Thursday, November 3, 2011

Charades with one flashlight in a chilly living room gets old after the tenth round

Loved how Jillian's face brightened when I walked into her classroom for open house today. That is one of those memorable mommy moments that I'll hold onto for a long time.  After the past few days of crazy weather and power outages, I need that kind of sweet normalcy. 

I couldn't believe the steady big snowflakes coming down as I looked out the church window during my son's Confirmation on Saturday.  The celebration was beautiful and I did get choked up (typical me at those kind of things).  As we clung to each other chilled by this sudden October snowstorm, we were all nervous about road conditions. 

I had all this catered food coming to the house for the party.  Well, everyone ate quickly and rushed to their cars after a short while.  Some of our friends didn't even make it to the party.  We had a lot of leftover food.  About an hour after the last guest left, our power went out. Never a good thing. We had our fingers crossed that the outage wouldn't last long 

By the second day of no power, we were getting stir crazy.  Sitting on the couch trying to keep warm, we dreaded 6 pm when the whole house went dark.  Our creative idea bank ran dry soon enough and we would try to sleep early.  We lost the lights, heat, hot water, telephone, Internet and all the food in the fridge (including $200 worth of the party food.) 

The town was out of operation.  You had to travel to neighboring towns to find supermarkets that were open.  When we would emerge from the house in the morning, I felt like we looked like cave dwellers or walking zombies.  I'm sure that I was a sight.  By the third day, the power came back.  Heat is real good, and lights are much appreciated after that experience.

I had to stop typing just now because I noticed what seems to be hundreds of black birds in my yard's trees.  Geez, please tell me that I'm not living in a Hitchcock movie all of a sudden.  Miss you all.  Blogging Kelly is back and ready to rock and roll :)

24 comments:

glnroz said...

well, everyone is ready for you to be back, lol.. I hate winter, but ya'll have a "bad case" of it. Stay warm

Mari said...

I'm sorry you had to deal with that and lose food too! A few years ago we had a blizzard that left us without power for 4 days. I was never so happy to hear it was back on!

Gerri said...

So sorry you had to deal with that Kelly! I guess that's why we put up with the 115 - 120 degrees in the summer here. We very rarely lose power, and never for three days. My heart goes out to everyone in your town.

Jenners said...

Oh man … I'm sorry you got hit so hard by that freak storm! It was so wrong that it was so early. Who was prepared? No one! And when you had catered food makes it even more awful. Stuff like this makes you appreciate the "basics" like heat and light. Glad you got it back … but I'm sure it wasn't fun.

T Rex Mom said...

What a crazy few days for you and your family. I am glad the confirmation went nicely. And I am very glad the power is back on and things are warming up.

You were missed but glad you are fine.

I love that Miss Jillian was excited to see you at open house.

BECKY said...

I'm still in shock about the freaky snow storm y'all had. (I'm not from the South, but I like to say y'all....it's much better than "you all"...or worse.
So glad you're back to blogging and better yet, have heat and lights! :)

#1Nana said...

I am so not ready for winter. I've started searching the travel sites for good deals to warm, tropical beaches! I'm glad you survived the first storm of the season.

I love your comment about your daughter's face lighting up when she sees you. That's exactly the response I get when I visit my granddaughters and pick the oldest up at school. She just beams when she sees me and I feel like a million bucks!

Valerie said...

Our television covered your problems, Kelly, and I thought about you all the time. I'm so sorry you had to face such hardship, at a crucial time as well. I'm not sure how I would cope in similar circumstances. Thank goodness the celebration could take place. I know how you felt there, too. Choked up is something I DO know about. Fingers crossed that from hereonin the weather behaves itself. Sending hugs ... just in case.

Unknown said...

no power for 2 days...ack! I am in awe of your survival skills. On the upside, you got to share some beautiful moments with the kiddos.

jewels in the garden +: ) said...

I can't imagine no power for that long. You still had some good stuff going on though. Isn't that just like life... a mixture of good and bad! You weathered it well!

Ken Devine said...

The weather has been so good here that I was a little surprised to hear of your weather and power problems.

What a shame about the lost food.

It seems that you have taken everything in your stride...as usual!

Hope Hitchcock didn't hang around and that everything is warm, rosy and happy at the moment.

Vicky said...

Wow, and with a huge story to tell! None of you will ever forget your son's confirmation :) Anything over a few hours without electricity is truly a hardship to endure- especially with kids. So glad you are on the other side of it and hopefully the birds will dissipate and leave Hitchcock in the dark!

So good to have you back Kelly!!

H.K. said...

Hi Kelly! Missed you! I'm so glad that your power went on and congrats on your son's confirmation. It's good to see you in great spirits despite the power outage.

Melissa Ann Goodwin said...

That part where it gets dark but it's only 6pm and there is no TV or ....anything...is definitely the worst. Do you curl up and go to sleep at 6:30?? I lived through the ice storm in Maine back in .....well, it was before 2000... anyway we went 9 days without power. The house had a wood stove, but still...Your writing is so descriptive, I love it!

Gerri said...

Yay for power and positive attitudes. :) Welcome back my friend!!

Unknown said...

So sorry you've had to go through all that. Being without power is the worst and I know we would go stir crazy. Hope things are back to normal.

Michelle said...

Yikes! I've heard so many stories of the storm and how long it's taking to get everything restored to normal. Boo on the loss of the food. Ironic that it's caused by the snow and you can't keep it cold. Here's hoping this week is SO much smoother.

kisatrtle said...

Ugh...((hugs))

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

All behind with my commenting due to editing my new book.

Enjoyed your post, quite a time without power.
Hope all is well.
Yvonne.

Randi said...

SO sorry to hear about the loss of power and especially the food! I remember during our last power outage (during the summer, luckily) my son said that the pilgrims must have been bored all the time with no power. It is so hard to keep kids occupied with no power these days. Do you have a fireplace or a wood-burning stove?

My mom watched The Birds when I was seven and I kept peeking and getting freaked out. Some scenes haunt me to this day!

I'm glad you got through your son's confirmation before the power outage hit. Congratulations on the big day!

Mandy said...

Oh Kelly how I've missed you! Your blog looks so different than my last visit here, which sadly is so long ago. I hope to be by more often now. I love hearing your stories and keeping up with your beautiful words. I hope you and the family are doing well!
Best wishes,
Mandy
of
www.mandylifeafter30.com

Kim said...

I can't believe this. We got a bit of snow last night but not much. I can imagine beautiful Jillian's little face when her mama walked in. I love that image! Hugs and hugs and hugs my dear friend.

Robyn Campbell said...

Hitchcock! Wasn't he the coolest? Oh man. I miss you Kel.I am thankful that you made it through. Covering you like a blanket in prayer. I heart you.

Christy said...

Wow! How did I miss this post? I am so glad your power is back on. That is NO fun. Every fall we get thousands of birds in our trees for one day. It is so creepy.