Got power?

Thursday I wrote... "the lights are flicking, time to post" at 11:20 p.m. I logged off, finished some stuff up, and went to bed. I didn't shut out the lights, because just as I was about to shut the lights off, all the power went out. So I just went to bed, listening to wind just howling outdoors.

Est. Time, 2 a.m.

'momma' (crash into wall sound) 'moommma' 'light broke momma light it's dark it's so dark'

I grab my flashlight and go into hall to collect my bear. He's in a t-shirt, because my boys are not big on pants, and I grabbed him up and cuddled him up into my bed, where he asked me to turn on some lights. He fell asleep. The wind picks up and I'm thinking 'oh no, there goes the rest of the fence.' I hear things creaking, things howling, things possibly breaking...

Est. time, 4 a.m.

'MOMMMA moommma' that would be Turbo. If Bear feels slightly nervous in the dark, Turbo is terrified of the dark. I grab the flashlight and collect him. Now I've got both boys in my bed. Turbo wanted to have a conversation about the dark.

Note, my daughter, drama, slept like a log through the whole thing. The worst windstorm in more than a decade, and she sleeps through it...

Friday

Est. time, 8 a.m. phone rings, but no one is there, I can't get service anymore. All I can do is send text messages every third attempt. Power still out. I figure, well, (becasue I had no way of hearing news) I'll get in my truck and just go to Starbucks. Pack up all the kids, head out, and realize, wow, all the traffic lights don't work. At all. Go home. Grumbling. NO COFFEE!

Later on, I find out Fred Myer is open and another grocery store, they are on generator power. Based on prior experience of people not being idiots on the road, I head out. Basically, every driver treated the light intersections like four way stops. They were very courteous.

Apparently, Fred Myer is the place to be during a power outage. It was packed. I bought Thomas pajamas for the boys, since they didn't have warm pajamas and it looked like the power would be off for the day and night. They were out of D batteries but that was okay, I already had some.

It's amazing, the human drive to go out and congregate when your creature comforts are taken away. I think we'd be a lot more social as a nation if we had less toys to keep us occupied at home. I mean, people were laughing and chatting and buying canned goods, clothes, Christmas trees, food for grills since nobody could actually use their electric ovens, things like that...

I also picked up some cold dinner goodies. All my refrigerated products were already outside, keeping cool in the freezing cold. Except for my turkey which was hardly likely to defrost in 24 hours.

I spent Friday night in front of our gas fireplace *gas and water worked* with two happily playing toddlers who would occasionally exclaim "Mommy, got to fix the power station" and a very bored ten year old. Ah yes, we relaxed by candlelight. I sent everyone to bed at 8, putting the boys in my bed since there was no way they would willingly go to bed in their dark room with no lights... also, I was afraid if I put them in their beds, they'd kick off the covers. As it was, all night I had to replace the covers over Bear who kept kicking them off.

Happily, power was restored this morning, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people who don't have power, so we're just lucky. Also, while Thursday was a mild night, temperature wise, and Friday wasn't that bad, temperatures today dropped. I could see my breath, and it's supposed to get chillier. It was chilly enough in our house before the temperature dropped! I had my daughter under two blankets and a super warm mink blanket on top of those. The boys were wrapped in their blankets, fleece blankets and my down comforter, in flannel jammies.

When the lights came on, all the children cheered.

Mommy cheered when the coffee pot made it's brewing noises.

I'm considering, when we finally make the move to colorado, of purchasing a generator, and oil lamps... I mean, three kids, no power... no cofee... someone's bound to go insane.

***also, fence not that bad, neighbor says fiance is fixing it, and just needs metal brackets.
***however, in wind storm, gate broke.. bro in law is fixing that, I'm sending him measurements tomorrow.. it just needs a piece of plywood nailed to it and the block of wood with the lock readjusted.

Stupid fence.