Hi Susie, Apollo and Abbee. Yes, it looks like we will be taking it on the chin. Your house is the bull's eye. I am totally dreading this. Here's the latest:
"Sandy will bring major damage and life-threatening conditions to South Jersey and as far west central Pennsylvania. These conditions include the greater Philadelphia area. Sandy is forecast by AccuWeather.com to make landfall in central New Jersey Monday evening, but the effect from the storm will be far-reaching."

I am preparing for no power for a while. I washed and dried my hair this morning and am doing laundry now. I also plan to run the vacuum cleaner, but mostly because the house needs it. I did not buy perishable food. My store has a generator and I can walk there after the storm is over. I have plenty to get me through to Wednesday when I am guessing we will be able to get out again.

My gas tank is filled because the pumps won't work without power. The patio furniture is in the garage along with anything else that might blow away.

I'm glad I have a gas range because I can light the burners with a match. I ground some coffee in advance and I have a french press, so the most important thing is done!

You won't be seeing me here once the power goes. That's the worst of it!

My idiot neighbors across the street have not been living in their house. I don't know what's going on. There is even a window left open. They did not clear away the metal lawn chairs that they keep on the front lawn, so I hope those do not become airborne and fly into my house.

What are others doing to prep for the storm? How about those expecting huge amounts of snow?

As if we don't have enough going on right now, I got up this morning to discover that some jerks took out our entire street of mailboxes last night, in addition to emptying our garbage can into the middle of our cul-de-sac. And they didn't just bang them via drive-by, but pulled them all down and threw them up and down the street.

We're pretty used to power outages, and since we lost power for a week during last year's freak snowstorm, we're assuming that same will happen this time around.

We bought water the other day, have the generators ready to go, and are filling the bathtubs and water jugs (we're on a well pump) and reinforcing the dog fence. Fortunately, we're high up so don't generally have flooding issues on our property, but I always have our van/leashes/dog food/water/medications ready to go just in case we have to leave in a rush with one or more of our four Goldens.

Cell phones, tablets, etc. are charged, along with a battery back up. I did all of our laundry a few days ago but decided to do our bedding today - clean sheets always makes things better :)

Sue

Pam, maybe you can put those chairs in their backyard. Odd, it sounds like they've abandoned the place. Foreclosed? Check the front door. Maybe it's unlocked. Place the stuff inside. You don't need their stuff flying at your house.

I'm worried for everyone.

Eileen

I'm also making lots of ice cubes!

Sue, that really sucks. What is wrong with people like that? How can they possibly find that to be funny? I don't suppose a security camera picked them up in the act? Most homes don't have cameras like that. Creeps. I'd like to dump a can of garbage over their heads.

Eileen, the yucky neighbors actually showed up and are now running their lawn mower all over their leaves. They moved the chairs to mow the leaves, so we'll see what happens next. I heard that they moved into his mother's house. She moved in with a sister as she is elderly.

Tides are already extremely high along the NJ shore and the wind is picking up. Gives me the shivers.

Pam, I like Eileens idea but check with the police before you go on their property. If you know a cop, have them go with you if they can.

Also, if you have a close freind on the block, see if you could bunk with them during the storm. Misery loves company and there is comfort in numbers.

Has your rain started yet? A friend just posted on FB she is getting rain and she is a bit north of you.

Suzie, those are two cute pups.

Stay safe, stay in touch if you can, and know that we are thinking of you.

Peppi, I could stay with my mom or she could stay with me but we both prefer to be in our own space. If one of us loses power, we can go the the other house, although chances are we both will be out. I wish my mom would stay with me but she is the most stubborn 95 year old that I know. Yesterday she moved all her pots of geraniums into the garage rather than wait for my son to do it today.

Did i hear they might close the bridges out of NJ?
Im at work so im just going by what the customers ar� saying.

Other than that Walmart is open and we have everything!

Cheers,
Susie

I bet you don't have D batteries. NOBODY has D batteries. The bridges at the shore have been closed heading onto the islands. I guess they are still letting people leave. Other bridges and tunnels may be closed when the winds pick up and the flooding starts.

Sandy keeps getting scarier:

Love the picture....speaks volumes! Oh those summer ni-ights?
Stay safe....this Sandy is one bad girl!!

OMG this storm is scary. I hate weather.

I think I have everything I need. The generator is ready and I have gas, although I could get another 5 gallons this afternoon. I don't have a bathtub to store water for flushing so I bought 3 30 gallon totes and they are partially filled. I always have food since we live in the country.

The kids don't have school, so I think I'll take my daughter to work with me, at least for part of the day. I'll leave my son here, but he has to stay toward the back of the house because I'm nervous about my neighbors tree. It's huge and one fell last year during Irene. This particular tree is right across from my house.

I also home flooding is minimal. I can't take any more of that. My parents live on the Susquehanna River and they lost a lot last year.

