finished that is blog worthy. And is not about the weather or the election.
 

And the Weather Hits Keep Coming...

I'm not sure what the Northeast did to Mother Nature, but I think she is a little mad at us. Just a week after Hurricane Sandy, Winter Storm Athena graced us with her presence. And she hit most of the areas Sandy did... with snow, wind, rain, and more snow. A very wet, heavy snow. We got maybe 4". Thankfully, not much more than that because it was the type of snow you couldn't use a snow blower for... it was that wet and heavy.

Some people that had just got power back lost it again, this time being left with much colder temps than the week before. Last night dropped to around 30º for my area. Same prediction for tonight. We got lucky, we power surged once... it was enough to reset some electronics, like my stereo, but wasn't enough to reset the clocks. For that brief moment, I feared the worst. But that surge was it. But we were prepared this time if we lost power... we had no food in the fridge. And seeing that we kept power for this storm, I'd say the worst is over and it's time to hit the grocery store. That is if the stores are stocked. They've also been a bit slow to recover since they had to toss a great deal of their food due to the power outages. It's quite sad really, the amount of much need food that got wasted with this storm.

Anyways.

While Athena didn't do much, it did make it pretty easy to see just how much damage Hurricane Sandy, last summer's hurricane (Irene), last winter's Nor'Easters, and all the minor storm over the last year have done to my backyard and all the neighborhood trees. Poor, poor trees. They are my favorite thing to photograph, hope there will be some left by next spring!

The snow looks like it's really high in this photo, but it's not... the trees are just hanging crazy low. Their poor branches are still so weak. The hole on the left side of the picture... that used to be filled with trees. It might not be easy to see in the photo, but there are a number of fallen branches and trees in the back there. If things keep up the way they are, we aren't going to have woods left for very long.

More trees bending under the weight of the snow. 

This is one of the saddest sight there is. My favorite little tree near our front porch. It's not supposed to look like that. At all. And it's never split before.

This is the same tree during a storm in January 2012, also with about 4" of snow. This is what it normally looks like. Standing pretty. Thankfully, once the snow fell off it regained most of its shape. Still will need some TLC before the year is over to get it back to tip top shape.

Temps are predicted to hit the low 60ºs Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, so all the snow should melt away. Till the next storm.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

At least this year it waited until AFTER Halloween to start snowing!

Civic Duty Done!

My obligatory shot, with Instagram filter, of my I Voted sticker.
It was also Dalí's first election!

Get Your Vote On!

Image courtesy of nirots
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tomorrow is Election Day and no matter who you vote for, get out there and VOTE! Be heard! And if you still have no idea who you want for your president, you can always write "April Baker" on the line. I'll be happy to take the job! I know for 100% everything I will tell myself will be the truth.

Descending into Madness

I promise, this is my last post about the Frankenstorm. During the storm of early last week, I kept a diary of events. It is very clear from my writings, that I did not handle being without power very well. You'll see what I mean as you read it.

Disclaimer: No humans or animals were harmed during the course of events. Can't say that about my sanity though.

Monday

Morning and Afternoon - Typical damp day. Winds are pretty strong. Mom heads to work, post office, vet, and then is home by 10am. Rest of day like a regular Saturday around here when everyone is home... even though it’s a Monday.

4:30pm - Finishing up with laundry, changing sheets, putting away clean clothes, and preparing for the city’s power substations to shut down.

5:22pm - Two hours before the substations are to be shutdown to avoid any major problems, a transformer has blown in the neighborhood. Dad gets warm meal. Mom and I eat sandwiches.

8:22pm - Record broken for the longest time without power. Record breaking is overrated.

8:30pm - Mom using iPad. Bored. Going to bed. Ambien induced sleep kicks in.

10:00pm - Mom returns iPad. Write poem about Sandy. Must have revenge on Sandy. 

Tuesday

2:30am - Gryffin's dish is empty. He lets me know in every way imaginable. House is really, really dark except for a little bit of glow from the full moon. Or maybe it's Spike Lee.

6:30am - Gryffin becomes giant pain in the butt, again, because his food dish is empty. Now at 12+ hour mark for no power.

Morning - Sleep on and off. Thought power was restored. Wake up to find out it wasn't real. Go back to sleep.

11:00am - Tour outside. Everything non-living survived.Trees not so lucky. Sunny out. Take photos.

1:00pm - House runs out of Coke, still good on the cupcakes.

1:15pm - Dress new Becky doll. Take some photos. Pack her away with Mandy. Try to upload photos to Toy Box FB page. Phone won't let me. Hate phone.

1:30pm - Dad leaves for work after he gets new Taylor Swift song suck in head. Must now take ice pick to brain to remove it.

Afternoon - Test out some new building toys. Very anticlimactic. Buying them was more fun than playing with them. Still, will be useful for blog project. Also, more sleep.

5:00pm - Next street over has power restored. Streetlight shines right through front window. It is taunting me.

6:00pm - Governor press conference. Tells us nothing new.Radio hosts suck. Want to punch them.

6:30pm - Eating warm salads by flashlight. Watch as light gets dimmer and dimmer. Flashlight dies.

7:30pm - Write piece on Women's issues. Need facts and can't get them. Wish for old timey encyclopedias. Get angry. Move on to modern day issues. Get angrier at people's stupidity. Change to different article.

8:30pm - Neighbor gets a generator. Generator is crazy loud.Want to punch neighbor in head.

9:30pm - MacBook battery dies. iPad at 52%. Droid has a full charge thanks to battery backup.

10:00pm - Neighbor's generator stops. Hoping it has run out of gas.

10:10pm - Neighbor's generator restarts. Thinking about stealing it. If it’s going to be super load, I might as well benefit from it.

10:20pm - Open SimCity App. City in the red. Unleash all disasters on city. Watch it burn.

