Power Appreciation Day

There’s something to be said for turning off the tv for a day and see what kind of family fun you can have.  But having no power during a snow storm and no sign of repair in sight gives a new meaning to “appreciation”.

I love this cool candlelit pic of my hubby. 

On Wednesday night we had thunder and lighting during our snowstorm.  Thunder snow is pretty cool to watch.  We had the fireplace blazing. My daughter popped a movie in the dvd player and my husband had just put the oil and popcorn in a pan on the stove when darkness came.  It didn’t even warn us with a flicker.  Just OUT “like a light”.  : )    We stoked up the fire, got settled down with blankets and went to sleep assuming it would be back on sometime during the night or early morning.

After 12 hours we were told it may be another 48 hours until power was to be restored.  It did only last about 26 hours.  Was back on for 10 hours and back off again for about 6 hours the next day.  This time has provided some interesting lessons for our family.  While this event is still fresh in my mind this winter, I will refer back to this list to prepare for next winter’s storm effects.

First of all, it’s good to know where the flashlights and candles are.    Our son is a big fan of flashlights and we have many.  Some cools ones that have several light and red glow settings.  They come in handy for finding the matches for the candles.  Check out my favorite one.

A fireplace and stockpile of wood is a blessing and we would have been very cold without it.  (Our neighbor’s house temperature without a fireplace was in the 40s)  It’s good to have wood stacked ahead of time close to the house with minimal effort to bring it in.  We did run out on the porch and had to shovel a path to our woodpile but we got more stacked close to the door and were able to feed the fire easily.

A 2^nd heat source was a borrowed kerosene heater.  We used it several times to take the chill out of the room when the fire had died out while we were sleeping or away from the house for a bit.

A gas grill with a side burner was very handy to boil water for hot drinks and dish washing and to heat soup.  We could have cooked more meals there if needed.  We were plowed early so taking the car out to get prepared food and coffee was not an issue.  I just thought it was a cool idea to use it.  We will keep our propane gas tanks filled for the next event, should we need it.

Speaking of gas tanks, keeping your vehicles full is a good idea.  It would be good to keep warm, should there be no other heat source.  While my husband and daughter shoveled snow, they turned on the vehicles and charged our gadgets.  We have several with cigarette lighter adapters for chargers and a power inverter that we can actually plug something into.  While this wasn’t necessary for survival this time around.  It sure was nice to have them and our cell phones were needed because we don’t have a landline.

We put our refrigerated food in coolers on the porch with the lids up in the daytime for the cold air and down at night to keep out the freezing air.  This allowed me the opportunity to clean out the empty fridge.  I’m a big fan of a neat and clean fridge.  : )  The freezers began to thaw a little but the food never thawed.  The ice cubes and ice cream sticks got soft but nothing was lost.  There was plenty of snow available to use as ice should the food have begun to thaw.

We were happy with how calm our kids remained during this time.  One is at college and unaware of the entire event.  The others actually had fun.  They said they enjoyed being together as a family and sleeping in the living room by the fireplace.  (They did watch movies on a freshly charged laptop – we weren’t really roughing it.)  We were never in danger; maybe a little inconvenienced but always safe and warm and together.  We enjoyed the views that the beautiful snow provided.

I was content to have fun and be content.

Snow Day

It's a beautiful snowy day.  School is closed, office work being done from home.  What a great day to start a new blog.

In January I decided my word for the year was to be "content".  I want to strive to be content with what I have, AND what I don't have.  Content but not complacent.  I don't want to not care.  So I'm organizing.  I tackled the hall linen closet and "straightened" my desk.  Then after reading some creative organizing sites suggested by a friend (thanks Carol), I got an idea to begin in my bedroom and not work anywhere else until the bedroom was done.  I ordered a cube-style shelf that can hold books and fabric drawers to bring all of my craft/sewing/picture/magazine clutter into one central location.  I've purged drawers, boxes and baskets.  I've given items to friends and charity organizations and of course, some were destined for the trash.  My husband did his side of the closet (even without my asking).  He did a fine job and had several bags for donation as well.  I now have a very clean, clutter-free bedroom and it makes me very happy to walk in there.  I've dusted and vacuumed under the bed (**scary**) and behind the bookshelf and now only have a few drawers to organize and that room will be done.

Other rooms have benefited from my bedroom beginnings.  My office area has found some clear floorspace that once held, you guessed it, boxes of stuff that needed to be organized and didn't have a place.  That place was found in the "cube center".

So another task on my 2011 list was to start my blog and keep my brain organized.  That is done and I am content.