Arts as Astra

Sometime Wednesday night, we lost power. Just as DH was coming home after his 4-hour commute, actually. We sent the kids to Son the Elder's friends' house Thursday morning, figuring we were all without power, so what difference did it make anyway. They came back home for lunch, since we had the gas stove, plus we got our fireplace going to generate some heat. By evening, we managed to get the thermostat up to 63 degrees!

Power came back on in the middle of the night last night, but the friends were still without power, and school was still out, so they have been hanging out in our warm and internet-capable house all day watching the kids for us while DH and I retreated to our respective offices, because staying at home all day with the kids two days in a row was enough for me, at least.

Really, this has been an opportunity for us to pay back these friends for hosting us in their house for several days last winter when we lost power but they didn't.

yes, just like He-man, now I can claim to Have The Power! Or electricity, anyway.

The lights came back on this afternoon. We removed our food from the snow and stuck them back in the freezer, whipped up dinner for ourselves and our hosts for the last few days, and baked pumpkin bread. Now the house is all toasty. The husband had the nerve to saunter into the kitchen and say, "now it's too warm in here."

More snow is falling, and the kids have the rest of the week off from school. I don't expect Nearby University or Big Government Center to open any time soon, either...

Finally, internet again!

We lost power Saturday afternoon and are still waiting for the power company to fix it, and I'm only now able to get back online.

We had about, 18-24" inches of snow between Friday and Saturday. Which would be a significant snowfall anywhere, but is completely paralyzing in a place like Washington, DC. Our street was plowed once, early on in the storm. The plows tried to come through yesterday, but some inconsiderate idiot left his truck in the middle of the street, so they only made it part way up. The police came and towed it yesterday, but the plow hasn't been back yet.

Son the Elder's best friend and his twin brother live up the street, so we've been spending lots of time here. It's where I am now, writing this. It's a very localized power outage, only about 10 houses, which may mean we may not get power until the end of the week, since the power company has another 50,000 customers without power to deal with also. We've trod a regular path in the street through the snow. The husband broke the path originally, and between us going back and forth and various neighbors using it, it's a regular thoroughfare now.

Also, my in-laws had come down for a visit on Thursday evening. I bet they are wishing they stayed in upstate New York, where it's warm and balmy by comparison!

Our house is down to about 47 degrees now. Next trip, I'll probably bring the cat up here, and hopefully she'll get along with the dog.