We finally have power, as of 3PM yesterday. We spent a very cold and frustrating 4+ days with only what a generator could provide. We mostly used it for keeping the sump pump going after having to pump out our basement which was underwater thanks to the storm. Wednesday night we were able to borrow a space heater from our close friend Stephi, which kept us nice and toasty all night long! We were fortunate though that our neighbours and co-workers came to our rescue until we could go out and buy our own generator, and serendipitously, Gareth just happened to be at Home Depot as they were offloading a shipment of them. Prior to that, due to the storm, you couldn't find a generator anywhere. We probably could have plugged a lot more into it, but we ran out of extension cords.
We are still without hot water and no ability to use the oven, so we're waiting for the gas company to come out and rectify that. We also are waiting for an appliance repair-tech to come out and inspect the washer and dryer (they reside down in the basement) to assure us we can use them.
We were lucky...very lucky. Most of our neighbours saw 4+ feet of water in their basements and they all, for the most part have gorgeous finished basements. Ours just has drywall. And had Gareth and Zack not busted their butts Monday afternoon, between bailing out the basement and moving all of our storage back into the garage (and unfortunately my dining room!), we would have lost a considerable amount ourselves. We did spend one night in a hotel, but decided that we'd rather be miserable in our own home than miserable in a hotel where Gaby completely lost it. Oh yeah, great time for her to get her first cold! And I've come down with a dual ear infection and Gareth has a cold as well. Zack, aside from being seriously bummed that he has spent his entire spring break dealing with all of this, seems to be doing well. He's just glad the power is back on and that we aren't all huddled in the family room at night, trying to keep warm.
Anyways, I typically keep a journal of sorts in Word and was unable to do that due to the lack of power (I completely forgot about the laptop) and used pen and paper to write while we waited out the storm and power outtage. I'll post what I wrote, later today. Well, if I can read my handwriting that is.
In the meantime, we're slowly trying to catch up with everything else going on in the world. We heard bits and pieces of the VA Polytechnic tragedy and only yesterday got the full story. How horrible. I don't know that I have words to adequately express our shock. I can tell you though, as a result of a certain person learning about the shootings, a huge Poison Pen entry is in the works. Until then, it's back to cleaning out my fridge. Everything went bad. Fun fun fun!
