At precisely 3:20 a.m. I was awakened from my toasty slumber by Z~. "Mom, the power is out." Normally I'm not so worried by such an announcement, but when it's below zero outside that kind of news alarms me. I round up all the candles I can find. First order of business is to shed some light on the subject.
I never go anywhere without my trusty reminder of my all-time basketball hero, Larry BirdNext we call the power company. I love calling the power company because even though our instructions during a power outage are expressly spelled out that we are to call them and inform them of the outage they always reply, "Duh, we're on it already." Not this morning. I got a very polite gentlemen who patiently asked, "Are you in the northwest part of town?" "Yes," I replied. "It should be on by about 7:30 a.m." "Thanks!" I said, as I tried to calculate exactly how much colder the house could get over the next four hours when it was well on its way to negative 2 degrees outside. BRRRRRRRR!
within an hour I had the place lit up with candles, all the critical (read: expensive) appliances unplugged, and extra blankets on everyone's backs
most perplexing challenge: how to keep cold-blooded Buddy warm enough. I realized the candle cup was pretty warm and glass is a good conducter of heat. Sometimes I amaze even myself. (Buddy, however, remains unimpressed.)
sadly, my emergency lamps are of absolutely no help to me
bad, BAD virginOf course by that time I was wide, WIDE awake and even if I were not there was no way I could've slept with that many candles burning throughout the house. After about an hour of shivering--I'd given all the good blankets away--I got up to check on Buddy and as I was getting ready to light another emergency candle Voila! the rest of the lights went on as well.
Hurray for Provo Power! And how 'bout the fact that they exceeded even their own expectations!
The best part was hearing the beloved sound of the heater kicking on and warming up.
Mmmmmmmm. Toasty! Did I mention how grateful I am for central heating?
25 comments:
Virgin, HA!
You are lucky that the people in your house will let you put an extra blanket on them. We're still transitioning to blankets at our place for the little guy. He's not receptive. If the space heater went out in his room...BRRRR.
BOO: single panes
Yay: central heating.
I think that your candles count as emergency lamps. Because it was an emergency and they gave out light. Check that off your list.
Losing power in the winter is never fun. For whatever reason, I have always liked Provo City Power better than Utah Power.
We actually dipped into single digits last night and this morning I founds myself in a very cold garage helping my 8 yr old with his first pinewood derby car. brrrrrrr indeed.
Brag, brag, brag. Our heater went out a few weeks ago just as the biggest winter storm in years is making its appearance in Texas. I wish they made those footed flannel pajamas in an XXXXL size for me.
Three cheers for Provo Power and keeping Compulsive Writer from becoming Popsicle Writer!!!!
Wow. I love that atomic clock thingy. I must find one of those.
I was wide , well not very wide, awake when the power went out and I'm here to tell you that I was a little freaked out. I woke up Matt, just to fill him in on all the nocturnal goings on that were going on, when not 20 min later the baby woke up too and I had to warm her up a bottle using THE STOVE!!!! I was so glad that I had a gas stove but still, I'm no pioneer, give me my microwave!!! Matt checked on the other kids and J was in the fetal position with not one fiber of a blanket on him. After throwing the piles of blankets back on J he checked on B. B was doing just fine and after about 15 min so was C. HOWEVER I was still having a hard time getting back to sleep. The power was trying so very hard to come back on but I guess it just needed a rest first. I'm so glad that we are all well and accounted for. I did make one promise to myself. BLANKETS.....I am going to make at least 5 new cozy blankets per person in the family. That's at least 25 blankets I need to make.
Maybe I'll just make 2 per person. hmmmmmm.......
I remember the baby years when limbs felt like icecicles kept kicking off jammies and blankets and everything else. How did they survive?
It is still sooooo cold! I am sitting by my double-paned Milguards and I can feel the draft--it's like the cold is just sucking the heat out of my home, my body, my soul. It didn't help to go to work today to find one of the heaters broken there as well. I haven't been warm for days!
And yet my son (see below) chose to go kayaking in the icy waters of the Provo River today. INSANE!
Cardine--you can get these clocks at Sam's Club and Costco and probably online, I'd guess. I LOVE mine, especially as it was the only thing that was still working when the power went out.
Global Warming is a betch.
I love our central heat, butI love our eybrow-singeing wood burning stove even more!
"bad BAD virgin"
That was the laugh I needed to start this day!
I just got my three lamps refueled this week. That's not a lot of preparation, but it feels good that something is ready. When I was a kid, I looked forward to power outages (in my South, it wasn't usually cold enough to worry about) because my mom and I would always meet at the kitchen table to read by lamplight. I still have that hurricane lamp, my great great granny's.
b., don't forget to crack open a window or door when you burn your woodstove for long periods. I got carbon monoxide poisoning by not doing that.
i was lucky not to feel the cold when i woke up after the power outage. my landlord keeps the house really warm so when it did go out, i think the heat just stuck around a while and then it went to normal temperatures. but hey, i have no problem with her turning up the heat when i don't have to pay for it!!!