10:30pm - Ambien kicks in. Gryffin is snoring. Sleep has taken me.

Wednesday

1:30am - Need to pee. Stub toe on way to bathroom. Smear blood on cheeks like warrior. Feel like I should have a spear in hand.

2:21am - The generator has stopped. And there is no longer power on the next block over. Cackling like a bad movie villain.

3:00am - Gryffin starts crying over empty dish. Think it would be fun to hunt him like deer. Grabs a spear.

4:30am - Looters have come. Must defend home. Going to give head hunting a try.

5:00am - Have two heads to start my collection. Also got a squirrel. Wearing its paw on a string around my neck.

5:16am - Sensing my desire to hunt him, Gryffin deploys his cuddle moves and climbs into my bed. Calm washes over me.Followed quickly by a heat wave. How can one tiny little thing generate so much heat?!

6:45am - Realize it has been over 36 hours without any political nonsense. Smile for first time in days.

8:20am - Still powerless. Woke up in major pain with dry blood on my face. Feel like I might have been to war in my sleep. Mom and dad both at work. It's cold and wet outside. Gryffin has come to snuggle, going back to sleep.

10:20am - Seems like reports of rain all day were wrong.Sunny out. Can no longer trust food in fridge, so having cold pop tarts for breakfast.Forgetting what the taste of warm food feels like.

11:30pm - Head outside to attack dead trees. Trees attack back. Stupid zombie trees. Hands covered in sap. Overhead full of widow makers.Give up and climb back into bed.

12:00pm - Battery backup runs out of power. Phone at half power. Get notification of system update, repetitively. Phone isn't going to make it much longer. iPad at 38%

12:10pm - Mail was delivered. Mailbox now overflowing with political flyers. Fight urge to chase mailman down the street like rabid dog.

2:00pm - Sun has abandoned us. It's getting cold. Sleep has overtaken me.

2:30pm - Cupcakes are all gone. Mother Nature has bested me.She is like a scorned mistress.

3:30pm - Used last bit of phone power to text Happy Birthday to dear friend. iPad at 23%.

4:00pm - Mom stops home with mozzarella sticks. Stomach does not know how to react to lukewarm food. She takes all devices back to her office to recharge.

5:00pm – Tummy revolts.

5:15pm – Gryffin is crying his little head off. I’m not sure why. He is asking to be hunted.

5:30pm – I’m alone. It’s cold. House is getting dark.Realized it is Halloween. There is no candy in the house. Glad doorbelldoesn’t work.

5:45pm – Found a candle and a lighter. Going to go old school and write by it. Manage to get a number of pages done. Have indent in my finger from the pencil.

6:00pm – Wishing I had some music… “When a cold wind blows it chills you chills you to the bone. But there's nothing in nature that freezes your heart like years of being alone”.

7:00pm - Sitting alone in the cold, dark family room with my thoughts. Feel sanity slowly slipping away. It feels like I have been sitting here forever.

7:30pm - Made friends with a flame. I named her Amelia. She likes to dance.

7:45pm - Amelia is just sitting there, waiting. She is the flame that waited.

8:00pm - Mom returns home with a full charged battery backup and phone. iPad only got charged to 70%.

8:15pm - Amelia blinks and then she was gone.

8:30pm - Curled up in bed waiting for sleep to carry me away. Hoping the end is near.

10:00pm - Still no power. Pull on a pair of sneakers, grab my spear, and go hunt down the blown transformer.

10:15pm - Transformer found, turns out to be a Decepticon. We battle. He breaks my spear. Defeated, I return home and crawl into bed. 

Thursday

1:25am - Woken up by a strange, but familiar sound. "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"A 12:00 flashes blood red in the corner. The cable box is doing its restart dance. Random lights are on. Power has been restored.

7:00am - House is a buzz. Alive. Steam rolls out from the bathroom. A blow dryer turns on. 

10:00am - Turn on the laptop. Greeted by the familiar sounds of a Mac booting up. My TARDIS lets off a warm glow.

11:00am - Took a hot shower. As the hot water rains over me, I feel my sanity slowly returning.

1:15pm – Final Entry – Sitting down to a bowl of mac &cheese and a glass of Coke, while playing some games on Facebook. My world has returned to normal. Hoping the rest of the East Coast isn’t too far behind. 

After the Storms: Photos of Frankenstorm's Wrath

Here is a little photo tour of how the Frankenstorm hit my corner of the world. Not too terrible, but I would have preferred it didn't happen at all, as I'm sure most of the East Coast is preferring.

How I spent the evening after both my iPad and laptop died

My front yard... not all that different from the before photos I posted in my prepping for the storm post

Back stairs the morning after the storm

Large limb that fell

 Was once a very tall pine tree, reduced to a pile of branches

Where the pine tree once stood, a lot of its branch are caught up in the branch of other trees. Next storm we have (due later this week I believe) is going to knock them all down

 This tree has been dead for awhile... Sandy struck the final blow

With my backyard being woods, with a lot of dead trees, we were pretty lucky nothing fell on the garage or house or power lines... heck all the trees that fell in my neighborhood landed away from people's property.

This photos I didn't take, but I wanted to show you what happened just 3 miles South of me at our beach.

Photo: Christian Abraham / CT from CTpost.com

Photo: Christian Abraham / CT from Ctpost.com

Associated Press from The Wall Street Journal

Let's just say that's not how it is supposed to look, however, it's still not as bad as New York or New Jersey. We were pretty lucky... didn't stop people looting or tossing threats at the police, fire, or utility service... but that's a whole other story that I'll get into some other time.  

While my immediate area ended up pretty okay, my Tri-State area sisters NY & NJ, did not. If you would like to help out any areas that were damaged during the storm, you can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999 or visit the American Red Cross to see what else you can do!