Apologies for the “He-Man” reference, but that is just how excited I am to finally have my electricity back.
Lesson learned: the next time we have some sort of weather crisis, I apparently just need to get my sister on a plane. I’m not kidding, five minutes before she got to our house, the utility crews showed up on our street. Nine days with no electricity, and they finally got to our neighborhood.
To give you an idea of just how “in the boonies” we really are: our utility company’s website bragged this morning that they had successfully restored power to 96% of the people who lost power from the windstorm. We’re the last four percent, folks. That’s just pathetic.
After she got here, T and I walked up and down the street handing out York peppermint patties to all of the workers. Don’t laugh, it’s all I had. Everything in my fridge and freezer is trashed, and that is literally the only “festive holiday treat” that I had in the house. I offered to go down the street to fetch Starbucks for all of them, but they said they were fine.
An hour or so later, the utility truck was in our driveway. I asked the foreman how much longer until we had our power back, and he said that he estimated about an hour or so. I almost burst into tears of joy. Instead, I just hugged him. No kidding. My sister went back inside to warn Dave that I was hugging random utility workers. Dave promptly came out to restrain me and bring me back in the house.
Sure enough, about an hour later, our entire neighborhood had their electricity turned back on.
I would try to think of a way to describe exactly how happy this makes me, or something profound about how I learned that I am a stronger person than I thought I was by surviving this way for over a week (and pregnant! Bonus suffering points for pregnant!). But honestly, it just occurred to me that I can finally take a shower in a bathroom with working lightbulbs – as opposed to candles – so I’m afraid that I am outta here.
Hope y’all have a lovely, warm, well-illuminated Christmas.
Hooray for power! I’ve done a week without power (with a 9-month-old in cloth diapers) and it ain’t fun.
Have your sister or Dave chuck all the food in the fridge and freezer so you don’t cry (also so you don’t have to smell it) and maybe you can even get your family to help fill it again while they’re there.
Happy Christmas. 🙂 Enjoy the magic of electricity.
Wonderful! We’re glad to hear that power is back.
We’ve gone through many of the things you’ve seen in the last week, although not all at once or for as long. I could imagine… but I don’t want to.
Merry Christmas to the Buchees and Wilkinsons!
Oh, I cleaned out the indoor fridge and freezer the first day back from the hotel. It made me feel better. Not only has it all been trashed, but I took advantage of the excuse to thoroughly scrub out the inside of my fridge. (And good lord, I don’t remember when the last time was that I cleaned under those crisper drawers, but that was GROSS.) Now it’s all sparkly and white and patiently waiting to be refilled.
The stuff in the garage freezer (my little treasure chest) is going to be Dave’s job. I just don’t think I can handle the heartbreak of it.
YAY! Merry Christmas and Happy Electric Lights! And kudos to you for not offering the power-workers your firstborn child.
You didn’t, did you?