Soldiering on...

Yeah, so we still don't have power. And we lost our hotel room. Everything was booked from Glen Rock to midtown Manhattan to Rockland County, NY. I took E to our house today in mid-afternoon because he was running on empty and seriously needed a nap. The house was 43 degrees. I put him in 2 pair of pajamas, 2 sleep sacks, and SEVEN baby blankets. Then, I thought his head might get cold so I put the old "Swaddle Me" fleece over the side of his head and one ear when he was sleeping. He slept for two and a half hours. I had to wake him up. I guess he REALLY needed to sleep with all this moving around. I felt so bad for him. And me.

I do have some positive things to say though. I'll go through them one by one.

Holiday Inn Hasbrouck Heights- It was the only place with a room for us and we thought it was great. It's where Bananas Comedy Club is located. B and I had gone there once to the comedy club. It's kind of weird for that because it's just a regular kind of conference room in there vs what you think of as a comedy club. BUT, as a hotel- it's pretty good. Kids eat free which is a huge bonus. The king room was spacious enough for us and a crib. We had a mini-fridge and a microwave which was key for the few things I was able to rescue from the house for E to eat, some milk, drinkable yogurt, cheese, etc. Thrilled. The restaurant downstairs has a full service bar (yes, I had a Malibu bay breeze) and we did eat breakfast there and it was pretty good. The dinner menu also looked like it would've been worth a shot. But even if you don't want to eat there, you're right on Rt 17 by a million other restaurants.

http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/hasbrouck-heights/hasnj/hoteldetail

Bensi- We normally eat at Bensi Paramus Park but we saw there was a Bensi right by the hotel so we ate there. It's MUCH smaller than the one in PP and no TV but it was a good meal and good service. Can't complain. I had the penne vodka with sauteed chicken. As usual B just had a salad and they of course thought it was mine. *sigh*

http://www.bensirestaurants.com/news/item/83-bensi-of-hasbrouck-heights-is-awarded-the-bergen-county-gold-star-award.html

Music for Aardvarks- E normally attends their class in Ridgewood. Because Ridgewood schools were closed and they follow the Ridgewood school schedule they had to cancel classes there. BUT, instead, they offered a FREE drop in class at noon in Waldwick. I think I answered them back within, um...30 seconds of receiving the email. We went and it was great! I was SO happy. Otherwise, it would have really been a difficult day trying to entertain E all day myself. Sean, Cindy and Kellan all made it a really great class. We even saw some old friends. They told us the class filled up within 20 minutes of sending that email out so they even added another class. I just thought it was really nice to rally around their enrolled students and get something together quickly to make sure these kids still had something to do while their stressed out parents worried about power loss and where they were going to sleep.

http://www.ahummusic.com/

Another accolade and happy dance goes to the Glen Rock Jewish Center Nursery School. They are letting E stay at school tomorrow as long as I need. I was so worried about what I was to do with him tomorrow and now I don't have to worry. That's a huge relief for me. He'll be somewhere warm, happy, fun and familiar.

http://www.grjc.org/learn/nursery-school.asp

Oh, actually, I can't forget a general shout out and pat on the back for Glen Rock PARENTS. The whole lot of them for the most part. No school on Halloween and Trick or Treating cancelled? Have no fear- Glen Rock parents to the rescue. I don't know how it started but parents mobilized QUICKLY to do a Trunk or Treat in the parking lot of the high school at noon on Monday. Parents parked and opened their trunks full of candy. Kids wore their costumes and Trick or Treated through the parking lot. Parents got rid of their candy, no one had to go door to door, no one was knocking on doors all night. Kids got to hang with their friends while the parents chatted and hung out too. To me, it seemed like a HUGE success. A total win-win for everyone. I wish Trick or Treating happened like that every year! Having to answer the door 500 times over the course of like four hours is something I can definitely do without. It seemed like everyone was happy and it only lasted like an hour and a half! E thought it was super- he got to see Sydney and Jordan (Mother's Helper and her sister) and see everyone's cool costumes.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/145e5c4735bb47978c0d6e7254868dc8/NJ--Trunk-or-Treat/

Lastly, I want to thank Noreen, Jenelle and my MIL & FIL for letting us come over and hang when I needed it. I appreciate it greatly and so do B & E. E had a great time playing with Cayleigh, Will and Madison. I totally feel I can myself comfortable in all your homes and that's really nice when things are crazy like they have been these past few days.

Today, of course, I picked up some cupcakes from Pam (A la Cupcakes) because WTF am I supposed to do without them really? I need something to get me through this. Those will do it.

That's about it for my positivity though. I want to be powered up. I threw out hundreds of dollars worth of rotting food today and it was just so sad. And stinky. :-(  I'm not sure if it's positive or a negative but I've eaten almost all of E's Halloween candy. My car looks like a wasteland where Hershey wrappers go to die.