I’m sitting here typing as fast as I can. There’s a tree sitting on our power line, and it’s happily smoking (smoking kills, Little Tree), meaning that at some point in the next few hours, our power will be off again. For the fourth time this week. There’s a bit of a hassle factor because I had plans to get the ankle-biters out of the house this morning, and now we’re stuck at home watching the tree in case it bursts into glorious flame and we need the old 9-1-1. And we’re on our 5th day without a refrigerator. But really, things could have been a lot worse.
Someone get the marshmallows! We can make s’mores! And sing “Kumbaya!”
When the refrigerator went out, I hadn’t been to the grocery store in three weeks. There was precious little food left to spoil. And now that my procrastination has been so grandly reinforced, I may never go to the grocery store again.
When the rodents in the freezer thawed out, the snakes were hungry. No. That’s not secret code. I have snakes, and we keep their food in the freezer until they’re ready to eat.I hate to waste food, human or otherwise. It presented a dilemma, but it all worked out, and everyone is happy.
We find out who our friends are. And which of them are weird like me. In addition to people offering freezer space for our food, two people volunteered to keep our collection of owl pellets in their deep freezer so they wouldn’t spoil (although I am not totally sure how to tell if barf is spoiled) . Without even asking why we keep them in the first place. That’s friendship!
My kids like hot dogs. And that’s a really good thing. I stocked up on Ballpark franks when they went on sale for $1.25, so we have a lot of them. They’ve eaten so many dogs since Monday that they can wag their tails. And they think they’ve died and gone to heaven.
There was no worry last night when we lost power during last night’s storm. All of our food is already in coolers. We wound up our lantern (wind-up lanterns are the coolest invention ever. Seriously. GET ONE!), and I read while my husband played chess with the kids.
If the refrigerator had been delivered already, we might have lost it in power surges last night. Maybe the new fridge needs a surge protector.
The kids are old enough that they will remember The Week Without Refrigeration. And for at least a little while, they will have an appreciation of ice that appears for the asking and the convenience of being able to store food, and of abundance.
The tree that fell on the line didn’t fall on the house. Our new roof goes on next week. We would likely have had a battle with the insurance company to repair any damage.
Severus enjoying his bonus meal. Isn’t he pretty?
So happy weekend, and I’ll see you again on Thank You God for the New Refrigerator Day. I’m asking the calendar people to look into adding it as a holiday.
Becoming Cliche 
Our power was out for two weeks once after a hurricane. I still remember my elderly neighbor shouting “The POWER!!!!” like he was He-Man when it was finally restored. This was in south Florida, during summer. One of my sisters was pregnant. We all just laid around panting like dogs wherever we could find shade. I will never forget those two weeks until my dying breath. In other words, you have my utmost sympathies.
I don’t think the kids will forget this experience. I hope it’s a fond/weird memory.
Ugh, my friend Em spent most of this week without power. She told me last night that they’d spent over $300 at the grocery store just replacing everything that had spoiled, but the silver lining was that their fridge had never been cleaner.
I am so unbelievably thankful that I hadn’t been shopping in awhile. $300 is nearly my whole budget for the month!
Oh no! This has been my entire week (minus the snakes and rodents) – yikes!! Hope your “normal” life is restored soon!
Hope you’ve got power, too. I think you are fairly close to me!
Oh geez… It’s so good to see you grateful for these wonderful things in the midst of the chaos, though!! During our last hurricane, when my beautiful (huge) tree snapped next to the house, it fell away… AWAY! And could still be saved, hoorah! And living in South FLA, I empathize with your lack of power + heat. UGH. Makes one thoroughly appreciate the glories of electricity, yes??
Away from the house! See, that almost never happens. Doesn’t it feel great?!
Sometimes, when life is going terribly wrong, my husband will only want to hear three words from me…
“Dude. That sucks.”
I hope it helps you in the same way it does him.
It does. More than you know!
Umm… I’ll bite: Why DO you have a collection of owl pellets?
Hee. I wondered if anyone would ask. They were a Christmas present for my daughter, of course.
I love your attitude!
I love the snake, beautiful. I use to have two Boa’s could never get them interested in frozen food.
