15 Days

That's how long we were without power. 15 days. 15 days of dark nights and barely there mornings. 15 days of tripping over the obstacle course of extension cords, hearing the constant hum of fans and the incessant roar of the generator (and everyone else's on the street too). 15 days of dinner by candlelight, paper plates, and creative cooking on the gas range or the grill outside. 15 days of waiting, praying, crying, (and yes, sometimes cursing) the fact that we rely on electricity for EVERYTHING, and knowing there was nothing we could do about it. All we could do was wait, and hope the power company hadn't forgotten about us, and knew our entire neighborhood had power except for our street and the cul-du-sac one block over.

Finally, around 4:50 this afternoon, I was in our bedroom, about to walk into the bathroom, and I saw the lights flicker. I yelled at David, "Did you see that???" Of course, he hadn't. I was praying under my breath, holding my breath...and then the lights came on, and stayed on. I ran outside and heard my neighbor Jay whooping and cheering. I saw his wife and yelled, "Hey Casey, where's my margarita?" I'd told Casey earlier this week we were going to have a block party when we got power again, and she said she'd make margaritas. I had said, "Okay, make one pitcher for me, and one pitcher for everyone else..."

David and I then went around the house, collected all the extension cords, fans, and power stripes we'd been using, closed the windows and best of all, TURNED ON THE AIR CONDITIONING. I never thought I'd love the sound of the AC turning on so much in my whole life. Right now, the house feels great. Can you believe we used all this to run the fridge, deep freezer, phone, computer, 3 fans, and a couple of lamps off the generator (and there was MORE outside!)?

I can't wait to cook and BAKE tomorrow! I asked the kids what they wanted, and of course they said, PIZZA. I have to say I was pleased when they said they wanted me to make it, not order it out. (Yes, I had a warm fuzzy!) Oh, and a cherry chocolate cake. Definitely :-)

I am still in awe-- when I hit a light switch, the lights come on. I'd actually forgotten what that was like. I keep thinking about that bible quote, "...and God said, let there be light." Never has that had more meaning that today. I feel like we are not living in the darkness anymore... we are living, breathing, and staying in the light.

(Oh, did I tell you my Eagle Scout husband needed help with the manual can opener? He just couldn't figure it out. I couldn't believe it when he asked me to open his can of fruit last week; the man who can fix anything was stumped. I promised him I'd raze him on my blog ;-)