Okay, so the first day (Tuesday) wasn't so bad. The snow and sleet fell fast and furious, but hubby and I were snug as two bugs in a rug, fully stocked fridge, and truthfully ready for a day or two away from our offices. I was even able to finish a little stitching. Then, the power went out. Enter the director of "Lemony Snicket" and a series of one unfortunate event after another. I'm not sure if it sleeted more than it snowed or if it snowed more than it sleeted, but the end result was the worst winter storm we've seen since the blizzard of '93! I'm sure everyone East of the Mississippi has had either a taste or a heap of the storm system that just moved through and I am certainly praying for anyone still without power or separated from their homes.
Now, back to me. I'll condense this for ya.
Hubby tried for three straight days and nights to keep fires burning in the fireplaces, in an effort to keep the internal temperture of the house above freezing. It was 3:30 am Thursday when he brought in the last load of firewood. It was give up time. By this point in the game, the roads were more like a hockey rink than a road. And the temp in the house was hoovering around 40, but dropping fast. Flash forward several hours, after lots of ice chipping and scraping and sweating and the mandatory heart attack prevention breaks, the hubby, the d.o.g. and I piled up in the only vehicle we had tire chains for and prayed our way up the driveway and down the scariest hill you EVER laid eyes on. (thank you Jesus!)
We headed over to his mother's house. She is a wonderful person who has been nothing but good to me, however, her house is so small you have to go outside to turn around. And, did I mention, there are three of us in this marriage? Me + hubby + d.o.g. I'm not calling names, but you've seen her, Petite is one thing she has never been accused of. Oh, did I also mention that hubby's brother and SIL arrived from Texas for their semi-annual visit on Thursday? So in this tiny (albeit warm) little house, we have MIL, BIL, SIL, hubby, d.o.g. and me. Now before you think me ungrateful, I am not ungrateful. I am deeply thankful for the light and heat, but did I mention that her hot water heater died sometime before I got thawed out, naked and in her shower? Oh yeah. I got about 60 seconds of warm warm before it turned to ice water. That's right. Now, did I tell you that my mother-in-law is 92 years old and deaf as a stone? So, there I am, naked, soppin' wet, politely screaming at the top of my lungs, "Nana, do you have the hot water heater turned off?", but do you think she heard me, no. Everyone else was outside shoveling. So, there I sat on a broken toilet seat, frozen, again, dripping wet from head to toe, in this broom closet of a bathroom with a tea towel for warmth regretting the day I let her talk me out of replacing all of her bath towels because she didn't want the big electric bill for washing and drying those big, thick, fluffy, Turkish-ly wonderful towels I cornered at a Macy's sale. No, she said, didn't want 'em, and I let her get away with it.
I got 'em, you bet I got 'em and they were neatly folded in my 20 degrees warm linen closet back home! AAARRRRRggggggggg! Okay, gather self. I can do this.
Warning, this is the part of the story where I'm really going to sound like an ingrate.
I won't even explore the virtues of the pillows and sheets she bought in 1942 (not making this up). However, hubby, dog and I will sleep in a bed that might be one of those "super singles"? Ever heard of these? Just a little bigger than a single. Considering we've spent the last two days tettering on hypothermia, sharing a small bed isn't the worst thing in the world. No, not at all. Hell, we've vacationed in Europe, we are experienced small bed sleepers, but, did I mention this very small bed had been mechanically and permanently altered to be on a 30 degree incline? Yep, that's right. MIL heard on the T.V. that it was good to sleep with your head elevated so she called in the carpenters. Must work (she is 92 years old). And the walls in this small but warm house, paper thin. Not only did I hear every snore, wheeze and whine from everyone in the house, I also heard the NEIGHBOR snoring. I am not making this up. At this point, the dog sat up straight in the bed and looked me in the eye. I heard her loud and clear. "Seriously?!!??!!" she was saying. I know, we are all
spoiled rotten little creatures of comfort and all, but COME ON!!!! My mantra, it's warm here, it's warm here, it's warm here.
It was Friday before hubby and I realized we hadn't eaten an actual meal for awhile. I had had my last dose of caffeine on Monday. That's right. Can we say cranky? So, we tried to do what we could to repair things at MIL's that needed repaired (hot water heater, broken toilet seat, drippy faucettes, etc) as well as eat a couple of warm meals while trying not to count the ticks of the second hand. Then the news came that it could be Sunday before we got power restored.
NNNNNNOOOOoooooooo!
Okay, more gathering. Let's do what every lost soul does when all else fails, GO TO WAL-MART! Oh, but
guess what? It was welfare check day. Ha! PERFECT! Kill me now.
Wrap up: praise God, praise God, the power was restored around 2:30 pm today. I ventured home (still on an ice rink) shortly thereafter. Hubby decided to stay at MIL's a bit longer to rest up from our ordeal. Gladly, with a song in my heart, I shoveled the driveway for a couple of hours in order to safely drive into the garage and begin the ugliness of cleaning out the fridge/freezer.
Tomorrow's agenda: long, hot shower; more Wal-mart shopping to restock all things lost; cook piping hot pot of chili and cheesy chive bread; lots of celebrating around our walking, talking 60" big screen tv as the Steelers lay it to the Cardinals; and more praising God for electricity.
Oh, what's that? I think I hear my bed calling, friends. Sorry, I'm going to need to take this call.