I am glad you could find something to be grateful for in this series of disasters, I believe I would be pulling my hair out at this point. Well I suppose then I would be able to be grateful I didn’t need to pay for a hair cut and color.
Severus was eating live when I got him. I fixed that soon enough. It was a matter of waiting him out. When he finally got hungry, he ate.
Hang in there, if I can [barely] survive 11 days without power, any one can do it !!!! (No I am not going to admit to how insanely well, insane I was by the end of the ordeal & that if it ever happens again I will end up in a padded room…)
It’s amazing how strong we find we are when the going gets tough!
Funny you should say that, you have no idea….http://nonstepmom.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/irrefutable-proof-satan-does-not-exist/#comment-1484
Severus is a very beautiful snake, I must say. I hope that the tree is able to quit its smoking addiction cold turkey, and that you will soon be able to store cold turkey in your brand new fridge that may or may not fit under your cabinet.
There is now cold turkey in the fridge! And the fridge fits. Sort of.
The electric company here sends people out to trim trees near power lines, for free.
Have a happy and refreshing New Refrigerator Day. But be sure to look at the manual before you run out to shop for groceries — if I recall correctly, it takes something like 12 hours for a fridge to get cold.
They trim trees around here, too. Sadly, this one wasn’t close enough to the road to be considered a threat. Never underestimate the power of a woodpecker. That’s what weakened the tree enough to make it fall.
Oh, no! Suckiness. Hotdog Heaven aside, I’m so sorry for all your issues this week. But, wait a second. Can I interrupt this sympathy party to focus on the most important matter here — just why exactly do you have frozen owl yak?
For dissection. It’s fun! albeit smelly.
Wow! Good luck with the power, tree, fridge, roof, etc. You sure have your hands full!
Russ
Three of these things have been taken care of. Yay! Now we’re waiting for the rain to stop so we can get the roof fixed.
I’m with linneann…good that you look to the good things in all of this. I also want to know the answer to Angie’s question. Are you planning dis-assembly / reassembly of its contents? Curious. Hoping you get that fridge this week. And that the power-line holds out. And that the tree doesn’t ignite. Geez.
Severus is a beauty. Assuming python, what kind is he?
We aren’t reassembling the stuff. Just seeing what we find. We found a whole skull once!
A skull! That’s awesome! One of my kids found — and excitedly identified — an owl pellet that had been dropped on a sitting bench at a state park. The park official was quite impressed that he was correct. I, loving such stuff, was one proud parent. 🙂
I forgot to add that he is a Ball Python.
I was right there with you BC. Was it the derecho that knocked down the tree like it did the trees around us? What a mess. But grateful to be alive (one man was electricuted in our area from a tree that fell on the power lines and onto his property), and very grateful for air con. I don’t have any snakes or snake food but in all the rest, I could feel your pain. Here’s to better days (cooler at least).
Better days have arrived. Now we’re just waiting on the roof and the phone line.
Your kids must be in heaven. They’re eating nothing but hot dogs, and they get to sit at home and watch stuff get set on fire. Does childhood really get much better than that?
I know. It’s like every kid’s dream come true. My son actually said “This is the greatest day ever!”
“(smoking kills, Little Tree)”
“(although I am not totally sure how to tell if barf is spoiled)”
HA!
I guess I should go reclaim the barf from my friend’s fridge, huh?
What a hardship for so many people this summer in the U.S.! I feel so fortunate, I really do.
It really has been hard on a lot of people. We’re not as bad off as some!
Jeez, what a mountain of annoyance. I’m glad the owl pellets are safe…wait, what are they again?
Yes, thank goodness the owl puke is safe! It’s from endangered species and all!
Yikes you sure have had your share lately!
My share, the neighbor’s share…
The best thing my husband ever did was to install a generator….especially because I can’t imagine losing my (currently full of homegrown beef) chest freezer.
Anyhow:
1. Glad you are all okay.
2. Glad the tree fell BEFORE you got the new roof.
3. Glad to see the snake is handsome and happy.
I was happy that the tree decided to misbehave before the new roof was put on, too. When we were selling our old house, we repaired the privacy fence in a couple of spots, and a tree fell on it the next day.
What an adventure you’ve had!!