We Interrupt You To Bring You...

I had a post for yesterday all written.  I wrote it on my other computer so just had to get to this one and add the pictures.

I had just started a show (think, internet radio) when POOF!  All the lights went out.  The Greek looked out the window and noticed that the weather had changed for the worse.

This is AFTER the storm had calmed down a bit.

The wind was so strong that our "For Sale" sign was nearly parallel to the ground.  There were even pieces of trees flying by the window.

That's NOT a bush!  It's a part of a tree, but not their tree!

The boys were a little freaked.  I mentioned before that they are scared of everything.  It was about 8:15 pm and  still quite light outside but they each pulled their flashlights out of their "purses".  If you don't like the dark, I guess you need to be prepared.

The Greek and his son went outside to check and talk with the neighbors.  My boys didn't want me to go outside, thinking I'd be hit by debris or worse, swept away by the wind.  As if!  One look at me and you know that's never going to happen.  Well, at least by nothing short of a tornado.

My kids didn't want to sit in a room with windows.  You know, flying debris and all.  They usually make plans to go down to the basement when the weather gets bad but at this time of night, it was too dark down there.  So they got their books and sat in the stairway leading down to the basement.

Silly Boys!

I called the electric company and found out that this storm had left a trail of blackouts in its wake.  At least 5 areas had reported blackouts 20 minutes before ours.  I figured we were in for a long night.

When the wind died down a little, I ventured outside.  The boys grudgingly followed me as they weren't about to let me out of their sight, but they huddled near the front door for a bit.

Things were calmer but we'd still get occasional strong gusts.  There was still way more light outside than in the house so we sat on the front steps and waited.

All of a sudden Rabbit says, "Fireflies!"  I've never seen a firefly in my life.  I thought they stayed lit for a long time.  I guess I was wrong, these were like a blinking light.  There was one on our lawn and we could see a couple across the street too!  I guess I had noticed them but thought they were just the occasional light flashes I get in my eyes.  Getting old totally sucks.

Our original plans were for me to make dinner after my show but now we couldn't cook nor open the fridge.  So we made The Greek drive us to a Taco Bell about 5 miles away that had electricity.  The kids loved the unexpected treat.

When we got home it was dark.  The boys were carrying their flashlights but whiny and clingy.  Rabbit has a portable DVD player that I had been using while they were gone.  We brought it out and tried to turn it on but I guess the battery is too old to hold a charge any more.

By now we were all complaining and I was dreading having to find something to entertain the boys the rest of the night.  All the board games had been packed away and put in storage because I stupidly optimistically thought we'd be down in Arizona by now.  Then my brain kicked back in gear, it must have thought it ran on electricity too.  We have four laptops in the house!  All capable of playing DVD's!  Duh.

We spent the rest of the night watching "Lilo and Stitch:  Stitch Has A Glitch"  When it was done, I declared it bedtime.  The boys were just starting to plead their case on why I should sleep with them that night, when SNAP...the lights came back on!  Saved!

All in all the electricity was out for about 4 hours.  Internet, however, was down for almost 12 so that is why there was no post yesterday.