We woke up yesterday morning to a
winter wonderland of ice. It was so pretty. I went outside
to take pictures of all the beautiful frozen landscape. It really
was gorgeous….until our power went out. It took about half the
day for the temperature in the house to reach an uncomfortable 60
degrees.
Thankfully I had followed my husband's lead
and called to make reservations at a local hotel in the event the power
didn't come back on. It didn't. So at 4:30pm we find
ourselves with enough stuff in the van for an overnight trip to the
local Ramada Inn. Hey, their YP ad said they had an indoor pool.
Well, the pool's heater was broken so the kids shivered to death while
swimming as I stewed over the 130+ dollars I was having to spend for
two adjoining rooms in a hotel with all four of my children.
Usually when we spend money on a hotel it's for a night out with an
overnight sitter at home. Now this doesn't happen very often but
at least once a year we get away.
After the teeth chattering
dip in the pool we then return to the room only to hear on the local
news that it may be Tuesday when we get power again. It's
Thursday night!!! YIKES.
This morning we
regretfully check out of our warm yet expensive hotel to return home to
a thermostat who's little red line has disappeared into the never land
at the bottom of the thing!! I'm guessing it was about 45 degrees
in the house. So we make the decision to leave for Alabama 2 days
earlier than we'd originally planned because, hey, mother in law has
heat!!!
Many miles later, many bathroom stops later, many “be
quiet before I stop this car” 's later and we're here. And it's
warm. But I had to throw out every bit of the food in my
refrigerator before we left. All I could hear was CHING, CHING as
I watched dollars being flushed down the toilet. I silently
quote “God is in control.” “He has a reason for
everything.” etc. etc. And trying to figure out His
reasoning behind me emptying my refrigerator into 4 garbage bags.
On top of it all I find out my husband had 100 dollar NON REFUNDABLE
tickets to see The Nutcracker tomorrow night, plans for a wonderful
dinner AND an overnight babysitter so we could spend the night away
from home. All which had been planned for over 2 months.
CAN ANYBODY SAY “AAGGHH!!””????
So here I sit, alone in my bed
as my husband unwinds downstairs knowing he'll have to sleep with the
two that aren't on the floor beside me tonight. And I MAKE myself
remember “and to everything in ALL circumstances give thanks”.
So here goes…
I am extremely thankful for heat tonight.
…..for a warm bed
…..for 4 healthy kids
…..for a place to go that's warm
…..for a husband that cared enough to plan an awesome evening even if we had to give those tickets away.
….for a God that knows I fret over money and feel like we just dug ourselves even further into THE HOLE.
….for a blog to express it all.
(But I really wish I was spending tomorrow night with my hubbie wining
and dining only to return to my own warm house where my wee little ones
have been well cared for by a loving friend.)
I do believe I've had enough of today.
Nighty night….
Julie
if you all got any of that ice. Yikes! I’m glad that you all just packed up and headed to a place with heat. We were surprised by an ice storm when Joe was just a year and a half. We woke up to our neighbors checking to see if we were ok. The power was out, trees were falling all over and we had slept through it! Our house wasn’t damaged at all so we piled the three of us in bed with every blanket we had. The next day, it was a bit of an adventure because we couldn’t even get out of our street. Fortunately we did have a wood stove so Tony stocked Joe and I up with wood, covered the doors & windows with blankets and went out to help the neighbors. Both of our families were out of electricity too. After 2 days of roughing it we went and stayed with Joe’s babysitter about 45 minutes away. It was one of those memory making kind of experiences. A little scary, very cold, but kind of fun to get through it together.
Sounds like yall had quite an adventure. I always complain that it does not get cold enough here and I wish we had snow, but now I feel very fortunate. I forget all that comes with having a real winter. Here in Texas if it gets down to fifty we think we are going to freeze to death. I’m sorry about you missing you date. But I always try to remember that God always has a plan ofr everything and I know he has good plans for you. I hope the rest of your winter is calmer than your last week. Take Care.
Mishelle
That last comment was from me. I forgot to log in before I wrote it.