When the Lights Go Out

Confession: I haven't worked out since Friday.

It's not for lack of trying to find the opportunity to do so. It's not for lack of motivation. When you list all the reasons (read: excuses) you can't workout, you never consider this one...or at least, I never did.

As most of you have probably heard, last Friday night our area got hit with a load of storms that were at the level of Tropical Storms in Florida or a massive widespread tornado. I know some people may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I don't scare easily when it comes to storms. I lived in Ohio all my childhood. I was raised on tornadoes and sat through quite a few of them either huddled in the basement or (stupidly) watching from behind the front door's window. I have gone through massive rain storms and hail storms that never seem to end and lived through at least one major ice storm. This storm, however, topped them all for me.

The boys and I were at the lake on Friday enjoying ourselves and the wonderful (HOT) weather. I swam laps for 30 minutes and was feeling pretty darn great. I had just settled in with a trashy magazine while the boys were playing in the water when the park ranger came down to "highly suggest" that we all pack up and leave. We followed orders, and I'm really glad we did. The lake is about 40 minutes from our house and I really didn't want to get caught driving in the rain. It wasn't until I was on my way home and quickly checked FB that I saw some posts and pics from my Ohio friends talking about how massive the storm was. I still wasn't TOO worried. Usually these storms lose power when they hit the Ohio river just as they're heading into WV, or they start to break around the hills/mountains as they come in and dissolve into something not too terrifying. This one, however, somehow picked up speed and verocity as it hit the Ohio river and grew into some massive red crescent shape on the radar. And then BOOM!

As the winds blew in, I knew it wasn't a regular storm and quickly moved my car out from under the tree and power lines it usually sits under to right in the middle of my yard. (Call me trailer trash, I don't care! Yes, there is a car in the middle of my yard! *lol*) And then the boys and I were run off the porch by blasting rain and high winds and huddled into the HOT, and now dark house and watched from the only window that was safe to open. I admit to wanting to call my husband to cry, "COME HOME!!" but he called first to check in on us. I admit to jumping and screaming like a little girl when I saw some major event happening just down the street that I can only classify as explosive...and when the sparks flew, I knew it probably wasn't a good thing.

The storm lasted about 20 terrifying minutes, but we're still dealing with the after effects now. The explosions I saw were of a huge tree being struck down and landing both on the bridge below and also on the power lines. The boys and I watched as the lines snapped off right in front of us due to the pressure put on them by the fallen tree. The road was blocked for 2 days (and I live on a major state route, mind you). The lines are still not fixed as of now.

Around 6pm on Friday we lost power. It is now 9:30am on Tuesday and I am still without power. My fridge and freezer are bare save for bottles of water, a few eggs, a few veggies that MIGHT hold on another day, and some old cans of beer and bottles of liquor. *blush*

Day 1 - We were able to move all of our cold meat that I had just bought to the fridge at Hubs' work. Thankfully that town had escaped the worst of it and only lost power for about 30 minutes. While Logan was up at his grandparents house helping them help friends and neighbors and clear away some damage in my MIL's garden, Ethan and I hid out in Hubs' work's back room in the AC. (I swear if it were not for the fact that Hubs' work had electricity, I probably would've lost it pretty quickly.)

Day 2 - Hubs had to work again, and all four of us actually went to work early in order to get out of the hot house. Work wasn't set to begin until noon, but we arrived at 10am and watched some TV and relaxed a bit in the AC. Logan did inventory for Dad and then I spent much of the day out front with Hubs selling car chargers (the hot ticket item right now) and an iPhone. (Hubs kept remarking on how I was a natural and he wishes I worked with him more often. I volunteered to maybe do a few more Sundays here and there when he works alone as long as his boss is cool with it. It's nice spending some time with him and I really like sales...and have always been good at it.) We closed up shop around 5:30pm, Ethan and I took trash to the dumpster, and then Hubs bought us all dinner.

Day 3 - Hubs had the day off. And OMG I wish he didn't! We were bored and hot by 10am. We went up to the inlaws, where MIL and FIL played a game of Chinese checkers with the boys. Then the boys and I went off to try to find a swimming pool. I needed to do my laps and they wanted to get cool and have something to do. The Ripley pool was packed so tight I suddenly understood the "sardines" expression. And Ravenswood's pool was closed due to some political fighting between the mayor, city council and the pool manager/operator...let's not even talk about how much that pisses me off, okay?! (Save the friggin' politics until AFTER the kids aren't suffering from heat exhaustion and boredom, mmkay?) The only highlight is that I didn't have to drive the hour to work and the hour back as the Governor shut down any state services that were not essential.

Day 4 - And now here we are in Day 4. I'm not in the best mood. Went a little stir crazy last night. Never got my pool time so I've already missed a workout. Was supposed to run this morning, but I couldn't because I didn't have any running water to take a shower with because it's not our turn with the generator right now. Gov said everything was improving and I should come back to work, and then about an hour later I hear from the power company that things are WORSE than they thought and it's going to take longer than expected. *face/palm* So here I am, worried about my boys. I had been able to cook them breakfast the first couple days before it got too hot to stand cooking in the house (we have a gas range, thankfully!), and then yesterday I took them out to eat. I have no clue what they're going to do this morning for food, but let's just say it hasn't exactly been "healthy eating" at my house since Friday night. More like, "Whatever is easy to grab and non-perishable." (SO not Paleo.) We've had our share of dinners out and fast food and I'm about to lose my mind because I want my kids and Hubs and me all back to the plan I set for this week (and now I feel like I wasted hours of my time formulating a Paleo plan for dinners and shopping and everything only to have it stripped from under me!).

Power was set to be restored by Thursday night at the latest.
Last night they changed that estimate. Now they're talking Saturday night.
My kids are starting to lose it, though they've been handling it pretty well for kids who grew up in the electronic generation (moreso, even, than my generation!).
Hubs is going to want to strangle them by the end of the day, I promise.
I think he'll probably take them up to the inlaws for a bit, but that's only going to serve to drive them crazy as well.
*sigh*
We'll get through. We'll manage. We always do.
It could be worse, I certainly know that.
And tomorrow I have the day off for 4th of July and Hubs is working early, so we might be able to hang out at the store again.

Of course, this totally ruins 4th of July for me. I can't even think about parades and fireworks. I only want the spark that gives me back my freedom.

I don't mind hanging clothes out on the line to dry.
I don't mind hand washing them either.
I don't mind reading books instead of watching TV.

I DO, however, mind not being able to cook in my own house because of the heat.
And I do, however, mind that I can't workout right now because I have no access to a shower after, unless it's our turn for the generator.
No word on whether my gym(s) are open, but I haven't been able to get through when I ring them, so I'm not hopeful about that. I do have my swimsuit, so I may run by the Y after work and see if they're open so I can get some laps in. Otherwise? *shrug* It may be Saturday before I can workout again. And that's driving me nuts!

And did I mention I just got a new set of workout DVDs in the mail yesterday? Useless workout DVDs right now! *lol*

*crosses her fingers for power being restored VERY soon*