Worst Blogger Ever!

    I am so disappointed in myself for disappearing from this blog, but things have been absolutely insane around here. At first, I thought I would just be on a brief hiatus while we traveled to Greece, and that I would come back and put up wonderful pictures (which I will, I promise). However, sometimes life doesn't care about our plans. So, in addition to the trip to Greece, I have spent the hiatus listing our house for sale, cleaning it like a maniac in case anyone wants to come see, house hunting, planning an extremely elaborate 1st Birthday party (which has now doubled in size), and most recently fleeing a hurricane.

     I have to say that I am becoming a bit discouraged with the process of selling our home. We had to break our contract with the realtor today. After being listed for six weeks, we have had but one showing, horrible communication on her part, and every request we've made has been met with resistance. While I am glad that we came to the decision to part ways, I can't say that I'm not bummed by the thought of now having to start this process all over again. We've been told by a couple of people in the real estate world that we basically have a small window of time to sell this place before the cold weather hits, and then the probability of it selling before next spring or summer drops significantly. I cannot bear the idea of another Christmas Eve with 15 people crammed in our tiny 2-bedroom, preparing all of that food in our efficiency kitchen. It drives me nuts that my daughter does not have a space of her own, but rather shares her bedroom with our computer. The bottom line is we have passed growing out of this apartment and it feels like a short matter of time before our belongings are spilling out into the street. You know, kind of like those cartoons where people keep cramming stuff into a house and then the roof pops off?

     The Birthday party is coming along, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't stressed (t-minus 19 days!), but it is a good kind of stress. I am making a good majority of the decorations myself, and enjoy event planning so much that if I ever lose my laziness, I would love for it to be more than just a hobby. I am waiting on the cupcake tower to arrive so that I can decorate it to match our hot pink and zebra theme. The menu is planned, and the candy buffet is mapped out, although not purchased yet. My biggest stress is the d.j., who I haven't been able to get in touch with, although I know very well that he is dependable. I am not so much worried about him, as just wanting to get the bill squared away and go over some last minute details. My other big stress is the food. Prior to our guest list growing to a ridiculous number, I had no problem cooking for this party, in an effort to cut some costs. Now I find myself faced with a guest list of 71 people, and growing daily. That is a small wedding! Regardless, it is going to be an absolutely fantastic party, and I can't wait to put up pictures!

     Which brings us to this chick, Irene. I don't know who the hell she thinks she is, but I am sure glad she's gone. I hope that everyone stayed safe during the storm, and pray for the people who have lost their homes, lives, and cherished belongings. As for us, we drove down to the NJ Shore (the family-oriented part, not the MTV version) on Thursday morning, against my better judgment, to begin our vacation of Thursday through Monday. By the time we arrived, the prognosis for both NJ and our home in Queens, NY was not looking good. I told my husband that we should turn around multiple times during the drive. He didn't listen. Finally, I told him that we should arrive, speak to the hotel to see what accommodations could be made so that we would not lose our deposit, and hightail it the hell out of there! When his brother-in-law told him the same thing upon our arrival, he finally saw the light. The hotel was more than accommodating, and we will be driving back down this Labor Day weekend to finally have our vacation! (Biscayne Motel you rock!!). We stayed for a couple of hours after arriving, to stretch our legs a little bit, and eat a good dinner, but by the time dinner was done, it had already been decided that a mandatory evacuation would be in place by noon the next day. I am so glad that we left when we did, as I have heard absolute horror stories about the crazy amount of traffic the following day. We finally arrived home at 3 a.m. and sat waiting for Irene.
    

     We are so blessed that we escaped this storm with no damage more severe than a couple of tree branches blown down. There are areas nearby that are completely submerged, family members still without electricity, and many areas of our borough that had been placed under mandatory evacuation. We are very fortunate that our family is safe, dry, and warm, and pray for the speedy recovery for the areas that were not as fortunate.