Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane Sandy: A Haunting...



Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Hurricane Sandy's {a.k.a. "Frankenstorm"} remnants are still "haunting" the Pittsburgh area this Halloween season. 

We mostly got rain (a lot of it) and wind. Our lights flickered a few times but the power never went out.

I did do some "prepping" or as the professionals call it - "disaster preparedness" before the storm by purchasing enough groceries for 72 hours (3 days) per guidelines provided by emergency services. However, I felt like we were woefully unprepared if something of disaster proportions truly hit. So, it's time for me to hit the books. I have compiled an easy resource for you (and me) to find these disaster preparedness books all in one place. Click here to view them in my store. You can find some or most of these titles at the library. So, feel free to check them out that way for free first. But, with these type of reference books, it may be prudent to at least keep one or two handy in your personal library! If you feel so lead to purchase them, please do so from the Mom's Rambling in PA store. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Flooding is a big concern in the city of three rivers!

It brings back "haunting" memories to me of the flood of 2004 a.k.a. "The day before my wedding". We barely made it across the river before the city closed Allegheny River Boulevard due to flooding. We weren't sure if we were even going to make it on that road because the flooding was so bad. My soon-to-be husband and I had to spend the night at the Days Inn Hotel in Harmarville with one of our bridesmaids after the rehearsal because we couldn't make it back home due to the road closures.

Anyway...done with the flashback...back to Sandy...

My older son, Evan's, school closed today. But, my younger son, Tyler's, preschool remained open. So, he still gets to enjoy his Halloween party and costume parade today. He's a monkey (yes...it's a recycled costume from his older brother but he was excited about it...so it was a win/win!). Evan is excited he'll get to see Tyler's parade today since he normally would not have been able to attend due to school.

Halloween Trick-or-Treating has been rescheduled for most (if not all?) of the local areas from this Wednesday to Saturday. For many families a true challenge will be to stay away from the candy stash for that long! The rescheduled Halloween gives procrastinators (like moi) some extra time to pick out some really cheap pumpkins for the kids to carve up, too.

And, we certainly can't go one Halloween without baked, salted pumpkin seeds, now, can we?!

I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Halloween!

~ Rachael



Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Seriously. Creatively. Frustrated...

Ugh. I'm having creative frustration. And, I don't know what to do about it. I feel very unoriginal right now. As if I can't come up with my own personal style/designs. {Some of this I blame on the internet and Pinterest.}

What should I do to get out of this funk?

1. Clean the house

2. Try to force myself to create something. Anything.

3. Brood some more.

4. Take a healthy relaxing walk on this beautiful {abnormally so} day before it ends.

5. Read yet another non-fiction book on how to blog better and monetize better, etc, etc...

6. Make a kick-butt dinner for my family.

7. Read some scriptures.

8. Help with the church bazaar. {Sorry Sue & Alice...fell by the wayside here}

9. Catch up on my bible study reading before Sunday rolls around.

10. Stop making stupid lists online and actually do something!

Okay...wish me luck...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

What my 15-year High School Reunion Taught Me




Yep, that's me in the back row, far left (long dark brown hair)! :)
It's been 15 years since I graduated high school.



I would like to say I've learned a lot since then (I have).

Here are a few things I learned by going to my 15-year high school reunion:

1. Some things and people don't change...and, as Martha Stewart would say, "That's a good thing!". No matter how long it's been since you've seen your "old" friends you can ALWAYS pick back up where you left off as if no time has gone by! It was so nice to see my old high school friends and find out the paths their lives have taken thus far. I hope to continue the "updates" beyond just seeing statuses on Facebook, however I realize that's easier said than done since I live about an hour away.

2. Some things and people do change. It saddens me to think of the couple of classmates we lost over the years. However, I found out that other classes fared much worse than ours {not that that's any consolation}.

But, not all changes are sad. It was wonderful to see my classmates with their adorable children running around. {My hubby and I decided it was best for our sanity to not bring ours on such a long trip later in the evening since our older son, Evan, likes to ask every 5 minutes which town we're in along the way! LOL!}

3. Creativity is encouraged in venue selection. Who says you can't jam to old school {Vanilla Ice anyone?!} under fluorescent lighting and brown wood paneling as deer heads hang on the walls of the local sportsman's club? Yeah...I said it! {sorry...I had to call this one out...} Seriously, though, at the 20-year reunion I'm hoping the 50/50 raffle money and the "attendance" money can at least upgrade us past this point! ;) Yes, I know...baby steps, baby steps. It took a lot to move on from the local park from the last couple of reunions!

4. Potluck "catering" is ALWAYS a viable option! Because obviously everyone still lives within the "city" {and I DO use that term very lightly} limits, right?! Right?! Um...yeah...

5. Penn Hills {where I live} is considered a "nice" area, apparently. Yeah...back in the 70's...maybe...Time to get out of B-Town a little bit folks! ;) Or, at least tune into the news. Although, I do have to give PH some props here. We're trying to clean up our image!

6. Cliques never die. They just grow older. {'Nuff said...}

7. Stay true to yourself. Each and every person has made a contribution to the good old days at BHS. And, without those great individual personalities what would we have to talk about? {After all...we DO come from a small town!} :P

In all seriousness, though, I had a blast. I look forward to the 20-year reunion when we will be approaching middle age and most of our kids will be approaching middle school (ah!!!).

Okay, okay...let's not rush these things...

A special thanks to our class officers and newly elected officer (*ahem*...Stan...) and everyone else who helped put this fancy shindig together!

We could have our reunion in a shack in the woods and you would make it fun!

P.S. That IS NOT my endorsement for the next venue location...   :)

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

ENTER OUR BLOG GIVEAWAY!

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