A few (okay 100) things I have done in the last 48 hours

1. Checked my email.
2. Felt warm and snuggly in my house under only one afghan.
3. Watched Survivor.
4. Put on my pajamas (only one layer).
5. Brainstormed a few more crafty Christmas presents.
6. Turned off the light before turning over to go to sleep.
7. Opened my eyes wide when rain started to blow sideways against the bedroom window.
8. Let Millie up on the bed because she was wandering from my side of the bed to Jon’s side in a nervous puppy pace.
9. Got up to turn on the news to see what they were saying about the weather.
10. Said to Jon, “If we hear a tree start to fall, I want us to quickly roll off the bed onto the floor.” (he humored me and said it was a smart idea).
11. Looked out the window to see the wind blow.
12. Got back into bed to snuggle with Jonny and Millie.
13. Watched the numbers on my clock go to blank.
14. Watched the numbers on my clock turn back on.
15. Got out of bed to look out the front window and get a flashlight.
16. Put on a pair of socks and got back into bed.
17. Saw huge sparks fly from a transformer on the power line near our backyard.
18. Watched the numbers on my clock go to blank.
19. Happily let Jonny get out of bed to get two more covers for us and fell asleep again.
20. Woke up with Jon to figure out if he had school.
21. Looked for the corded phone for twenty minutes.
22. Found another flashlight and lit five candles.
23. Got back into bed.
24. Contemplated heating soup in the new fondue pot my boss sent us for Christmas.
25. Realized I had no idea how to call my boss since her phone number was on my computer.
26. Went back to sleep for a couple of hours.
27. Figured out how to call my boss (she was great and just said “enjoy the day”).
28. Listened to Jon call places until he found someplace that was open and had heat.
29. Got out of bed and did a jig when realized the hot water heater was still working (it. is. gas. equals. hot. water. yippeeeee.).
30. Went to Fridays for some food and then the mall (we thought we were going to be sneaky and get Christmas shopping done…along with thousands of other people who watched the numbers on their alarm clocks go blank. it was crazy.).
31. Went home to check on Millie and the power (still off).
32. Realized one of our neighbors lost a huge fir tree (thank goodness it fell to the street and not on their house).
33. Lit candles and put on four layers of clothing (including a new sweatshirt from old navy. merry Christmas to me).
34. Got in bed under five layers of covers.
35. Watched Jon realize that he didn’t have his iPod.
36. Got up and helped Jon look for iPod (could not find it).
37. Blew out candles and put on shoes.
38. Went to Jon’s school to see if he left it there (found out school was still locked because of no power).
39. Went to fred meyer (grocery store) even though they had no power. bought nutter butters, pound cake, bread, cheetos, chocolate doughnuts, water, five candles, dog food for Millie.
40. Sat in the passenger seat as Jon drove toward home through streets with no lights.
41. Decided to eat dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant (they never lost power).
42. Drank three mugs of tea and felt so very warm.
43. Sighed as we realized our neighborhood was still dark.
44. Saw a truck from the power company in our neighborhood.
45. Felt really hopeful.
46. Walked over all the debris on the front walk.
47. Put pajama pants back on.
48. Lit ten candles (thank goodness for zena moon).
49. Got back into bed and thought about how this is kind of like a romantic adventure.
50. Saw the lights from a power company truck shining through the window of our bedroom.
51. Kept watching the clock, hopeful that it was going to turn on any second.
52. Played several rounds of ziggity (a card game by the makers of cranium).
53. Let Millie on the bed (selfishly so she could keep us warm).
54. Read the New Yorker.
55. Listened to NPR.
56. Ate a nutter butter.
57. Blew out all but two candles.
58. Ate another nutter butter.
59. Fell asleep (woke up every now and then to confirm that yes, indeed, the numbers on the alarm clock were still blank).
60. Slept for eleven hours.
61. Woke up to put on more socks (power still off).
62. Walked out to the living room to look at the thermostat (48 degrees).
63. Went back to bed and read more of the New Yorker and then slept for a few more hours (yes, Jonny was sleeping too).
64. Ate some doughnuts and wished for coffee or tea.
65. Thought about calling my grandma to let her know how we were doing (then realized that I, of course, cannot).
66. Fell asleep again.
67. Woke up and called the electric company but was on hold for over thirty-five minutes so finally gave up.
68. Sighed because it was simply too cold to do anything in the house but stay under the covers.
69. Contemplated opening the Christmas gifts from my mom (didn’t).
70. Decided to get up and shower (thank goodness for hot water).
71. Was warm for the first time in fifteen hours.
72. Lamented about the fact that I have no idea how I will finish Christmas presents (contemplated taking the sewing machine to Starbucks and working there).
73. Had several silly arguments with my husband (the bed was really not big enough for us to spend twenty hours in it frozen like popsicles...romatic adventure over).
74. Slept for another thirty minutes (I think but really had no sense of time).
75. Realized, along with my husband, that it was three p.m. and we had only eaten doughnuts all day.
76. Decided to go out and get warm.
77. Apologized to Millie that she couldn’t go.
78. Got dressed (and thought that it would be a good idea to put my clothes in the dryer to warm them up but realized I, of course, could not do that).
79. Heard Jon say that we better get power soon or he was going to run out of underwear (to which I replied, “check the dryer” [phew]).
80. Went with Jonny to get some food.
81. Went to Barnes and Noble and looked through lots of crafty books (and bought one).
82. Drank a huge warm coffee (gingerbread soy latte).
83. Went to Joann fabric (to get some fleece to make more presents).
84. Decided that if the power was still out tomorrow we would go to a hotel.
85. Felt the warmth of the heated seats in the car and thought that it might be a good idea to sleep in the car tonight.
86. Realized that the stoplight by our house was working.
87. Saw lights on in our neighborhood (started getting excited).
88. Saw our outside light on (started doing a jig in the car).
89. Started thanking the electric company aloud.
90. Walked inside to a house that was a balmy 53 degrees.
91. Turned on some lights.
92. Turned on my laptop.
93. Thought about how we had been a bit melodramatic about this experience (and was thankful again that we have power and that the heater is whirring away).
94. Drank some hot tea.
95. Said a prayer with Jonny for the people who still do not have power.
96. Brainstormed a few more crafty Christmas presents.
97. Put on my pajamas (only two layers).
98. Watched Battlestar Galactica (and cried a little).
99. Felt (kind of) warm and snuggly in my house under only one afghan.
100. Checked my email (and wrote this blog post).

