Hurricane Sandy is wreaking havoc all up up the Northeastern United States. It's much worse in coastal areas, but Philadelphia has been affected as well.

Picture from NASA

Sunday afternoon after reading reports online my husband & I thought it might be a good idea to pick some candles up and another larger flashlight (we only have mini travel ones), so we went out in the afternoon on Sunday. I was thinking... okay maybe there will only be really expensive flashlights left. What we saw stunned us...


This was Target. There were NO flashlights left except that tiny travel one hanging there. In fact we went to Home Depot and 4 other stores and there were NO flashlights. We ended up stopping at my Dad's to borrow a larger flashlight. Only thing with that was... we couldn't find extra D batteries at the stores ANYWHERE. Most of the stores only had Double AA batteries left. So we've got some candles, and 2 mini flashlights and a larger flashlight and praying the power doesn't go out.

My job was closed Monday and it's now also officially closed for Tuesday. (I will still get paid). It's insane, because I work for the Government and they never like to shut down, so to be closed for two days in a row is just crazy. Philadelphia closed schools, city offices, they have shut down ALL public transportation. The airport is shut down and even some of the highways & bridges have been shut down. Stores and businesses are closed.

At this point (Almost 10pm here), the rain & flooding are not especially bad in Philadelphia. What's worse is the wind. We have 44+ MPH winds in Philadelphia right now. They are quite scary. Rattling the windows, etc. Our gutter line & drainage pipe completely ripped off and was laying on the lawn in front of our apartment building. Unfortunately a piece of the gutter is still hanging in front of our bedroom window and keeps banging & scraping against the window, it's quite scary. The worst of this hurricane will be through tonight and into tomorrow.


Prayers & Thoughts for everyone that has been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

• List of Transportation Closures in Philadelphia. 
• 6abc.com's Hurricane Sandy resource guide 

Tuesday Afternoon: Piece of the gutter that ripped off our apartment building last night during the storm. There's 3 pieces laying down on the lawn and a mini piece still dangling near our living room window.

American Red Cross Donations

 

Manila and surrounding provinces in the Philippines had a bad monsoon on 8-7-12. It flooded so bad they had to open the dams, which cause more flooding. It was almost as bad the flood back in 2009. Sadly my in-laws house was flooded again though we don't know how badly. :-(

My Father in-law works as ship captain and is back out at sea. (He helps transport cars, fruits, etc to different countries). My mother in-law had to stay with my Sister in-law & family at her 2 story house. The flooding at my SIL's house reached the garage but from last reports hadn't gotten into the house. And we pray that's still true. Their power was out for 3 days and they were conserving their cell phones so we didn't hear much from them. We still don't really have any definite detailed updates at the moment.

Everyone is okay from texts, facebook, etc (Friends & Family). Which we are very thankful for! (Thank you for all the prayers!) It really sucks that my in-laws house got flooded again. My husband remembers being there for the 2009 flood. He knows how hard it was and how hard the clean up was.


I was checking Twitter every hour looking up keywords for Cainta Rizal and their villages name (gated community), to find current updates. The flood waters were reported waist high at my in-laws village. Though the flood waters are subsiding. My husband said they shut off the power automatically when flood waters reach a certain level. It's also rainy season over there right now, which doesn't help matters.

We are just thankful everyone is okay. Including our niece who will be 1 years old on August 21st. She had a little cold, but from last reports is doing better.

Our Niece Zia!

If you want to donate to the Philippine Red Cross to help with relief efforts (Over 2 million people were effected by this storm), there are ways to donate on their website (Including Paypal).


Article on the storm on CNN

Yahoo Philippines Article

6ABC Article

 

Honey got bit by Olive a few weeks ago. It turned into an abscess (which I've dealt with many abscesses over the years with my pet rats & never saw one like this). It started off marble sized, but did swell to quarter size. We were treating Honey with antibiotics (Baytril) and the abscess was drying up into a scab.

Monday when I got home from work, either her abscess had burst on it's own, or she chewed at the wound. She had a hole in her leg a little bigger than a quarter. It looked really really bad & it was really deep. She also kept licking and chewing at the wound, which was making it bleed worse.

Tuesday I called the vet at 9am, and we took Honey to the vet in the afternoon for an exam. Her abscess was badly infected and her chewing on it did not help the infection.

We had to leave Honey overnight at the vet for surgery so the vet could remove the infected tissue and stitch her up. He used metal sutures so she won't chew out her stitches. She also got a Baytril injection & will be on Cipro for 2 weeks. She has a check up next Wednesday evening.

She was doing really well when we picked her up, they had done the surgery late last night. She is pretty active, but will be staying in a smaller "hospital" cage while she heals up. She was boggling on the car ride home, I had the carrier on my lap and was petting her, while my husband was driving home.

