12/29 Well we have no electricity (and haven't since 5am Sunday), and I'm surprisingly thankful. An interesting word to use when things are so inconvenient. Well... I'm thankful for the woodstove, it was 52 in our house when we got home. We closed all the bedroom doors and slept upstairs in the loft last night. It was a toasty 70 degrees last night after the woodstove warmed up. Although going downstairs (without the fans to circulate the warm air) it was a cool 60 degrees, and then into the master bath to get clothes for the day (a very chilly 47 degrees).
The camp stove was brought upstairs last night & James popped some microwave popcorn over the open flame. The lantern provided some much needed light. It's amazing how a little light can help everything feel better, warmer & more homey. I got the emergency water out & the igloos. Each sink is now equipped with "running" water. Additional water was put in each bathroom to flush the toilets. We blew up the air mattress (thanks to mom & dad for providing a battery operated pump), dragged our blankets upstairs and settled in for the night. We watched last part of The Sound of Music on our 3 inch battery operated television (we're thankful the digital switch hasn't happend yet) & ate our popcorn.
Getting ready this morning was far quicker than it normally is (too cold to stand around). No shower (a quick sponge bath instead), no blowdryer, no curling iron, no tv or radio to distract me. I got ready in 45 minutes this moring & that includes the time it took me to clean out the fridg & freezer. The fridg & freezer stuff got packed into our coolers and put out on the front porch, and put some baking soda in the fridg. I'm thankful it's the middle of the winter and we can utilize the outdoor freezer. Watch out the coolers aren't on the dogs rope (the electric fence doesn't work during a power outage). Make sure the lighters, flashlights, radio & tv are easily accesible in case we get home after dark, and off for the day. The car was parked outside, the garage door doesn't work without power. James had manually opened the door last night and removed my vehicle, he'll remove his when it's needed. We'll have grilled cheese & soup for dinner tonight. If I get real ambitious I can pick up some propane for the grill on the way home & we can have some grilled chicken. Maybe we can get out monopoly tonight & start a marathaon. Why not, they're anticipating we'll be out of power for 4-5 days. You have to do something from 6-10ish to occupy your time.
Update 12/30 We'll we're still without power (as of this morning). I brought home McDonalds for dinner, it's extremely rare we "bring home dinner" instead of making it ourselves. I came home to James & one of the neighbors trying to get our well running off the generator. They were unable to get it going, something was wrong with the 220 side of the generator. We were however able to watch some TV, turn on the fans & enjoy some of the lights being on.
The local news last night said early Monday morning 16,000 people in Livingston County were without power. Because of help from neighboring states that number was down to 8,000 at the end of the day. They anticipate they'll be able to restore most of the power outages today, with the last of them being restored early tomorrow. James and I were pretty excited when we saw 10 DTE trucks driving down the road this morning.
Update 12/31 It was a nice surprise to get home and all the neighbors had their outdoor lights & Christmas lights on. My thoughts "They wouldn't have their Christmas lights on if they were being powered by a generator!!" It was so nice to go home, flip the breaker box on and hear the whir of electricity enter the house. The well kicking on was music to my ears. But... low and behold the furnace wasn't turning on?? Quick, run upstairs and turn the heat up... it's cold in here. Fill the woodstove, check the electric fence for the dog, and off he goes. He ran around the yard for 45 minutes straight after I let him off his rope. He came inside to eat and wanted back outside to run around some more. I could just hear him singing "Free, Free as a bird..." The furnace still wasn't working, huh?? Oh well, a quick shower will warm me up. After the shower I remembered the switch on the side of the furnace. A quick jog downstairs, and a flip of a swith later the furnace was humming along. A quick set of fresh sheets on the bed, the blankets from upstairs were brought downstairs, turn on the electric blanket, brushed my teeth, hop into bed, turn on the tv and wait for James to get home. It was a wonderful day yesterday. It makes me thankful for a number of different things I take for granted every day.
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