Comments

[Susannah]

bloody hell - what an adventure/ordeal! glad you're warm and cosy now - and it was fun to read this knowing what your house looks like - i could see you three in the bed :-) x

[Left-handed Trees...]

Oh my...I hope you have finally thawed out! It is amazing how much we don't think about the power until it is out--when my youngest was a baby, we lost electrical service for several days and had major issues trying to figure out how to heat her water for the bottle (answer?...on the grill...)--but at least it was October and not December! Appreciation of the little things is what it's all about...
--D.--

[Regina Clare Jane]

left-handed trees is so right- we take things for granted sometimes and I guess these are just little ways to bring in appreciation again. I remember going through so many hurricanes and losing the power for a week, 10 days... brutal. But again, it wasn't freezing outside, only HOT. And no a/c. I am so spoiled...
Glad you are all okay and hopefully all toasty again!
And thank you,dear, for your kind thoughts for me... I so appreciate it.

[Colorsonmymind]

Wowee sweetheart. That made me tired. giggle.
Love to you

[acumamakiki]

I loved how you did this post! I'm glad you all got power back but it sounds like you and Jon (and Mills of course) made the best of the situation. Stay warm my dear!!

[Jerri]

LOVE this post, Liz.

Love how you comfort yourself with hot tea and coffee; love how much you appreciated the warmth of the shower; love how you counted layers of clothing; LOVE how you and Jonny prayed for others.

Stay warm.

[Star]

I'm so glad that you have your power back. It is fortunate that it didn't get cold enough for your pipes to freeze. Hopefully better days are ahead.

(I loved #39. Your idea of essential foods was quite amusing. We love nutter butters at our house too but haven't had any for a couple of years.)

[Amber]

48 dgs!! Holy cow, that is a chilly house lady. I would have the whole day at B and N. I am such a giant baby about being cold!

:)

[ceanandjen]

Oh goodness Liz! I feel so blessed that we did not loose power or trees. I am glad that you were able to make a bit of an adventure out of it...but also glad that you got your power back within two days!

Stay warm and well lit!!! he he

xoxoxoxo

[maureen]

that's a poem in itself - your list, Liz... i wondered how you and all my Seattle friends were doing. Now I know. You always seem to be able to make the best of any situation. I hope you're well, my dear - don't have much time on the computer lately because I'm still stealing minutes here and there on Tim's laptop when he brings it home. Still don't have a computer of my own yet. bummer. But nothing compared to what you all are going through out there! I'm glad you're safe.
maureen

[Deb R]

Gaaah! Been there before on the no heat or lights for days thing. So. NOT. Fun. Glad you're all warm and light and toasty again! And I love that you made a list of it all!

[Laini Taylor]

Oh wow, what an adventure!! We only lost power for about a minute, right during a Jim & Pam scene of The Office -- drat! What did he say? But my parents' power was off for more than two days. Your list was funny! Being in bed that long sounds both cozy and crazy-making!

[rubyslippers]

great post. i live in the seattle area, too (bainbridge) and went without power for 2.5 days! I am so happy to have a warm house again, too!!

[Alexandra S]

Eiyayi!!! I didn't know until the end of this weekend how huge this storm had really been and even up in WA! I don't have a TV anymore so I am somewhat out of the local news loop and I miss it. (I get no reception in my building and don't want to pay for cable.) You two should have hopped in the car and come and stayed with me. I had heat AND light! AND I am just down the street from YUKI's now! Well, next time! Glad you are saFE and creating away!

[a m y]

This is such a great entry because you really created images with your words...so poetic! Glad to hear you are warm and toasty again.

[deirdre]

Yeow!! I've been without power for long periods, but it's been (thankfully) years since that happened. Oh, you have my truest sympathies with this. I hope you're nice and toasty now.

[Michelle (a.k.a. la vie en ros]

oh my god! what a time!