Irene Wins

During the storm, we jinxed ourselves.  Pretty badly.  I made fun of "Big I" and asked her if that was all she had for us.  We managed to drive through town, take pictures of the downed trees and wires, publish a blog post and feed and bathe the kids all before the power went out at 7pm on Sunday night ~ well after the storm had passed.

We then heard that power may not be restored for 3-5 days.  What?  My brother called and asked if that was a joke.

Apparently not.  I couldn't hack it with 3 kids who didn't understand why the t.v. wouldn't turn on.  We didn't last long in the land of no power.  Tillerman and Tillerwoman called bright and early on Monday morning while I was out on a "look at what Irene did" tour of our town.  Holy smokes.

I had to drive to the next town over to find a Dunks that was open.  Almost crashed the Traverse trying to finagle my way to the drive-thru!  We got the last chocolate munchkin and donuts were completely sold out.  It was a mad house.

We went back to the house to gather up some clothes for what we thought would be an overnight to Tiverton, RI.  Just kidding, you'll be sleeping there and commuting to work for the next 3 nights.

I tried to keep it positive.  At least it was summer and we didn't need heat.  We are so lucky to have relatives close by that we could rely on for good food and lots of light and stellar baby-sitting.  I was happy about the super close Dunks location and hot showers each day before work.  But boy, do I remember how much I hate commuting.

Work was fun.  But with each passing day without power, I became grumpier and grumpier.  I began to obsessively check the National Grid outage map for any clue as to when we might regain power.  Information was hard to come by.  When we heard Patriot Place was back up and running on Tuesday, we were hopeful.  The wait continued.

Today, I was hopeful.  I knew Dad was with me on all those drives on route 24 because I must have seen about 15 A. Duie Pyle trailer trucks on the road.  They always made dad laugh and remind me that he's watching out for me.  So power must be on its way.  For sure.

So after 3 nights and no promise of power, I gathered up our stuff and my 3 kids and took them back to the Land of No Power.  On the way, every house was lit up.  I pointed out the window screaming "LIGHTS ARE ON!"  to Emily and Aidan.  They were with me.  They believed.

As we pulled up to 4 Standish I was ready.  I stalled and got the mail out of the mailbox.  I pushed the garage door opener....but it only opened under its ssssslllllllllllloooooooooowwwwwww battery back-up.  Are you kidding me?  90 + hours and still nothing? All my other friends were getting it back, why not us?

I was getting depressed.  What if it's not until Saturday?  Why did we come home?  What was I thinking?  What about the milk that's getting warm?  I quickly got on Facebook and asked if anyone had any ice to spare.

Tick, tick, tick.  We played outside for a while and I put the baby to bed.  My mind wandered.  What if it's another few days?  "I hate National Grid!"

I went into the garage and stared at the overhead light connected to the garage door opener.  It's always on.  Just come on.  Please come on.  I started to stare at it and chant in my head, "Please come on NOW, please come on NOW, please come on NOW..."  And then I said to myself, this is ridiculous.  This is worse than watching paint dry. But just as I thought that...BINGO...on came that little garage light and all that wonderful basement noise!!!!  I went nuts and scared my five year old with all my screaming and hollering.  POWER!  Thank you Jesus!  After 94 hours, I was ready.

Yes, Irene, you got the last laugh.  It was rough.  94 hours is a long time.  I feel like throwing a Power Party.  I'm a happy girl tonight.  It's amazing what a little electricity can do for the soul.

My bare necessities.  My clean fridge.  Aidan keeps asking,  "What happened to our food?"