So how did I manage to miss this power outage thing? Oh...that's right. I was in a drug-induced sound sleep. (Too bad I wasn't doing that last night.) I must be sick if it took me half a minute to figure out the "bad, BAD virgin" reference. Your power to make me laugh never ceases to amaze me.
Atomic clocks are AWESOME!!! We have two of them.
bad, BAD virgin
ROTFLMAO
I can't stop laughing, "bad, BAD virgin".
Hurray for Central Heating!
Ok, It has been several hours now since I replied the first time, but I just can't stop thinking about the fact that when it is freezing outside, and you're throwing blankets over everyone, lighting the lizard on fire, etc... yet you still take the time to document the 3:30 a.m. episode in pictures.
You rock!
julie- don't worry it took me a while to figure it out too. i just had other things on my mind i guess. i think i'll go read my scriptures now.
Really? The power went out? I was awake at 3 am....food poisoning. My clock was still working. Maybe it didn't hit my side of the street.
Julie(s)--I did hear it was very isolated. Hope you both are feeling better from your respective ailments.
b. You know I have to admit, I try to be environmentally conscious and responsible and all, but this week I have had a very hard time hearing the words "Global Warming" and taking them seriously. I feel like it's the middle of the ice age. Will we ever thaw out from this?
I took my quilt to work today and laid it over my lap and wore gloves as well. I can't see to get warm!
Great thinking on Buddy! I couldn't have pulled that out of my hat even in the most awake part of the day. :)
bad, BAD virgin
HAHAHAHAHA!
Our power hasn't gone out (knock), but I find it curious that I have to turn the thermostat to 74 in order to make it feel like it's 60. Brrrrr...
Somehow I missed this post til just this morning. Thank heavens you got your heat back soon. Once in portland we were without for 3 days (freezing rain snapped all the power lines). Miserable. Sleeping bags are good for those kinds of nights.
I'll never forget my sophomore year at the Y. We got to 20 below and the power was out. Campus was closed, except I didn't find that out until I'd trudged up the hill....My roomies heated up soup to eat on little tart burners. Talk about bad virgins. 6 nineteen year olds waiting 2 hours for a cup of soup to warm up. Ahhh...memories.
Glad you remembered the cold animals. I would definitely have forgotten about our fishies.
I was giggling while I read this and then read out loud to hubby. He has 2 questions for you: 1. Why would you get out of bed in the first place? You know the power will come back on eventually. 2. Are you really a virgin?
My question: Did you turn the water on a trickle to keep the pipes from freezing? I thought about getting up to do that, but then I thought again and just snuggled down in bed. Our thermostat goes down to 60 every night anyway, so it wasn't exceptionally cold to us. The heat did come back on when the power did, though, so that tells you it was COLD in the house.
p.s. did I just "that ain't nuthin!" you? because you know you're supposed to holler at me if I do. you know, as per our several conversations...
Elizabeth W--I remember the good old Oregon ice storms. I also have fond memories of some good floods and one year when it snowed like it does here--in actual feet. Good times, yes!
Guy--
1. I got up because Z~ was sick and I wanted to make sure he awas OK. Then I realized I needed to make sure everyone else was warm. Then I thought about the lizard. Then I thought about how funny it was that my lamps didn't have any oil. And then I couldn't sleep because I had candles burning everywhere and I kept thinking about the Crookston's house almost burning down from candles (two separate Crookston houses and two distinct fires).
2. I used the term virgin figuratively. Obviously.
Lo--I didn't even think about the pipes. Duh! And I didn't feel "that ain't nuthin'ed," so I guess you're fine. My thermostat is only going to 62 because if I set it at 60 it doesn't hardly get warm enough to get ready in the morning before it shuts off again.
Bad, Bad Virgin - by far the best line - and the photo made it priceless.
glad to hear they got the power back - the cold snap has Cali in freezing temps, so Utah must be nearly unbearable. I'm grateful Provo power came through for you!
I am amazed that the streets are still frozen over......How long will this blasted coldness stay with us??? Global warming, global smorming, I want to see Al Gore right here, right now and let his words freeze in the air like a lead cloud and drop with razor sharp precision right smack dab on his little toe.......Is that too much to ask for??? I just hope that we don't have this kind of heat in the summer. Can you imagine a month of 120* weather, UGH!!!!!
Love the pic's D. You are such a thoughtful host to the lizard to give him his own fire. I don't doubt that you thought of some kind of grasshopper s'more for him to enjoy. What a woman.
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