The Night the Lights Went Out in Candyland

First....can you believe that I have made it almost to the end of NaBloPoMo and haven't missed a day?! Shocks the hell out of me. I know, I have totally jinxed myself. But only three more days. Surely I can make it. Maybe I oughta give someone the keys, just in case I slip into a coma or get taken hostage by crazed toddlers or something. (Don't laugh. It could totally happen in my world!)

Actually, by some strange twist of fate, I ended up posting shortly after church Sunday rather than after the kids were in bed, as was the original plan. Thank goodness, or my posting streak would have ended and you would have heard my anguished cry for miles around.


We were sitting in the living room Sunday night, playing with the kids and generally having a good time, when zzzzzzzppp the lights went out for a second. They came back on and then *POW* they went off again in spectacular fashion. Kinda freaky. Especially if you are four.

Seems that just enough ice and snow had accumulated on the trees out back that they drooped down and rubbed the transformer, causing it to blow. (The boys were quite impressed upon hearing - at least they thought - that there were Transformers kasploding outside. Boy were they disappointed.)

First things first, SD found flashlights and we lit the fire in the fireplace. Score one for gas logs. Then we lit some candles and called the electric delivery people (hi Bob!). The recording said that the power should be back on by 9:00 PM. No problem. I might miss Desperate Housewives, but at least I'd get to see Brothers and Sisters. (Yes, I have my priorities straight!)

SugarPlum and I sat down by the fire and she remarked that she guessed that now we know how the pioneers felt. At least pioneers who lived in well insulated houses with natural gas fireplaces and stoves. And flashlights. And cell phones. Those pioneers. You remember Laura Ingalls Wilder lamenting about the time they had no internet access for several hours, right?


The SugarBabies remembered decided they wanted to call and tell GrayGray about the snow and the power going out. Bug relayed it in this way:


Gway! I went to the potty and I POOPED in the potty. Then I wiped and then I flushed. And When I FLUSHED? The LIGHTS ALL WENT OUT! It fweaked me out Gway!


My dad could. not. stop. laughing. All he could say was, "Well, Bug, that must have been one powerful poop!"

We sat around the fire for a while, but as it WAS a school night, eventually, we had to get everyone to bed. The boys were a little fweaked out about going to bed with no power. I tried to explain that IT'S NIGHT! It would be dark in your room regardless. But there's no reasoning with little boys. So, SD found a chem stick light and hung it from their ceiling fan and put batteries in their cd player so that they could hear their lullabyes. They thought that they would get out of brushing their teeth until SD pointed out that the electricity was out, not the water. With the aid of the flashlight, we were able to read a chapter out of Junie B Jones and everyone was off to bed. (That Junie B. She's a caution!)

I honestly expected it to be an up-and-down night for the boys, full of MOOOOMMMYYYY!!!s and the other tactics little boys use to avoid sleep. But, surprisingly enough, both boys went right to sleep. Perhaps the dark, dark hallway was too daunting for them. Or perhaps it was the death threats if they got out of bed. Hard to say.

Next, SP and I settled on the couch for a chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird, during which the lights came on for about a four seconds. Only to go off AGAIN in spectacular fashion. At this point, SD was back out seeing what the Oncor guys were doing. The power would come on and he said that you could see it arc and send sparks flying everywhere. That's always good to hear. Eventually, they had to call a tree trimmer to come out and cut away several branches. A tree trimmer. On a Sunday. Night. In the snow. Oh yeah, somebody got some hella overtime!

SD came back in and we settled in with some hot chocolate (hooray again for natural gas!) and Us Magazine War and Peace. Eventually, it became obvious that we were not going to have power anytime soon. I had already missed Brothers and Sisters (dammit) and now we were missing he news (which always pisses me off), so we decided to go to bed. After a while, we noticed that it was awfully quiet out there where they had been working. I called back to check on the ETA for the power while SD went back outside to see what was - or wasn't - going on.

On my end, I found out that "crews are working on your outage and your power will be restored as soon as possible." No actual time. That can't be good. SD returned, chucking, saying that they were indeed working and that our next door neighbor was giving them a piece of her mind. I'm sure that helped. Meanwhile I was texting my Twitter in order to chide Bob about my outage. Then, with lots of fleece and several blankets, we went to sleep.

SD got up at 5:00 AM to start the fire in the living room so that we wouldn't all freeze when we got up. He totally rocks. He said that the power FINALLY came on at about 5:30. Since we didn't get up until 7:00 or so, all was well for the rest of us in the morning. But SD was exhausted.

And the SugarBabies had a GREAT story to tell at school Monday. Now, I'd better get this thing posted so as to avoid any unforeseen delays!