Preparing for Sandy

Most of the week was spent working on the deck....but more about that in a minute.  This weekend we had to focus on getting the house ready for a hurricane to hit.  We were able to move a lot of things inside and cleaned the floors in the sunroom and garage where we know flooding can occur (predictions of 8 - 10 inches of rain here). 

We were able to get a lot finished on the deck this week.  We put up all the balusters and poured the concrete slab for the stair landing.  Once the storm is finished, we should be able to install the stairs and get our final inspection!

 

We celebrated our third anniversary this week.  We got a joint gift of a new camera (hence the panorama shot of the deck above).  Since the third anniversary is the "leather" anniversary, I got Chris a new briefcase.  Chris got me a wonderful leather gift...Red Wing steel toe work boots.  He really knows the way to this girl's heart!

I was a little crafty this week.  I attended a quilting class at JoAnn Fabrics on Tuesday evening.  I learned how to piece together a quilt block.  I finished quickly so it's not perfect but not bad for a first attempt!

 

I also made Samantha's Halloween costume.  She is an ear of corn and I am a scarecrow.  I didn't have a pattern so I had to keep doing fit checks to see if it was going to work.

I didn't get to finish the costume before Samantha's first Halloween party though.  It was good enough for the short time she was in costume but I will do more before Trick-or-Treating.  All the babies at the party were adorable. 

This weekend, Penn State played Ohio State.  Unfortunately, Chris dressed Samantha that day...

 

Our food basket this week included yogurt, bread, smoked turkey, beef cubes, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, pecans, bok choy, romaine lettuce, spaghetti squash, black beans, and apples.  I made a few good things this week - beef burgundy, turkey salad, and pecan pie (this was a pretty good first attempt!).

 

 Samantha got her fourth and fifth teeth this week (and number six is just under the surface).  Because of this, she always has something in her mouth - the rings are her favorite for this.

 
She was a very good supervisor again - she hung out on the deck while we finished the concrete and installed balusters.  And she ate about a whole box of Cheerios in the process!

Once all the bad weather is through, hopefully we can finish the deck!!