Gratefulness, Unplugged

Last Monday began slowly, no school for MLK Day.  The night before we got home around 10pm from our 19 hour car ride (straight through), the slower day meant for an easier adjustment back home.

The fatigue from the day before, (and Disneyland's running and standing for 6 days straight), had set in and I had a hard time being productive with unpacking and laundry.  To their delight, I chose to simply hang out with the boys with undivided attention instead.

I wish I had known what the rest of the week would hold so that I would have been better prepared, however.

Tuesday the snow began.  Thankfully, in anticipation of the big storm expected to hit our area, my sweetheart worked from home.

The overall projection was 20 inches of snow.  We were excited and the boys eyes grew large with anticipation as I luged out the big storage tub containing all their snow clothes.

It almost seemed unreal that a couple days before that we had been at Disneyland in the 70's and low 80's!

During the baby's nap time, the boys headed out to play, (and even got Daddy to take a break from work to build a snow fort!).  The smiles and delight seemed as though it was a continuation of our incredible time at Disneyland.  It was a wonderful day.

Wednesday it snowed.  A LOT.  I think we did receive about 20 inches when all was said and done.

Thursday the freezing rain set in.  It was 27 degrees and yet chunks of ice were being hurled from the sky.  At 7:45 am the lights flickered off and on then off again for the next several days.

5 years ago we had a big windstorm that knocked out our power for 6 1/2 days, ever since then we assume that it may not be a quick fix.

The boys woke and were informed that we did not have power and that although it looked like fun to continue building their snow fort, we need to limit opening and closing the doors to the outside to keep the subfreezing temps outside, for that temperature was not exactly welcome in our house without a heater.

With the staggering number of houses without power, our state was declared in a "State of Emergency".  The damage was all over and some spots were in hard to reach places only found by helicopter.

We packed up what we could from the fridge and freezer and put it in coolers with some chunks of snow to keep it chilled.  Snow and ice was plentiful!

Thankfully, my in-laws had power in their neck of the woods and were able to help out with our food in their freezer and fridge too.  Sadly, my father-in-law was really sick.  We did not want to partake on the illness as well so we kept our distance there.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent indoors with the power off.  The boys could not exactly play in the ice and the fact that sheets of ice came flying off our roof periodically did not seem appealing either.

I wanted to remain vigilant at home, just in case the power should come on.  After all, laundry and dishes were piling up and beaconing to be attacked.  (Not to mention the many suitcases from our trip that needed to be unpacked!)

However,

3 active boys.

Inside.

All day.

With no power.

Their restlessness seemed almost more challenging than the actual power being off.

And the darkness both day and night was unsettling.  Lack of light, natural or artificial can get me down.

Friday night and all day Saturday the high winds kicked in.  The trees that weren't broken from the large amounts of snow, then ice added, were put to the next test of strong gusts of wind.

We were sad to lose our favorite magnolia tree to the heavy snow and freezing rain (split it in half!) that had grown so well over the past few years.  We were so excited to finally able to enjoy it both in our family room and our master bed room on the second floor.  However, as we finally got out on Saturday, we saw that we got off quite lucky compared to so many in our community.

As of Saturday morning, news was that it may be until Tuesday (today) before power could be restored to us.

(I brought over 4 trash bags full of laundry to my in-law's and a friend's house.  I spent the afternoon running back and forth to get all the loads completed.  Think: laundry that I did not get to before the trip, some from the trip and then all of last week's laundry!)

Thankfully, we did not have to wait until today!  To our unbelievable relief, Saturday evening the power was restored to our area!!

Praise the Lord, POWER restored!  I could not stop the praises from coming!  From the moment I started up our first load of laundry to flipping every light switch on and having LIGHT come, I have a whole new appreciation for these things of luxury we've come to expect.

Although last week was very trying, the amazing week at Disneyland (not to mention SUNSHINE!) that we experienced allowed us to be a lot more flexible to roll with the punches.

And, our little fireplace, although intended for decorative purposes, kept our house at a livable temp!  THAT alone made everything more bearable.

Once again, it's in the valleys of life that I was able to learn how much we DO have to be thankful for.

I would not have chosen this particular lesson on gratefulness, but it's an awesome reminder to never take anything in life for granted.