Honey after surgery: (click to enlarge photo)


Thank God for Mastercard though... ugh... her surgery was a couple hundred dollars and since I just started back at work on the 12th, (after a 6 week furlough) I don't get my first paycheck until October 3rd. I didn't have enough in checking to cover her surgery. Like I've said many times before, people that think rats are just pocket pets or disposable pets... they require the same care as a cat or dog. And the vet prices are about the same.

(Blog Article: Why Rats!?) 

In other rattie news... Iris' tail has healed up from her infection & her back injury seems to be healed. But I don't think she will regain use in the lower part of her tail. She can move the base to about the middle. She's still pretty active though and doesn't seem to realize her tail is paralyzed.

And Violet moved in with my 5 girls downstairs in the Ferret Nation cage this past weekend. There was some wrestling & a bit of fighting. But she is all settled in now. She is about 3x's the size she was when we got her in August. She's not a little baby anymore. :-)


And just a quick update. You might have heard about the recent Typhoon in the Philippines. Manila was hit really hard, and the photos are just crazy to look at. Like the US Embassy! Places I've been... They are saying Manila has not been flooded like this in decades. My husband's family is okay and they did not get flooded, thank God! We were really worried, since there was a devastating typhoon & flood there just 2 years ago that did effect my husband's family.

I ordered this gorgeous wood engraved frame from Personalization Mall.com. I also ordered a few more as gifts for family. I think it's absolutely gorgeous! (They shipped out my order fast too.) The frames were only $18 each and you can customize it with whatever text you want. The wood engraving turned out beautiful!

I chose part of the love verse for mine:

I also ordered 3 cute t-shirts for my Philippines trip from Aeropostle. I love the smile face tee!
Smiley Face Graphic Tee
Stacked Logo Graphic Tee
Fleur-De-Lis Graphic Tee
In Philippine updates: F.B. & his family are slowly getting the house cleaned up & back to normal. F.B. says the house is like a puzzle right now, that things aren't in their places. He went to Dad's Ultimate Buffet for his 30th birthday (Which is also part of Saisaki buffet.) I told him to eat alot of sushi & tempura for me, hehe! I love Saisaki Buffet! Their California Roll has mango in it! So good, yum! We got to talk on the phone on his birthday. And Sunday he was at Mall of Asia again at an internet cafe so we got to talk online again too around 1:30am (Philadelphia time).

F.B.'s father is supposed to come home November 15th. His father is a ship captain & is only home a few months out of the year. He brings shipments of fruits, veggies, flowers, cars, etc; to other countries, (USA included.) Earlier this year he was taking shipments of fruit from Coasta Rica to Philadelphia. But because of the strict rules, he wasn't allowed to leave the ship yard so we didn't get to meet up.

I had the craziest dream last night. I dreamed I arrived in the Philippines and pretty much forgot to pack anything & everything! I opened my suitcase and there was a few clothing items scattered around in my suitcase and I turned to F.B. and went, "I don't know how this happened... but I forgot to pack pretty much everything!" In my dream, I ended up calling my Mom with a list of things I needed and told her to use my credit card to ship my clothes & stuff to me. What a weird dream! I don't think I've ever forgotten to pack, and if I did forget something I could always buy it in the Philippines!

Saturday night I was finally able to relax; take a break and hang out with my cousins. We had Chinese food for dinner (General Tso's chicken, yum.), watched a movie (Coming to America- Eddie Murphy.) & had some drinks. (Stoli Blueberry Vodka & Sprite and Rum & Coke.)

Around 12 midnight F.B. texted me & said he was at Mall of Asia at an Internet cafe and if I wanted we could meet on messenger. Yay! So I finally got to talk to my boy for over an hour on Yahoo Messenger and then he even sent me email too. I'm going to share the email because it has details about the flooding in it:

Hi baby. I miss you. It was nice being able to chat with you. As you know, I'm in MOA right now. Mom and aunts met up someplace and I just didn't tag along with 'em anymore. Had lunch at the food court here at MOA. Had some grilled squid. I'm really getting addicted to squid. haha. Wish we could hang out. I miss your company.

Anyway, I'll just tell you about the recent flood. That was Saturday morning and we chatted the night before. I remember telling you about the rain and hoping that it wouldn't flood. Though flooding was almost expected, we really weren't prepared for the amount that came on that day. There was water in front of the house already when I got the cars out. I brought 'em to one of mom's friends in the village. The water was rising really fast though and when I was heading back home. I almost had to swim through the flood. It was really tiring wading through that flood.

