Lots of family calls and I think they think we are CRAZY for staying here and not leaving. And to be honest a few times I have thought about it. Then I also think, what good is that gonna do us? Time to put on my big girl panties and just be prepared.
Saturday 8/27- Starting to rain, keeps raining. I spend 3 hours getting the basement ready and everything down there that I don't want to lose. I keep telling myself and Buddy- take down what you think you want in case a tornado spawns off this thing and takes the top part of the house. Basement fills up pretty quickly after that.
My neighbor is so great, he brought over some sand bags for the basement door and will let me plug up to his generator for the fridge when we lose power.
Lunch time- Pizza rolls...don't know how long we will be without power, might as well treat ourselves. Now to sit and empty out the DVR until the power goes out.
7:40pm, lost power and lost 3g network on cell phone. I can call and text people, but no FB...how sad. Damn you Irene. Time to move to the basement and watch the trees sway and enjoy a glass of cognac.
Command Central
I am pretty sure those trees aren't supposed to bend like that. Buddy is pretty anxious and wants me to close the door. He goes to bed at 8:30. I think this is in his head a bit and he may be a bit nervous. 9:30 I too head to bed, what will be will be. And if I am asleep when I die, will I know it is happening? Hearing a lot of booms and cracks from trees.
Sunday 8/28- 7:20 am. Look out back, green leaves and small limbs everywhere, doesn't look like we lost any trees. Go out the front door, one of the front yard trees is on the neighbors roof. Not sure the etiquette on this one. Another neighbor has 2 trees on his garage and house. 2 trees are blocking our way out. People are starting to come out and inspect the damages. There are trees down everywhere. We are not talking broken off at the top, we mean uprooted. Power lines are down on the roads, houses have holes in them. Can this be for real?
My tree on the neighbors house
When this happens you notice people's attitudes change. They start being polite and helping one another. Some people starting driving around and cutting up the trees that were blocking roadways just so we could get out. It was awesome.
Neighbor's tree that took out 3 other trees when it went down
Buddy and I ventured out to see other places and in hopes there was a place open for coffee and food. Wasn't quite in the mind set to start campfire living.
Umm..not sure boat should be there...
Low and behold Chipotle was opening up. Nothing helps like a good burrito.
We came home and started moving things back upstairs. We will try to live our lives as normal as possible. Hopefully it won't last too long. Thankfully I have plenty of books. Oh and there's still some hot water left to take a small bath.
When it starts getting dark we will play Uno until bedtime. It' not so bad. For us at least.
Monday 8/29- Woke up to the sound of generators and chainsaws. This is going to keep people busy for awhile. Saw more of the devastation while driving to the chiropractors office. I think part of me expected it to be like Disney world and each morning everything is pristine and ready to go. And although I expected some of it and to be without power you just don't know how to grasp it until it sinks in. This is not Disney world, its not okay. Some people lost almost everything. Schools is out, Buddy's football practice is canceled. We are just going to start dealing with it. Made banana bread on the grill.
Tuesday 8/30- So this is reality. Driving to Starbucks for coffee (friends don't let friends drink Starbucks). Watching Corbin ride his bike around the neighborhood. Sitting outside to read. At least the weather is nice. Cooking on the grill. Made a good chicken lentil soup in my cast iron dutch oven.
This is the time when I reflect on what I learned as a child. You deal with the hand you have been given. No it's not easy, but what choice do you have? Today is a good day. I have my family, my dog, and my child. We are good. This..This is only temporary. If I don't do it, my son will never learn to do it and I don't want that. At least he will have a one hour conditioning practice tonight. A little more normalcy. Still some hot water left for another bath. That helps a little too. Uno doesn't work so well at night. Hard to distinguish between blue and green. We have switched over to Sorry.
Wednesday 8/31- Off to Starbucks and the Chiropractor. Still no power. Radio is spreading lies and saying our county will be back on line Thursday. I don't believe it. I know there are hundreds of crews working, but we have 3 counties right here that were hit hard. Trying to remember patience is a virtue. Someone has to be first and someone has to be last. Buddy is anxious to get back to school. Also doing the hokey pokey while taking cold showers. Damn you Irene. I need a beer, going to the Mexican place for dinner. I am enjoying no TV while Buddy and I play Sorry at night. I will miss this.
Thursday 9/1- School is back in session today! At least Buddy will have something to do and help occupy his time. And man am I in a funk today. Guess even though I didn't believe it I wanted the power back on today. I want a hot shower. And I went to the gross laundromat today. God I hate that place. This is only temporary....After football practice, I think I need another beer. Going to the Ruddy for dinner. And a little reading by flashlight.
Friday 9/2 - The British are coming, The British are coming. No they are not silly it just the power guys! Just the sight of them is exciting. To know it will be soon. Granted there is still a lot of clean up left to do, but given some personal comfort is great. As of 10 am, we have power. Now I can quit hokey poking around and take a nice long HOT shower and get me some Internet time.
We made it. Will we have to do it again? Probably but hopefully it will be from my solar powered dome.
I did forget to mention I had some damage. To me it hit hard as I had not even read 3 pages of it.
