It’s been a strange, stressful few weeks around here. Frankenstorm/Hurricane Sandy ravaged our area, and things are still not back to normal almost two weeks later. The first few days were sort of fun – having time off of work, using sunlight to catch up on Project Life, feeling vindicated for owning so very many candles, making sure our phones were charged. But the realities of life after a storm like that have been sobering, starting with small things like knowing Dan is required to work no matter how dangerous the weather is, trying to keep my phone charged in a power outage, having to throw out all of those frozen dinners we don’t eat anyway… and then ratcheting up to eight days without power, a hometown that has had more damage than I can remember ever hearing about (including flooding for my parents)… and the beloved Jersey Shore that I grew up with is battered in a way that’s almost impossible to wrap my mind around. Stories of people (including people I love) losing everything are more than heartbreaking.

We were able to get down to Barbados for Dan’s sister’s wedding, which felt like a miracle after three days of closed airports. We felt guilty being there, getting to escape from the isolation and growing chill of the power outage, but I can’t lie and say it wasn’t nice to relax – really relax – for a few days. The wedding was beyond beautiful, and they were so happy, and I mean: tropical island. I read two and a half books (and only didn’t read more because I was too busy swimming for hours at a time). I took a nap by the pool and another one on a chair at the beach. It was splendid. We can’t WAIT for our honeymoon now.

We came home and still hadn’t gotten power back, but it felt minor. Being back at work this week has been crazy and sad, as I catch up with the internet and see the reality of the aftermath. And then a nor’easter. And we lost power again (only for a few hours; but that feeling as the power went out and the snow fell out the window was a DARK feeling).

I keep finding myself saying that I just want things to get back to normal. I know that’s not really possible for everyone, and that’s hard. I just want to hug everyone I know who has been going through so much these last two weeks.

This weekend can’t come soon enough. My way-too-sweet friends have a pre-wedding hangout planned, and I couldn’t possibly be more excited. We’ll maybe watch some football on Sunday. I will definitely drink some beers.

Here’s the song for the week, Capital Cities’ Safe and Sound. The lyrics stick with me, especially now:
You could be my luck
Even in a hurricane of frowns
I know that we’ll be safe and sound

Happy weekend, dudes.