I'm sitting here at my computer. The sun is blinding me. Everything is back to normal finally. Our power was restored last night at 8:00. To say that the last week was eventful is an understatement. There wasn't a shred of normal to be found. First the weird earthquake experience and then a hurricane...in ONE WEEK! Too weird. Oh and to make things a little worse Honey threw his back out. He was in so much pain...when it rains it pours right??
The hurricane was like a severe Midwest thunderstorm minus the thunder, but it lasted a whole lot longer. We started Sat. morning with rain and a little wind and then by the afternoon the rain was pelting and the wind was gusting. The gusts were the scariest part. Of course our house is surrounded by trees, so our biggest concern was tree damage. Our noses were pressed to the windows...our breath held anticipating the worst...praying for the best. The trees swirled and danced. It was really strange. Never saw trees blow in every direction all at once.
After the storm blew over we took to our car to survey the damage. We had none...praise GOD! Our woodsy neighbors were not so lucky. It was evident the power wasn't coming back anytime soon.
We are so reliant on electricity. It's sad to say, but without it we felt powerless too. We did absolutely NOTHING for 3 days. We layed around lethargic and a little grouchy. The girls did splendidly in entertaining themselves...thank heavens. Honey and I bought a ton of magazines and vegged our brains. We stared at the walls. We ate junk food. We played games.
In that aspect it was fun. It made us come to a stand still. It made us stop and slow down. How often do we do that? We went to bed at 8:30...slept to the sound of tree frogs and crickets. We never do that! Our windows are never open, because I have allergies. We have noisemakers on at night to help us sleep. I have to say it was refreshing sleeping with a slight breeze, absolutely no covers on...only critters and a distant humming of a generator to help us fall and stay asleep.
We lost all of our food. Ate way too many pretzels and poptarts. About day two in I decided to weigh myself. Not a good idea. I've gained 14 pounds since April!!! Ugh. It makes me so mad at myself. Stress makes me turn to food and not care about what I eat...I have to focus so hard to make right choices. It's just not easy. But I've made up my mind to start paying attention...to flip that switch. So from that minute on I chose to drink protein powder shakes and zone bars instead of poptarts;)
Last night we found a generator. Felt like we hit the lotto to have gotten one before they were sold out again. When we drove back into our neighborhood the street lights were on! Isn't that hilarious?? We ran into the house ecstatic to see light...to feel air conditioning. It was a very grateful moment. I don't think any of us will flip on a light switch or open the refrigerator door without saying a little prayer of thanks for a while. And that's a good thing. Sometimes we need a wake up call. Something to make us stop and appreciate what we have and to remind us of how truly blessed we are.
Have a blessed day.
40. hot coffee
41. a washer and dryer
42. blow dryer
43. air conditioning
44. television
45. refrigerated food
46. cool sheets
47. honey went back to work today.
48. toast
