Hurricane Sandy (or how Jeff finally found time to install the new garbage disposal)

Please don't misinterpret the tile of this post.  I am deeply grateful for the fact that this hurricane turned out to be just a big rain and wind storm for our family!!  I am also well aware that this was not the case for countless other families, and know of at least one that is still waiting to hear from loved ones who took a direct hit.  We are praying for everyone who has been affected by Sandy.

This morning we awoke to quiet.  The storm was very loud last night, and I had a hard time falling asleep--as did one of my children, who spent the night alternating between the couch in our bedroom and the floor next to the dog.  But, in the end, we were left with a wet yard and a few feet of our neighbor's pine tree hanging over our fence.  For those of you familiar with our yard, the tree fell just above our statue of Mary in the back corner.

The big news today is that, since his office "suspended operations" in anticipation of the storm, Jeff is installing the "new" garbage disposal.  I only qualify its age because we have actually owned it for quite a while.  It's one of those gross, disruptive projects that there is never time for--unless, say, your company suspends operations for a day or two.  YIPPEE!!!!  The old (leaky, smelly) monster is gone and, after the inevitable mid-project trip to Lowe's, the new one will be installed shortly--barring any unthinkable problems that could arise in the next hour or so.  So, there you have it, an up-side to this otherwise bad situation.  Do I feel guilty that we got so little damage that Jeff is able to spend his day installing a garbage disposal?  Yes . . . but I would feel just as guilty if there were no new appliance involved.  (And I can't even begin to tell you how happy I'm going to be without that old gross disposal underneath my otherwise clean sink!!)

Isn't it beautiful?!