Please stay safe everyone.

Pam, I love the picture.

I think my neighbor upstairs is ready. He has plenty of beer and Cheetos.

Tracey

You can store a lot of water in a garbage can lined with heavy duty garbage bag. Double bag just in case.

dcarch

Stay safe Susie and everyone else!

Pam, love that picture.

Hi Tracy -- haven't heard from you in awhile. I hope you weather the storm well.

I am still here -- no power outage yet but I know it's on the way. It's raining pretty hard but now the winds are picking up. I hear sirens as I write this. Wonder what that is about.

We are having a betting pool on our street as to when the power will go out. I bet 4:30 pm just because I hope we get one more day of power.

I can't believe how many people tried to get to work today. There is a big accident on I-95 near the city. Part of the Atlantic City boardwalk has collapsed. The trees scare me more than anything.

It sure is WINDY out there!

Living on the east coast then the west coast of FL all my life, I have been through a lot of hurricanes, and admittedly I don't take the hype too seriously. But this one is REALLY scary and aptly named Frankenstorm.

I'm sure there will be a long and painful recovery after the storm passes. I hope for safety for all in the path.

I'm glad you're all checking in and I'm sending thoughts that everyone stays safe and has power.

I'm glad, too, that y'all are all checking in. Please keep it up as long as you can. I'm so concerned for those of you in the storm's path.

Sally

I expected our NY showroom to be closed today, but I have received no message to that effect. The showroom is located in Midtown (East), but the main salesman lives in NJ, I think, and so I don't see how he would be able to commute today.

I hope the power outtages will be more minor than predicted. Good to see those who check in.

Lars

Checking in from RI/MA border. Our winds are picking up now, but we have a long way to go, with the worst expected to be overnight. Over 14k have lost power in RI; 30k in Massachusetts. Waves off Block Island are 24 feet. Block Island is off the coast of RI, not too, too far from Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, which are in MA.

We have waterfront property, but our house is up on a hill so we're actually physically about 60 feet above sea level, so we're safe and have a good view to watch. We can see the local yacht club from the house and the last boat left yesterday. Most of our area was evacuated around noon but we are able to stay and are very safe. I'd be the first to bolt if I thought otherwise....not worth it.

Watch Hill, RI, has lots of flooding (not from rain, but the high tides and waves). This is significant to everybody here, because it is very, very close to Tricia in CT. I'm sure she has lots of damaging flooding right now. :(

On a cooking note, my kitchen looks like the hurricane already passed. Lots of baking (cookies, brownies, muffins) while I can take advantage of having electricity. I made a huge pot of chicken soup and am trying to decide what to do next.

Ooops..lights just flickered....I'll check back with updates a little later. Stay safe, everybody!

I'm following along too and hoping and praying for the best. Be safe my friends, I hope the damage isn't too much.

safe and sound at 6pm

lots of wind and sheets of rain

gonna be a bumpy night

be safe out there
Susie

pic of the old tree in the woodland garden.....prob at least 60 ft or larger...hope he makes it!!!

this tree in the neighbors yard, is really leaning......ps check out my pink grass in the last pic!!!
I have lots of it from qvc

Susie, who is under your pool cover??

I'm thinking of you all. This is a scarey scarey storm. Be safe my friends! I have lots and lots of seafood gumbo. Just sayin ;-)

Pam....lol!

Its actually slowing down

Pam....lol!

Its actually slowing down

Hi Pam, I'm still around but my life has been completely crazy for the past couple of years.

We still have power here. It flickered here a few times last evening but didn't go off. Still really windy with some pretty good gusts. The tree across the road is still standing, although I thought something happened last evening when water started pouring through my living room ceiling. I was not weather related it was my stupid upstairs neighbor. He broke his fish tank so my living room was a mess.

I hope everyone is still ok and I hope this storm gets out of here soon.

Tracey

Oh my gosh, a flood from a fish tank. What a dope. Glad you have power. Glad I have power! Does your daughter still wear her Kitchen Diva apron?

Well my power went out about an hour after I posted. I think they intentionally cut the power to fix some lines. The nursing home I work at down the road lost power about 11 last night. I did get power back about 3:45 this afternoon. The generator worked well. I left my son home to keep an eye on things and took my daughter to work again. It's a good thing she likes it there.

Pam, He's more than a dope. I'm pretty much done. He's up all night making noise and sleeps all day. I just talked to my landlord she's going to talk to him. I wish I could find a house.

My daughter does still wear that apron. We don't get to bake together often because the kitchen in this old farmhouse is small and we trip over each other.

I'm glad you didn't lose power and I'm very thankful for no flooding here. I feel sorry for those who are dealing with that.

Tracey

Folks -- Susie Q asked me to let you know that she has no power, but they are fine. Just chilly! They are running their fridge off a neighbor's power. The power company said they will have her back on line by 11/5!!!! Yikes, I hope it's sooner than that.