Gosh, I sure am going to miss New England. Spring here is absolutely gorgeous, you know. Why, just this morning I awoke to the sounds of birds singing… and then peeked out the window to behold this wondrous tableau. I can’t believe I’m giving up all of this just to move south where this never happens.
Of course, I’m also really going to miss losing electricity for hours at a time. And snow days. Nothing warms my heart like being without electricity and heat but having two bored children here with me.
Yep, I really must love Otto to leave all of this behind. How can sunshine and the ability to drive out of your driveway without opening the garage by hand and plowing through the snow compare to THIS JOY? Clearly, he has talents I cannot discuss here. It’s the only explanation.
So. Yeah. School was canceled, and then so was our power. Which meant we have no heat (oil burner, electric ignition!) and also limited water (electric water pump!), but most importantly, it meant we had NO TELEVISION.
Have you ever heard a water buffalo dying? That’s more or less what my son sounded like when the television winked into death during Pokemon this morning. The agony! What is the POINT of being home from school if not to watch TV all day?? The morning sort of went like this:
Monkey: Can I watch television?
Me: Sure.
Monkey: Really??
Me: No. The power’s out.
Monkey: But WHYYYYYYYYYY?
Me: Because it snowed a lot, and the snow is heavy, and some lines probably got knocked down.
Monkey: Well can I play Webkinz?
Me: On the computer?
Monkey: Yes.
Me: Does the computer need electricity?
Monkey: No…?
Me: Yeeeees…?
Monkey: But WHYYYYYYYYYY?
Me: Because I live to make you miserable.
Monkey: I’m BORED.
Me: Life is tough all over.
Monkey: Can we at LEAST watch a DVD?
Me: Are you TRYING to irritate me, or does it just come naturally?
Monkey: Oh, right.
Me: Right.
Monkey: I’m BORED.
Me: I am going to EAT YOU if you don’t go find something to do.
Usually when we lose power, it comes back on pretty quickly. After a couple of hours I decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. I threw clothes at the children and told them to pick out some books to read, and then we piled into the car and went to Panera. Because they had electricity! And heat! And delicious WIFI!
At Panera I ordered a cappuccino and two hot chocolates. They all came in the same standard-sized mugs, which is to say, mugs approximately the size of Chickadee’s head. The kids’ cocoa was topped with about half a can of whipped cream and then drizzled with chocolate sauce. I wish I could’ve taken a picture when they saw them.
Between the cocoa and their books, the kids gave me about an hour to work before they both came down with serious cases of ants in the pants. I packed up my computer and their books and we went to Target for lunch.
(I would’ve much rather had Panera for lunch. But Panera—go figure—does not have hotdogs. And I was not in the mood to argue, and certainly not in the mood to buy expensive sandwiches that no one would eat.)
After the kids ate (I could not bring myself to eat anything offered in the Target snack bar), we walked around for a bit and bought a few things. Then I got the brilliant idea to call our home phone to see if the answering machine picked up. Answering machine = electricity! We called and it answered, and so with a sigh of relief (it had been a few hours, by now) we headed home.
Monkey ran for the television, Chickadee logged onto Webkinz, and I sat down to do some more work. Ten minutes later, the power went out again.
Monkey: Hey, who turned the TV off?? Mama, why are you screaming?
After about an hour, the power came back on again. Hallelujah!
I called the Tae Kwon Do studio to make sure that they had power and would be open. They did and they were, so we headed out to Chickadee’s class at the appointed time. Thursday is her double class day, and then we race home to get there before the babysitter, and I go to choir rehearsal.
Only, today is Maundy Thursday, so instead of choir rehearsal, we were supposed to come sing at the service. But the service started before Chickadee’s last class ended, so that meant I couldn’t get there in time.
Meanwhile, our awesome babysitter hasn’t had to sit for several weeks, because first I was away and then I had the flu… so I felt like I shouldn’t cancel again. She showed up and I left her to put the kids to bed while I wondered where to go and what to do.
In the end, I decided that if I couldn’t get to church tonight, the second-best way to observe the death of Jesus would be to go to Walmart. And lo, at the StuffMart of iniquity I didst find my scrawny son the much-sought-after leather belt, and it was very good (and very cheap). I killed as much time as I could—it ended up being easy, because I managed to get into the checkout line behind some woman with a stack of expired coupons and a large chip on her shoulder—and then came back home.
The lights keep flickering, but so far, so good. And the kids are going to school tomorrow even if I have to hook them up to a sleigh.
Please remind me of this magical day the first time I complain about tornado watches in Georgia, mkay?
I was wondering how you killed most of the day with two kids and no electricity! Shopping! Fabulous! I love that you kept the sitter and headed out anyway. Good for you! You should have used one of those free movie passes!
I know snow is a pain, but is sure is beautiful. Hang on to those pretty pictures Miss Mir, and keep a flashlight by the bed tonight (maybe some candles ready to be lit too?) to ward off the power from fluttering again. If you’re prepared for it, it won’t happen, right? ;)
(PS hoorah for the monkey-sized belt at a great price, one more thing checked off the to-do list! :))
Woot for the the Stuff-Mart belt! It seems appropriate to go there on Holy Thursday, since after a few minutes in Walmart I want to die myself. Just think, next year at this time you’ll be in Georgia (which you will pronounce “Jo-ahhhr-ja”) drinking a mint julep or eating a peach or whatever they do in Georgia and you will hear about a snow storm in New England on the news and you will laugh and laugh with your awesome sexy newly-wed hubs. Mazeltov and congrats on surviving the day…how did pioneer moms do it? No Advil, no Scooba, nada
Hey Mir, you might like this:
http://members.aol.com/gmcruizer/snow.html
I just moved from Wisconsin to Texas last year, and some of what that joke says is SOOO true. Good luck on your move.
