"224,000 without power in NH but...."

224,000 was the number on Saturday due to the "ICE STORM OF 2008". I don't know what the number is today but I am hoping for all those people out there in the dark that it is a lot lower! We were so lucky never to have lost power and had no idea how bad it really was, even in our own backyard. The storm started Thursday night and we were both home safe and sound watching the ice form on the power lines. Friday morning, we woke up at 5am to check it all out and Andrew found out he had no school. I, of course, still had to go to work so I headed out a bit early in case the roads were bad. It was raining but about 40 degrees, so no chance of ice on the roads. I made it to work fine and noticed that about a block away from us, the neighborhood was completely dark. Target had power and ended up being a busy day since thousands of people had no power, and no school and no work...so the holiday shopping season saw a benefit from the storm! Saturday night, Andrew and I went out to dinner and then hit the town for his favorite holiday activity...driving around looking at Christmas lights. I don't know what it is about the lights, but the more obnoxious the decorations, the more he laughs and laughs. Our goal is to find the most obnoxious in Manchester and we think we may have done so...The ironic thing is this is all going on while 224,000 people still have no power in NH!!!! Could there be a connection? If these houses turned off just half of their lights, would it be easier for the power to be restored in the rest of the state? I know, probably not but it makes you wonder...Anyway while driving around about 3 blocks away from us, we noticed there were not a lot of decorations...then we realized these blocks had no power, still after 48 hours. We had no idea and because we never lost power, had no idea that houses so close to use were effected for so long. I'm not sure if they have power back on now but we certainly felt lucky! Here's to hoping that all power throughout NH and New England is restored soon!
***These are all pictures from the same house in Manchester. Also the same house in the background of our new blog picture***




***Also seen around Manchester: A blow up snowman the size of a house****

***I couldn't believe this when I saw it but it's the leg lamp from The Christmas Story! "Fra-gil-e...must be Italian!"

Ninety-Nine

No...not bottles of beer on the wall....

Wednesday (Dec 10th) was my grandfather Jack's 99th birthday....
One more to go...
I am pretty sure he's not reading this but
anway..
Happy Birthday Gramps.... Here's to 99 more!!!!

Blogging Slacker

So it's been a while since I last blogged...I'm an official blogging slacker. We had a nice thanksgiving in NY. It was great seeing family and friends (although in a whirlwindish kind of way) Denise headed back to NH on friday morning to do the Black (green) friday thing at Target. I stayed in NY and sat through a bad movie (Quantam of Solace) and then went to the annual post-thanksgiving bash at the Tahl Mahal. The drive back to NH on that sunday was awful. Rain, traffic, more rain, more traffic and then up here in the granite state ice and snow. It took well over 6 hours to do a normally 4 hour drive. Now we are back to the grind. Denise is busy with the usual holiday stuff and at school I'm contending with progress reports and the pre vacation student zaniness. Otherwise Denise at 24 weeks and baby Donavan is doing just fine....

Some of the events of the past few weeks will be elaborated upon soon..
Until then..be assured I won't be a slacker anymore....

Nobody puts Baby in the corner...

The latest ultrasound pic of baby bergang...at least now it actually looks like a baby!



20 weeks down and 20 more to go!

Weekend in the country...

We decided to take off for the weekend and hole up in Andrew's parent's country house in Cold Spring NY this past weekend. It was rainy, foggy and not so pleasant outside so a great weekend to build a fire and stay indoors the whole time. We got there late Friday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon and enjoyed being free from phones, computers and t.v. The majority of Saturday was spent with me plowing through the book "Twilight", which I decided I have heard so much about I might as well read it. I finished it today before we left...and looking forward to seeing the movie when it opens this weekend as well as starting the next book in the series! Andrew spent the majority of the day tending to the fire...which he did a pretty good job at! I swear, we are going to have to buy a house with a fireplace some day! We did leave the house Saturday night for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and to see the movie Changeling...the fajitas were better than the movie. Our weekend was complete with a stop at our favorite pizza place in CT, Frank Pepe's and then groceries from Trader Joe's on the way home. All in all, a nice relaxing weekend and we are ready for another week of work!

And so it begins..

Tonight marks the beginning of yet another season of Top Chef... This show has become a favorite here at the Bergang household... This season should be interesting as the show takes place in New York...

Looking forward to seeing Tom, Padma(a fellow clark alum) and the rest of the gang...
Denise and I will making our bets on who will be the winner soon.

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I am proud to be an American today...
What lays ahead is unknown but the outlook is certainly brighter than it's been for a long, long time....

Most importantly, I am happy that Denise and I will be bringing a child into the world when we have a president whom I am proud of...