On Wednesday night we had some terrific thunderstorms in the DFW area. I somehow slept through the crashes and rumbles, but woke up when Leila called out from a bad dream. When I went to check the time in the kitchen, the stove clock was blank- the power was out. Later H told me it went out about 4 am. It didn't come back on until about 1 hour ago. That's 33 hours without power!
It was hard to get to work without my customary espresso on Thursday morning, but at least the shower was hot. Here at the office it was full power on. The kids went to school, and just H had to suffer through the day with none of his usual activities- no t.v., no computer, no microwaved coffee. He talked to the neighbors. When I got home, I made myself a quick sandwich, only opening the fridge long enough to grab mayo and turkey. It was, to say the least, a boring lunch. Later, I saw the neighbor from the other side and went over to talk to her. "I just bought groceries!" I complained, thinking of the ice-cream melting in my freezer. "So did I!" she commiserated. Later, when H had left to buy ice, her husband came by. "I just hooked up our fridge to a generator I borrowed, and you can hook yours up, too." When H got home he pulled out the extension cords and we fed one out the window, across the deck, and into our neighbor's back yard. H spent most of the afternoon over there, meeting other neighbors that had wandered outside, all with something to talk about, now. We finally met the woman who lives across the alley from us. H wished that this would happen more often to get people out of their houses and talking. I was just happy that the refrigerator was hooked up. The stove still functioned- it just has to be lit with a lighter- so I could cook dinner. We ate this backwards, starting with half melted ice-cream around 5:00 (Leila thought that was fun!) and then moving on to the main course much later. Candles provided enough light, and the sun didn't set until almost 8. I had Leila bathed and in bed before absolute darkness fell, and Ali wasn't far behind. I was almost disappointed when H hooked the t.v. up to the generator, but I did get to watch the end of the Miss Marple show I started last week. I gave myself permission to be lazy since I couldn't get on the computer, and just enjoyed the evening. It reminded me of growing up in the jungle, but with running water. (That's the worst thing to have go out.) H did hook up his computer and got to work.
When I woke up this morning I plugged my coffee maker in to the extension cord and soon had a hot shot of espresso. MMmmm. Friday's I wake up later, so I also had some sunlight to get around by. The kids could watch Sesame Street, and things were looking good.
The other setback yesterday was that my parent's flight, on AA, was canceled. (Big surprise.) They were meant to be spending today getting ready for Leila's party tomorrow. Their new flight, first class no less, is tonight, arriving at midnight. I just hope it isn't canceled. I guess its just as well that they didn't have to go through the big blackout of 2008 with us.
Now I just have to bake the cake etc. that I couldn't do last night when I get home.
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