6 1/2 Days

Around 10 o'clock this morning we got power back at our house after 6.5 days in the dark. The first three were the worst because we had no generator. Thus, we had no water access. A person can only take so many baths out of a stainless steel bowl of boiled water before they start to get a little down. Thanks to gracious relatives, we got ourselves a generator after Day 3, and took the most glorious showers of our lives. Thanks to Rhonda and David and, later, my Great Uncle Otis for loaning us the generators. And we cannot forget dear Ken and Kathy for allowing us to come over and do some laundry mere hours before their electricity went back out.

Possibly Unnecessary Side Note: Those rumors that FEMA will reimburse individuals for generators purchased during this time of disaster are untrue.

But truth be known, I had a wonderful time during this outage and extra cold weather. Our oven kept us warm in spite of the carbon monoxide concerns of friends and relatives (we aired the house out regularly).

My parents and older brother spent a few nights with us, and we enjoyed some great "remember when" storytelling and laughter. Our dear friends/neighbors John and Leann were in this with us too, and I have to say that their presence at our house into the late nights was a beautiful silver lining in all this mess.

But the very best part was the time I got to spend with my husband. You know you are true soulmates when you spend a week in the dark together with no consistent water supply, no television or even radio, and no use of the toasty pellet stove in which we just recently invested a significant chunk of change. And all this while, you're watching and hearing your once picturesque lawn being destroyed by vicious Mother Nature. After this week, I feel like I know AJ better than I ever did. And for whatever reason, the fact that we are together makes more sense than ever. (I always thought it made sense before, but now it's more obvious somehow).

Anyway, if you were in the dark this week, I don't suspect you had a good time, per se. But I hope you made the most if it in any case.

And many thanks to our kind relatives and friends who called to check on us during our dark times here in the forsaken lands. Your offers of showers and sleepovers were greatly appreciated and will not be forgotten.

So, here are the photographs I took before the camera battery went dead.

These were from the first bad day (Saturday). Things got much worse later that night.
Pretty and dangerous.






This would prove to be the root of our power problems. When this photo was taken, we still had power. Look closely to see the tree (left) and pine branches (right) resting on our power line that connects to the house.


Same power line here, different section. This pine branch was wish-boned on the line.


Our driveway and across-the-street neighbors' yard.


On that first day, several of the neighborhood men had their chainsaws out in sheer necessity. The roads would have been impassable otherwise. AJ didn't have a chainsaw that day, but you can bet we've purchased one since.


Tree on the house, view from the south side. I'll show you a better picture of this later in the post.


This was taken before this tree lost several major branches.


BEFORE:
This is the cool tree where we hung the kids' swing. Sadly, it didn't make it either.


AFTER:
This is the swing tree a couple days later.




The power line just kept right on sinking closer to the ground. See that bushy tree on the left? That was its major weight to bear.



The neighbors across the street didn't have it any easier.


Back to our pitiful property.



Here's the better shot of the tree on our house. This is lying on our bedroom roof. (We slept in there anyway like the dare devils we truly are. Actually, I was only a true dare devil after the first night when the nightmares of giant limbs stabbing me in the temple subsided).


This is the main tree off of which the limb fell onto the house.


Another random shot of destruction.


This is my favorite tree in the whole yard. An American Beech. I would say it's depressing, but how much can a person really complain when they get a week of vacation, albeit unpaid, having good times with friends and families in the happy glow of candles and lanterns?


In the north part of the yard.


I like this photo of the trampline. I told AJ that babies could go ice-skating on it.


Believe it or not, we have a lot of this mess right here cleared away already.



A few more random shots.



This was probably about the time that AJ's stress level started to rise. (Taken before the worst of the fallout).


That's me in the hip orange hunter's cap in case you're wondering. I'm glad you can't see my face because these were taken just before a hot shower became as precious as gold and applying make-up was a laborous chore.

Snappy New Year

We spent New Year's Eve at my Aunt Shelly's house playing games (Battle of the Sexes, Taboo) and drinking Labatt Blue with the occasional shot of tequila. Only one shot for me, by the way.

Here's our crowd that evening, minus myself and Jena.


(Note the two minors pictured: Blade with crazy face in above photo and Nathan with awesome shaggy hair.)

My Taboo-playing skills have apparently weakened since I last played. My teammate/husband was good at it though. He pretty much single-handedly landed us in second place.



AJ and Uncle Gary.



Shelly, Jena and myself. Poor Shelly couldn't keep her eyes open, but I love her smile here. (If Jena ever reads this, I'm sorry if I'm misspelling your name. I'm pretty sure it's an alternate spelling of "Gina" though.



Phillip playing Nathan's game (can't remember what it's called).



The youngsters, Blade and Nate. Sorry about the red-eye. After already having uploaded these, I'm too lazy to go back and edit.



Shelly-Belly and Jena.



I had a really great picture of the guys all hugging, but it apparently didn't upload. Also, I had one of Phillip trying to go to sleep at, like, 10:00 pm. I'll see if I can find and add them later.

Good times that night. We drank a delicious champagne punch toast at midnight and all ended up in the hot tub somewhere around 1:00 am.

I was surprised by a not-so-nice hangover the next day even though all I'd drunk were the beers, the one Jose shot and the champagne toast. Wait... I guess some people wouldn't be so surprised by that.

Welp, that's it for now, Internet. Have a lovely week.

A Logantime Christmas

We celebrated a late Christmas with AJ's side of the family last weekend. It was a wonderful time. Here are a couple of guys who could easily win one of those father/son look-alike contests.



Lanie rockin' a new, shiny grill and Hannah.



Heather and Logan comfy on the floor.



Our hosts, Johnny and Roxanne, whose lovely and picturesque home you see in these photos. (That's the new Spider Man on her T-shirt. Can you see it? It took me a while.)



Jannie and Larry.



We played this game (Catchphrase) for several hours throughout the day. Much fun.





Hannah got this awesome baby carriage from Aunt Roxanne.





Sevin was swallowed whole by the color Pink in Lanie's room.





Lanie's beautiful bedroom Christmas tree. I don't know if you can tell, but those bulbs are black and pink. And that is a pink feather boa lining the skirt. So cute!



Sweet Banana.



The teens lounging in the nearly-finished game room. Not pictured is the new fancy giant flat screen TV they were watching.



This was our best Logan holiday to date. Everyone was able to relax and not be rushed around to get somewhere. We ended up staying until about 9:00 pm, just playing games and laughing. Great meal, great family, great times.