Hey Mir,
We must live close to one another because I woke up to the same beautiful winterscape you did and cursed the gods who are smiting me. Also there was Bob to deal with. Today we’re supposed to go to my brother’s for Easterpalooza but G woke up at 4 a.m. puking. She usually waits until after Easterpalooza to vomit up all the chocolate and jelly beans and bunny shaped confections but today we’re getting a head start!
Sorry, bad linkage up there, Bob’s story can be accessed here.
Oh, my goodness. There’s a medal for you dealing with that, right? I think the one time we were kids and the house lost heat during a snowstorm, my parents rejoiced that we had electricity and thus could huddle around the TV and stay quiet. Yeah, pretty sure it was actual rejoicing.
We taught the kids to play poker the last time we lost power for any length of time…
In Texas we only lose power during Tornado season. Or when they are doing construction nearby. Or if the wind blows. Which is almost all the time. Hardly more than once a week really. But we can wear shorts and flip flops most the year and thats kind of nice.
LOL over this line: “I decided that if I couldn’t get to church tonight, the second-best way to observe the death of Jesus would be to go to Walmart”. Salvation through Shopping! Woo Hoo!
We haven’t lost power since this summer when it was 85 degrees AT NIGHT—and, all three kids wanted to sleep with me (no nightlights)—I can’t even tell you what it felt like to have all those hot bodies stuck together in one bed with no air moving around. Ahhhhh, New England. At least we don’t have to deal with many other natural disasters very often.
You know, seeing how troubled you are at leaving all of that behind, maybe I should change careers and move up there. Between us, we own two Subarus. And I know lots about snow tires and snowblowers and how to stay warm when there’s no electricity.
(Blankets, BLANKETS! You people are sick!)
This sounds a lot like the nightmare of Jan. 07, we had 11 days with no electricity. We bailed, couldn’t handle 3 kids with no t.v., no computer, no PS2, no dvd, no nothing. Good friends (saints actually) took in this family of 5 (#6 is away in college)and for that we are eternally greatful. Glad you all survived!
During the year of the hurricanes here in FL we lost power several times. Finally, one evening, with the wind howling and my son quaking, I ran an extension cord to the garage and used a power inverter to plug the TV into the car. Since the cable is all underground here we had all the Disney we could handle. And, yes, the cost of the new car battery was well worth it!
The thing with tornado watches and warnings is if the weather is bad in the am then they will delay school BUT if it is going to be bad after school they let the kids out early. Either that or they will hold them until the weather clears up.
Here in Southern California we prefer to PLAN our power outages. We get a nice note from the electric company explaining that we are being targeted. They even provide a time when the power will be back on, and they say it with such sweet sincerity like they’re not going to completely disregard it. It’s kinda cute.
FYI-GA has snow days…what do we mean by snow days? It’s either the threat of snow, usually no more than 2 inches of snow, or ice. We get, maybe, one snow day a year. Except for the blizzard of ’93, when my house was buried in 3-5 foot drifts, and we had no power for a week. We lived in one room, with a wood fireplace, and cooking on a camp stove. Yeah, cozy!
Psh…electricity. Who needs it? Oh…wait…I do!
And is someone advertising in your comments?
Lord love a duck! I am so glad I live in California. At least in a rolling black out I can park the kids in the pool!
“Who turned off the TV? Mom, why are you screaming?” I love it. We live in the winter wonderland that is Wisconsin; I feel your pain!
I’ll also remind you of this when you have your first week where the heat index is 110 every day! My boyfriend lives in Massachusetts and I live in South Carolina and I’ve been calling him ever day and telling him, “oh, it was BEAUTIFUL today! 75 degrees and blue skies! I’m wearing shorts!” and he curses at me under his breath. And I know it will all come crashing back down on my as soon as May hits and the temps skyrocket.
I have often believed snow is pretty to visit, give me the west coast any day. :)
I know that doesn’t help.
mmmm hot chocolate! It’s in the mid to upper 90’s here…the days of hot chocolate and soup are over.
“I am going to EAT YOU if you don’t go find something to do.”
I am totally going to use this on my kids this afternoon!
I will remind you about this next year when you’re exclaiming over the yellow pollen dusting that’s just as deep as your snow fall!
Oh, tornadoes are nothing! When you hear the sirens (do they have sirens in Georgia? Otto?) get your video camera and go out in the yard.
That’s what we do here in Oklahoma. Where it ALSO snowed today. But only a little.
“In the end, I decided that if I couldn’t get to church tonight, the second-best way to observe the death of Jesus would be to go to Walmart.”
I officially just peed in my pants. But maybe that was because I never did those damn Kegels during pregnancy.
Ahhh, the Lemonade Store and The O Store (Panera and Target respectively). We go there a lot too! Yes, the storm was a huge bummer and almost got me and Sweetie stuck in the car – and me without my cell phone! Ugh!. Thank goodness it is April, though, making it all melt away that much more quickly.
Just so you know, I am in GA (in the mountains) and it is 1:40AM Saturday before Easter and…it is SNOWING!!!!
Bossy can relate to your kids because whenever Bossy loses electricity she decides she’ll just kill time by watching TV. Silly Bossy! So she decides to read a book and for that all she’ll need is that reading lamp over there. Silly Bossy! So she decides to update her blog. Silly Bossy!
My young niece, a couple of years ago during hurricane Frances, reacted to the loss of “powder” that the TV needed by asking if we could go borrow some powder from Nana and Papa. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any either. Lucky for my brother and SIL, I never get tired of playing with her and I was there for the hurricane party. :-)