Unexpected Early Snow -White Halloween 2011 (Oct 29-30'11)
by Adrian

Early during the week, it was forecast-ed to snow on Saturday. Since it was forecast-ed to be accumulating one inch, no one took the warning seriously. I suppose it is very rare to have snow during October.

Wham.....! Did it hit us hard....! It was worse than hurricane Irene. Nobody factored in the fragile tree branches that would break easily. Well, as I have said it is too early for snow and the leaves have not completely fall off the trees yet. The treacherous snow landed on the leaves increased the load for the branches mixed with strong wind caused it to break.

Tree branches are over our area and we lost power since around 2pm Saturday (Oct 30'11). We saw branches on the cars and middle of the streets. We spent the night with camping lamps lighting our rooms with no heat. Imagine it was about 32F (0 Celsius) outside. Anyway, see for yourself the damages from the October snow storm.

Look at the sagging tree branches next to our shed

Broken branches on our front yard (Saturday)

Broken branches on our front yard (the next day)

More broken branches on the backyard

Road down our street closed due to broken branches

After about 24 hrs of no power, we finally had it back around 4pm the next day. We are very grateful there were no substantial damages to our property except a few broken branches that need to be cleared. Tennis elbow, back pain from shoveling the snow and a cut from cutting the tree branches .

Looks who is so happy. It also means Elmo's World is back.

Thanks for all your prayers and best wishes.

Storm hits Northeast
by Adrian

It was quite a challenge commuting to Brandon's daycare this morning. Fortunately, I have been exposed to similar weather conditions while living in Illinois. The valuable experience really comes handy at this time of the year. See for yourself what I have gone through this morning.

Snow covered road

Public bus in service in spite of icy road conditions

For your information, this is just the beginning. The weather forecast is reported to be "ice to rain" tomorrow. Wish us luck and hope the wintry weather will be gone soon.

Work from home
by Adrian

Brandon's daycare is closed due to the snow storm so we are working from home. That does not mean no extra work...! Please see pictures to understand what I am saying.

Started to shovel

Imagine how thick the snow is

Door mat (before shoveling)

Door mat (after shoveling)

Car (before scrapping the snow)

Car (after scrapping the snow)

Foot path (before shoveling)

Foot path (after shoveling)

Brandon: What are you looking at? Go back to work mommy and daddy.