Our Five Ring Circus: When The Lights Go Out...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

When The Lights Go Out...

Yesterday started off as a typical weekday.

Normal:

*Wake up early to babysit.
*Get kids food and drinks 560,000 times a day.
*Clean.
*Get kids dressed and send Dylan off to school.
*Indulge in some nesting and reorganize my dresser drawers just because I'll go insane if I don't.
*Get critiqued by a little girl in a laundry basket while walking on the treadmill.

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*Start to pack an overnight bag, as my OB suggested, just in case I have to go to the hospital for preterm labor.
*Clean some more. (Does it ever end?)
*Run around like a maniac during the after-school rush. Give snacks, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up, prepare for baseball.
*Run around even more, searching for a lost baseball hat.
*Go to a baseball game and find said hat that D lost.
*Try to watch Dylan play baseball while entertaining a bored 4-year-old.

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*Hike to a port-a-potty, only to find it a disgusting mess. Search for a private spot for Lexie to squat in the grass.
*Watch Dylan get hit in chest with the baseball, knocking the wind out of him. Dylan looks shocked, then lets out a scared, "Mommy!!!!" while walking away from home plate. Daddy and coaches check on him, and Dylan returns to plate and hits a single seconds later!
*Try to hide the tears that may have leaked from my eyes.
*Dylan is super excited to get the game ball for his bravery!

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*Drive home and mentally prepare for the it's-past-bedtime-and-kids-need-to-go-to-bed-now rush.
*Hit the garage door opener, and realize that the power is out.

Normal ends:

*Realize that there is, indeed, no power. Unable to open refrigerator for snacks/drink, take baths, and brush teeth.
*Kids think this is neat. Put Lexie to bed. Read Dylan's book on the front porch, because it's dark in the house. Put Dylan to bed, with his game ball.

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*Find out that it's a major power outage affecting 45,000 people, and it's going to be a while before the lights come back on.
*Get frustrated because we've watched entire seasons of American Idol and Glee, and are now missing the biggest night of Idol and the Glee finale. Bummer.
*Find out the numbers, and vote for our favorite.
*Kick back on the couch with my kindle, and read an entire book with my super bright LED book light while the hubs reads a book by candlelight. iPod is on in the background.
*Realize that this is why people had so many babies before electricity was invented.
*We are bored.
*We are hungry. Drink warm bottled water and unhealthy snacks.
*Hope that electricity comes back on soon so our food doesn't spoil.
*Give up around 11:30 at night, and head to bed.
*Realize that it really could be much, much worse. At least we're safe, healthy, and alive.
*Fall asleep, and wake up to blinding light. Power is restored!

That was the longest our power has ever been out. It was definitely an interesting night. Although I don't wish to repeat it, I realize just how fortunate we are!

16 comments:

  1. I'm glad that your power is back on! I'm learning that minor inconveniences before kids are a much bigger these days :) That's awesome that they gave Dylan the ball - he looks so proud!

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  2. LOL at people having lots of kids before electricity:) Dylan looks so proud of that game ball!

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  3. we were actually at walmart last night just as the power went out. the store went black...sofia went hysterical and cried for her pillow pet...lol. then everyone rushed out of the store and into an empty lot all the cars were going out. For once there were parking spots close to the front of the store...lol! all the stores and restaurants were black in cranberry the traffic lights were down. It was WEIRD! like a strange moment in time. It was like God said, "everyone stop shopping and spending money" LOL.

    our home was not affected though since we live out in beaver county.

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  4. I LOL'ed at hte "realize this is why people had so many babies" :)

    Our power was out for 4 days a few years ago when a bad ice storm hit. It was NO BUENO... we had to find a place to store our 2 deer and 1 cow processed meat from our freezers. Plus I was pregnant with Brayden, so that was NO fun.

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  5. Oh no, although I am sure mine would think it was fun too! Cute pics!

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  6. Great post. Love that you read books on the front porch. What is going on around the country is so scary. So glad you guys are ok!

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  7. We have lost power three times in the last month and a half. And all three times it has never been because of a storm but simply high winds. It's AMAZING the things we take for granted.

    Today was the third time and I almost lost a turkey breast that was cooking in the crock pot. Luckily, it was toward the tail end of its cooking time and the power was out only about an hour so it didn't sit too long.

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  8. Wow. As if your "normal" days aren't crazy enough. I'm so glad Dylan was OK after getting hit by that ball! And you're right, it could always be worse, but I have learned not to ask what can possibly happen next? ;-)

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  9. power outages are the craziest * * HUGS * * exhausted just reading bout' ur evening ~ looks like an awesome game though * *

    ps. glad the juice is up & running!!! ey yi yi ~ ~

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  10. Now I have to know what booklight you use! You've been sooooo busy. I guess it's good to get it all in now while you can!

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  11. This is a great post! I do not like when the power goes out. Last summer we had a few power outages. Love the pictures! I hope you are doing great!

    Mama Hen

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  12. Glad the power came back on! In some recent storms here we were without power for about three days...It was tough! But it made me think about all those who lost everything in theses bad storms and really put it in perspective!

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  13. I hate losing power. I almost hate to say it, but we've only lost power once (for any significant period of time) in the almost 8 years that we've lived at our house.

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  14. Isn't it amazing that the power can be out but you are still listening to music and reading an electronic book! LOL Loved the laundry basket comment. :)

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  15. awww! didnt realize that we are still lucky when we lost power because brownouts are a bit common here but good thing, we can still open some things like fridge.

    Oh and I agree with you on this line: *Realize that this is why people had so many babies before electricity was invented." LOL!

    have a great weekend Stef!
    hugs!

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  16. I just recently came across your blog & wanted to say hello! I love this post (& I'm so glad everyone was ok in the storms. Haven't they been so scary?!) Luckily we didn't lose power yesterday. But I love that comment about realizing "why so people had so many babies before electricity". Hilarious!

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