The Ice Storm of December 2008

I got up to go to the bathroom just after midnight on Dec. 12, 2008. As I was sitting there I looked outside and thought to myself- wow- there is a lot of ice out there and it is still raining really hard. Maybe I should have prepared better.......maybe I should have at least brought a flashlight upstairs with me. It would really suck to have one of the kids wake up at 2AM and have it be pitch black in here..... I guess I will go down and get- Oh, crap! The lights went out. And stayed out. For a long, long, LONG time.
My beloved hubby has a small generator for the business so he brought it home the next morning and did his voodoo and viola! We had heat and water. Amazing. All in all it wasn't too bad. The worst part was everyday at about 3:30 when you knew that by 4 it would be dark. We'd do the flashlight scramble and I had everyone run around and clean up the floors so no one would trip. Then it was a stovetop meal (we got really good at noodles and hamburgers) and cards/ board games until an early bedtime.
At first the kids were up each morning between 5-5:30 as usual. Once they discovered that it would be dark for at least two hours and they couldn't watch any tv they started to sleep in a little longer. Like until 6. Bah!
Seriously, though, it was amazing how quickly they got used to having no tv. I was actually a bit saddened by the 4th day in thinking that the lights would go back on and we would lose the wonderful family atmosphere we had going. We were in the routine of things and we knew how to operate by then.
By the 5th night I was on my knees praying for electricity. I thought about learning to say the Hail Mary but I couldn't google it so I was SOL. I had had enought. The kids were fighting and getting into each others things and I wanted to send them away, but we only had so many lanterns and I don't think there was a 'D' battery to be had in all of New England. Another night around the table listening to bad knock-knock jokes and my daughter slaughtering the Star Spangled Banner for about the 347th time. Yeesh!
I was on the phone with one of Chad's customers when the power came back. I screamed, told her I would call back, and the kids and I did a happy dance around the kitchen for a good 10 minutes. That night we turned the tree on, I think every tv in the house was on, and as I looked outside and noticed the sunset it was with a feeling of peace rather than tension. It is good to have your world shaken up every now and again to help you realize just how blessed you really are............but I'm sure glad my turn was over!