Power. . .Bliss

Well, after 3 1/2 days without power, our lights finally came back on Thursday evening.  We were one of the victims of the vicious wind storm that came through our area on Monday morning.  The week went something like this.

I stayed up late on Sunday night watching movies with my daughter, so when my husband called me a few minutes before 8AM on Monday morning I was just reaching consciousness.  All he said was "Big wind coming your way," - which translated to "Go get the pool noodles and toys off the pool so they don't blow away."  Well I jumped out of bed as I could already hear the wind picking up and dressed as I made my way downstairs.  It took three grabs to get everything off the pool and into the shed.  As I headed back to the house, my son yelled to me to get his hula hoop out of his play set, so I turned back and grabbed it. 

I got into the house and had just grabbed a towel to dry off when the wind really started - I walked to the window in time to see the branches coming down into the yard where I had just been.  I picked up the phone to call my husband back and the power went out. So even after 3 1/2 days without power, I am thankful for that 1 minute I had to spare before the storm really hit.

(I think you can make the picture bigger if you click on it.)

This is the picture that I took with my phone soon after it was over.  To put it into better context - it is an 18 foot diameter pool - 4 foot high - so you can get an idea on the size of the branches.  The wind also took one of those metal plant hangers that you stick in the ground and bent it until it was touching the ground.  I can't find the camera that I took other pictures with!

So - the rest of the week passed in sort of a blur.  Why is it that when you don't have power the world stops?  My family acted like they couldn't even see during the day - dishes piled up in the sink, dirty towels and clothes were left on the bathroom floor (and there is a skylight in addition to the window in the bathroom - so there was plenty of light!) It drove me crazy!  I was going to bed so early that I would wake up achy because of too much sleep!

I spent the day Wednesday throwing out all the food in our fridge and upright freezer.  I took the opportunity to remove all the shelves and bins and wash everything down.  Considering I don't think I have ever cleaned the freezer part of the fridge, it was time.  I don't think it has been this clean since we bought it! 

I hated losing all the food, but some of it should have been tossed before now.  I have a hard time throwing food out, even if there isn't much of a chance that someone is going to eat it.  Do you ever have stuff in your freezer like that?  Like Jose Ole Taquitos that I am sure I bought for a New Year's Eve finger food night, and only about half got eaten.  They were probably extremely freezer burnt, but you never know when someone will want a stale taquito!  Or a free Market Day Apple Pie that I kept saying I was going to defrost and have for dessert - for at least a year. . .  

The good news is, the power is back - our house was not damaged - nobody was hurt - and my refrigerator is clean!  Now maybe I can get back to catching up on reviews!  I was so far behind before and now it is worse! 

Happy reading everyone!