In other news...

I’ve never been so happy to say that the storm is finally over. I generally love storms, the hustle and bustle as people get ready ; stocking up supplies and battening down the hatches. Living in a Nor’easter prone area for the last 18 years and coming from the southern tier of New York before this, has seasoned me. I knew there was the possibility that we could lose power, but honestly didn’t expect it. Wrong. We lost power and heat (gas heat, electric blower) for about three hours. The other side of the street still had power including the street lights, so we held out hope that it would just be a matter of time before it was restored.

I called and made arrangements to stay at my Aunt’s house for Brody and me and the kids and for Brody’s nana as well, whose power also went out. We were a little more worried about her than ourselves as she has congestive heart failure and is sometimes stubborn about getting help. We insisted she come with us if we left, rather than be evacuated to the high school gym to wait it out. Without hesitation, she decided to come with us.

I had packed bags earlier when the power blipped and I ran around before it went out again getting prepared gathering mittens, hats, snow pants and blankets, just in case. Brody warmed up the car and shoveled a bit but it seemed that no matter how fast he shoveled, it came down and lay thick again. He went down to check on Nana as she stopped answering her phone, while the kids and I sat on the couch with flashlights in hand singing songs and reading a book. It was nerve racking for a while as the kids were afraid of the dark and didn’t want me to leave the room even with their flashlights.

I finally got the bright idea after the songs had run out and the kids decided to wrestle and scream at the top of their lungs and generally just lose their collective minds, that the laptops still had battery power to watch a DVD. I said a little prayer and asked Ganesh to see us through and help me keep my sanity as the kids were just CRAZY and really LOUD! They calmed down long enough to watch a DVD and forget that there was no power, while I called the electric company to find out an ETA for power. 11:00 pm the following night was the earliest that they could say, leaving me to realize how unprepared we were for a possible 32 hour power outage. The heat was leaving the house quickly due to the time and the huge drafts around the “new “windows. So I had the kids start layering clothes as we were unsure how long we were going to stay. Brody really didn’t want to leave and probably wouldn’t have if we didn’t have to worry about kids and elderly grandmothers, ya know. We’d have gotten snuggly under the covers and gotten some sleep. Meh… that’s life right?

I watched as they evacuated the man a few houses down on our side. The fire department came and had to dig a path from the street and up the wheelchair ramp. It was nearly impossible to see them except for the reflective strips on their jackets. While watching the trucks, Brody called to let me know they were heading down our  way and to get ready to leave and as I hung up the phone the power came back on. I raced around and cranked the heat as high as it would go and grabbed the makings of grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup and started making a quick dinner for the kids just in case it all went out again. Brody called back and said he was coming home. Nana decided to stay at her house and she would call if the power went out again.

The rest of the night was uneventful except the kids voicing their disappointment that we weren’t going to Aunt Aimee’s house. They were really hoping to “dump us weirdo parents” and hang with the cool kids. We watched the rest of the DVD that we had started and then read some more bedtimes stories and sent them off, Brian excited that school was closed yet again and Kaiya for the snow forts she and daddy would build.

I’ve been working on a new quilt project trying to use up my Alexander Henry “ baddanna” fabric in red. I had used it for the spider web quilt I gave my dad for Christmas. I said I was going to use just scraps from my stash, but couldn’t find just the right fabric to go with it, so I decided to buy it in black (on sale) when my friend Kate invited me out for the ride to the fabric store. I had a few essentials on my list but couldn’t find just what I needed so I will wait until later to get those items and continue using what I have here in the house.

What do you think so far?



Take care,