So when I got back home most of our stuff was kinda soaked already, but I still tried to save some stuff while I still could and put stuff on my upper shelves like the computer, laptop, our albums, etc. Mom, Ate, and Lady have been raising up stuff too while I wasn't around. But everything just happened so fast. So you can't help but panic sometimes, and you just kinda lose some common sense and don't know what to do.

We realized that we had to abandon the house since the rain just wouldn't let up. When we did go to the house next door, the flood was about chest high in the garage alone. It's good that our neighbors took us in. We're very grateful for that. The flood came down around Monday morning so we were able to go back to our house to see what happened. Everything was a mess. Furniture was everywhere, the fridge was laying on the floor face down, the cabinet in the dining room where the TV was fell over too and of course the TV on it. The dining table was still standing though it was in a different position. I guess it might've floated. Anyway, you get the idea. So it took a while to clear a path around the house taking out the furniture and stuff.

I had a tough time entering my room too cuz my bed was blocking the door and it was tough to push the bed through the little opening. and there was other stuff too since we did try to put stuff to save on the bed too. I eventually managed to squeeze in the little opening in my door though. Everything was just muddy and that mud really stinks too. Anyway, throwing out lotsa stuff like vcds. Was glad I saved your letters and albums baby. and the laptop and comp. seems ok, though haven't really tried em yet.

Got back to the house around Thursday night and we're just sleeping in one room. That room where Ate Malou sleeps. We just use comforters on the floor. My bed is the only thing left in my room. It still seems ok. Just needs a new mattress. We all need new mattresses. The flood did get about chest high in my room. You can see through the marks of the water and mud on the walls and stuff. My cabinets had to go already since they were pretty much destroyed.

Ya know, we're still kinda lucky though since other places got their houses flooded in fully and some of our neighbors on our street weren't able to get their cars out of the flood. The first time we went out of the village to buy some food and other supplies, it was really crazy. Everything was muddy and dirty, and the traffic was even worst than usual. Plus there was alot of cars lined up on the streets that got flooded in. Really crazy stuff. But like I said we're still lucky. We still have our lives, our home, and even our cars, plus some material stuff were saved too even if it's not too many.

Thanks for calling and texting btw. It's nice to hear from you especially at a time like this. Just been busy lately and it's nice to have some sorta break even for a while. I'll be getting offline soon. Been here at the net cafe for almost 3 hours now. Maybe I'll still have some time just to walk around and stuff at the mall. Take care. I love you Sarah. *mwah*

Your F.B.

They are still putting the house in order. He said alot of the furniture was in the garage & in the covered garden outside right now while they are cleaning up. He also said he thinks his PC will work because it didn't get wet or get mud on it. Good news. I'm just so thankful that F.B. & his family are okay & now they can begin to move forward.

P.S. A cute blog entry by my future sister in law.

F.B. texted me this morning with the following news:

We're ok here.heard d storm has changed its path.thats good news.had dinner out.i miss u.i love u.mwah

Typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) has changed direction. Metro Manila & nearby provinces are no longer under threat!

Please continue to pray for the families effected by the flooding as they try to move forward after this horrible tragedy.

Also don’t forget, Philippine National Red Cross is now accepting overseas donations through Paypal!

Sarah Lynn: I cant sleep Im so worried. the new storm was upgraded to supertyphoon. supposd 2 hit Sat. plse keep in contact. I love you. in my prayers

F.B: I know.i saw in d newspaper.mite b more wind tho.but hopefully rain wont b as much.startin 2 stink up in village cuz of trash.i miss u.i love u

Sarah Lynn: Miss kita. now they r saying Laguna de Bay level 2 break 90yr record may flood metro manila & nearby provinces. I love you.

F.B: I kno.hopefully this comin typhoon wont have as much rain & just pass by quickly.my room's pretty much cleared out.been a busy day.quite tired.i miss u.i love u

Sarah Lynn: keeping every1 in my prayers- I just wish it was Nov already & we were 2gether. need kita. I love u. stay safe get sleep soon.

F.B: Thanx 4 your prayers baby.btw,d electrician checked d dvd player & it works again tho d screen's dead.oh well.we mostly watch on tv anyway.hehe.i love u.mwah

Sarah Lynn: thats sum good news baby. glad your room is almost cleaned up. I love you. Im thinkng bout you. *mwah*

F.B: Well,kinda clean i guess.i just have my bed here w/c still seems pretty good.its quite durable.minus d matress.& have my dry stuff up on d shelves.i love u.mwah

Sarah Lynn: Thats sumthng at least.It will b bak 2 normal sooner than u think.I kno its exhausting tho.good 2 keep dry stuff high up on shelves! i love u

Please contine to keep everyone in your prayers. Besides the new typhoon threat there are fears the water level in Laguna de Bay will overflow and flood metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Philippine National Red Cross is now accepting overseas donations through Paypal here! I donated already & I hope others will too!

