The Trip out of Frankenstorm: Part 4 (Gotta get to Philly- again!!)

Somehow it was morning (Tuesday Oct. 30), and we survived Hurricane Sandy!!  I thanked God when I awoke and saw that the windows were not blown in, that the sky was calm, and the city was still intact.  Dez and I did some more dancing to M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" with the sock monkey, and my brother Peter, the budding DJ, showed me how to use his turntable to mix songs together and we had some fun!  We thought we should create a "Sandy Mix" of songs as a souvenir of our experience.  He showed me some awesome mixes of "Gangnam Style" with "Call Me Maybe" and other unusual choices!

Ken and Angie found out that miraculously, their building in Battery Park City did not lose power even though much of the area did.  Again, coincidence?  Or the power of prayer?  They planned to return to their place right away and began packing.

I got a phone call that my flight out that night was canceled.  No surprise; I waited on hold again to figure out how I was going to get home.  I finally booked a flight that went out Wednesday morning (Halloween) from La Guardia to Philadelphia at 9:15am, then from Philadelphia to Dallas at 11:20am, which would get me home by 2:00pm.  That was perfect since I would make it to our Halloween block party AT MY HOUSE by 4pm.  This party had been planned for months, with flyers going out to everyone in our subdivision about our bounce house, karaoke cab, and Halloween treats.  I could NOT miss this!!

We said good-bye to Ken, Angie, and Dez, and planned to meet them for dinner at their place later that night.  Peter and I went outside to see if anything was open for lunch- in Korea-town, of course.  We were shocked at the sheer amount of people out!  Every restaurant had a line out the door.  We tried waiting at a Korean BBQ restaurant and struck up a conversation with the guy in front of us who said that everyone from lower Manhattan was headed to where there was power; Korea-town was on 32nd and still had power, so this was the spot!

Peter and I decided to just grab something from Cafe R next to his apartment.  It's like a mini Whole-Foods with prepared meals ready to go; since they had kept power, they were exploding with customers too.  We finally got our meals, ate in the lounge, relaxed and talked for a while.

When we returned back to the room, I got a phone call that my flight was canceled.  I officially started to freak out.  Peter was laughing at me as I started jumping around in the room saying, "No!!!  I CANNOT stay here another day!!  I have GOT to get home!!"  

I convinced US Airways to let me keep the connecting flight from PA to TX; the person on the phone asked, "How are you going to get to Philly?" and I said, "Don't worry about it.  I will get there.  You  just make sure I get back to Dallas."

I was on a mission.  I HAD to get back to Philly.  Wait, didn't I say this just a few days ago?  But this time there was more urgency.  I had spoken to my girls and told them mommy was going to be home for Halloween since they were in tears about me being gone for so long.  Both Chloe (9) and Sophie (6) had vomited during the last 2 days, and Ellie (11) was feeling a lot of pressure to take care of them and be the "mom."  I could not let them down and miss the party that we had all planned together, and they were counting on me to be there for our family costume: Psy (Todd), his Korean dancer (obviously me), Katy Perry (Ellie), Pink (Chloe), and Taylor Swift (Sophie).  I couldn't bear the thought of telling them that I would be here another day!  I needed a miracle!