35 hours later....

The power has returned to our house.

Our neighbor told us she called the power company when she got home from work and was informed that our power was restored at 3:30. I let her know it had come on at 3:30....for two minutes!!! Then I heard a loud zap and we lost it again. She assured the lady at the power company that we were indeed still in the dark. The kind lady said she's look into it. A phone call at 7 reported that our power was restored at 5:10. Ummm no it wasn't. We're still in the dark here. They were sending someone out as soon as possible. We were still in the dark when we woke up this morning. Most people had power restored by last night so school was in session. I didn't bother getting the kids up and ready since no power means no running water.

Bright and early this morning I called the power company myself. The recording let me know they were aware of the interruption in our area affecting 17 houses (there were 13 houses on our section of the street that were out). The estimated time of power being restored....6pm TOMORROW!!!! Oh no! I found out power was restored to the church grounds the evening before so we made plans to go over there and take showers tonight before bed. (allowing clean kids to go to school in the morning)

We (actually mostly I) got to work...dipping water from the well by hand to fill big totes for each bathroom and the kitchen. Wiping down tables and counters with wipes. Heating water for dishes. The kids cleaned up their bedding (they got to sleep on the living room floor last night). There was food in the fridge and freezer that wouldn't last until tomorrow and would need to be dealt with.

The kids have actually been enjoying these last two days. They did lots of drawing, bike riding and board games playing. Carrie and Luke finished the books they were reading (by flashlight or ds screen light) and enjoyed them...which is a big thing for both of them.

Around 11ish we started seeing a pretty sight...power company trucks driving up and down the road (first time we'd seen them since the power went out). Someone mentioned the power was on and everyone tried to tell them they were crazy. Finally enough people turned on things to see that they weren't full of it. While everyone was glad to have running water again...they were sad to see the fun end. That didn't stop them from running for the computers and video games though. Me being the mom...I ran for the washing machine. lol

So we're back to modern living. There's been talk about having a powerless weekend on purpose in the future (the fridge would stay powered up). I can't see it happening until next year though (wouldn't go without heat in the late fall and winter). Hopefully mother nature doesn't decide we need to have one sooner. :o)