I've been able to speak to F.B. 3 times on the phone since the flooding happened in the Philippines. Today I was able to speak to him for almost half an hour. They are now back in their house. They are all staying in a room off the dining room while they clean up the rest of the house. They also have power again. My future sister in law has been able to get to computer & has updated her blog about the flooding. You can read about the aftermath here. Thank you for all your thoughts & prayers, they are greatly appreciated.

There is another typhoon approaching the Philippines that will possibly hit Saturday, so please continue to keep everyone in your thoughts & prayers, that this new storm will not cause more damage or complicate rehabilitation efforts in the areas effected by the flooding. (Update: New storm has been upgraded to super typhoon)

I will still be leaving for the Philippines November 24. And F.B. & I will still be getting married some time in December.

In other news, I finally got an evening purse for my cousins wedding & to use at my own wedding. I really love it. It is silver & beaded. It will go along with my other accessories nicely. (I got the purse here.)

I woke up around 5am and checked my phone. F.B. finally sent me a text message!

He said: Sorry didnt txt.bad signal & no recharge.we're ok but house is nuts.flood pretty much half d house.dunno if comps ok.stayin at house nxt door.i miss u.i love u

I decided to try calling him again and it finally went through & he answered. He said they are still without power, so I didn't keep him on the phone for a long time. I heard sirens in the background. He said sometimes the water in the pipes comes on & other times it's off. They are still staying with the neighbor, He said the house is a mess. And they are still staying with the neighbors next door while they are cleaning up. The neighbors have a 3 story home. (Their home is 1 story.) He said during the flood the 1st floor of the neighbors house was completely flooded. He sounds okay, better than I expected. But I think still in shock somewhat at everything that is happening.

I know he's upset about the computer. He told me he doesn't know if it's going to work. The thing about our relationship is we rely on technology so much that when everything fails for us, we feel cut off from each other. It was so hard not hearing from him for several days because every day we are in contact somehow, email, chat, text, phone. He says he may try emailing me from an internet cafe in the mall at the end of the week. If his PC is shot, we may have to just rely on that communication for awhile until they are able to afford a new one. It won't be as nice as being able to chat with each other in real time but it's something. And I've already recharged my phone card so I can call him frequently. It was just nice to hear his voice and hear that he is okay.

F.B. texted me around 8pm Sunday saying they had to stay at a neighbors house because their house is flooded. I looked up a news article online and it says Cainta Rizal is under 6ft of water! Most of Metro Manila & Rizal is flooded. Every time I try to call him I keep getting busy signal or an automated message saying the number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area.... so not sure what is going on, but I'm worried and wish I'd hear from him. Please keep him & his family in your thoughts & prayers. Thanks!

9-26-09: I emailed F.B.'s father. He is a ship captain and is not in the Philippines right now. This was the information he received:

I was just on the phone with my mom and she said that everyone is ok in the neighbor's house but except for important papers and documents saved by your tita Zen, everything else is flooded. Right now the rain has abated and hopefully the waters will subside. They dont have electricity right now which could be the reason why we can't reach their phones because they did not have the means to recharge. Mom said that she cannot reach them too because of the same reason. I will give you an update as soon as I have more news.

9-27-09: Another update from F.B's Dad:

Dear Sarah,I already talked with your Tita Zen and thank God they are all ok. The water is only on the streets now and drying up. The house was submerged upto the lower half of the windows last night so everything is in shambles right now and they started cleaning up. FB says dont worry, they have not charged their cellphones until now because electricity might be out for another two days. I told them to buy a car charger so most probably FB will talk to you in his phone today.

9-28-09: Another Update from F.B.'s father:

Good morning Sarah, Yes the house was half submerged. Everything, including the refrigerator was already floating inside the house before they left to go to the neighbor. The PC and monitor and the television were all submerged. FB manage to drive "First" and "Pearl" to our friends inside the village situated on higher streets just when the water started to flow in. Of course after driving "First" he had to walk back to drive "Pearl" and on his way back he had to wade waist deep water near the house. According to Your Tita Zen the water rose so quickly that it was already neck deep in the carport when they went over the next house. We can thank God that it happened during daytime and I even dont want to think about consequences had it happened while everyone is asleep in the night. They have to buy new mattresses including a replacement for FB's bed and do a lot of laundry as everything in the closets were reached by the muddy water. Your Tita Nel's home was not flooded. Thank you for praying with me Sarah because that's all I can do right now. We are in the middle of the Atlantic on our way to Russia and we will only arrive there on Oct.8