AuburnChick's Adventures

No, this isn’t the beginning of a new Winnie the Pooh book, but it sure could have been!

Folks, let me first say that I live in the south for a reason…the warmth.

Many years ago, when the Mr. and I were just dating, I told him that when I got married, I wanted to live where it was warm all the time.  Cold weather and AuburnChick do not get along.  In fact, anything below 75 degrees, and I’m best friends with a sweater.

Well, the Mr. and I have lived in Florida for most of our married lives, and, for the most part, I’ve been warm most of the time (except for stupid soccer tournaments that are played in the rain and freezing cold).

Enter in the latest cold snap, which decided to dip way down in my area.

When I got up this morning, the temperature was in the 20’s.

Now, you Northerners, don’t you dare say one word.  I know how you suffer, and that you would win the contest of who has it colder.  But you see, everything is relative.  I’m sure y’all  think you are gonna die of heat exhaustion if temperatures reach 70 degrees.

Folks, it’s all about what you’re used to, and I’m used to heat.

Bring it on, baby.  You’ll rarely hear me complain about 90-degree days.  I live for them!

So this cold snap thing…

On a Monday to boot…

Ugh.

I should have known something was amiss when the power flickered on and off several times around 6am.  Still, I dragged myself out of bed and enjoyed a hot shower.

The power went off again while the kids and I were reading devotions.  We kept on reading, and eventually it came back on…

Until they left for school.

I wasn’t subbing today because Rooster had an orthodontist appointment, so I stayed behind.

And the power shut off again.

No biggie, I thought.  It will come right back on, just like before.

Five minutes later, and my power was still off.

Old Miser Lady that I am had gotten used to the heat I have had turned on since January 3rd, and I started to feel shivers.

Yeah.  Only five minutes later.

Sad, eh?

Ten minutes later and still no power.

I started FaceBooking…from my phone…thank goodness for the all-inclusive data plan!

My friends started commiserating with me.

I started growing concerned because I had to take the boy to get his braces tightened.  How was I going to get out of the garage?

My mind flashed back almost 20 years to the first house the Mr. and I bought.  We didn’t have enough money to spring for an electric garage door opener, so rain or shine, we were out there doing the heave-ho to get our car in and out of the garage.

So I heaved and ho’d and lifted my door when it was time to leave.

I should have checked the mirror after that, though (you’ll find out why in a sec).

When I got to school, Chicky had followed Rooster to the office to tell me, in her anything-but-innocent-way, “You know, Mama, if Rooster’s teeth are sore, and you take him by Tropical Smoothie for a treat to ease the pain, you can bring me a smoothie back to school.  I’ll take a Cool Breeze.”

Gotcha.  I am a sucker, after all.

After making that announcement, she looked closely at my face and laughed while telling me I had black stuff on my forehead and in my hair.

Say what?

Sure enough, when I got to the car, I not only had black stuff on my face, but it was streaked!  And none of the ladies working in the office, friends of mine you know, had said a word.  They had been too busy doing their thing to notice.

Anyhoo…I digress, yet again.

Rooster drove the car to his appointment with me hanging on for dear life as it had been months since he’d driven, and I’m determined to get him trained in time for him to get his license when Chicky leaves for college because the days of chauffeuring are quickly coming to an end.

We got him back to school after, three smoothies in hand – one for him, one for Chicky, as promised (and for being such a sensitive child, concerned about her brother), and one for me (reward for surviving the drive without throttling my child).

I ran a few more errands fully expecting the power to be back on when I got home.

Nada.

It was dark and cold.

It was at this point that I really realized how much for granted I take the electricity.

Simply entering my home was a reminder as I had to use a key to enter the front door of my home.  I tried to turn on a light and got nothing.  I checked the clock to see how much longer I had until lunch…nada.

Forget checking Google Reader for blog posts.

Nada.

No blogging for me either, and no FaceBooking.

I did clip coupons I had previously printed and filed all loose coupons.

I straightened the house while FaceBooking from my phone.

I called the electric company from my cell phone and requested an update.  Apparently Southerners are not used to this cold thing, because all of us were demanding so much power that we overloaded the system!  Imagine that!

And then I headed to the high school to sit in the office, which was quite toasty, and worked on my Super Secret Project (which is almost finished and will maybe be revealed soon).

Someone from the electric company called to see if my power was on.  She seemed shocked and informed me that it should have come back on hours ago.

No duh!  Ya think?

I put in another call to the electric company when I got home, and an hour later, Voila!  The power came on!  Woo Hoo!

Eight full hours of no power.  Oy, but I was concerned about the $1.99/lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts I had purchased this weekend.  But, all was well.

Rooster and I warmed ourselves up with some hot chocolate (made in my Cocomotion), and the house has heated up to my standards.

Rooster and I had to run back to the school to grab one of his books.  It was then that I heard it.

One of my favorite sounds.

That of the garage door opening.

It was a sign that all was well.  The power was on, and I had heat again.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: heat, power outage, weather | 2 Comments »