First of all, the good news: Our dossier is finally on its way to Vietnam! We got a call from our coordinator last night saying it was sent out yesterday. So, I am doing a Happy Dance about that... However, this is probably a more realistic depiction of my appearance and mood right now: As some of you know, our area has been hit hard by an ice storm. We do have M&M's in the house, thank God, so we're okay. But please keep us in your prayers. We are currently without power (as is most of our town and a few other neighboring towns), and we're hearing the city's water supply may be gone sometime today (I hope not). We do have a generator (an even bigger "Thank God") that is keeping our heat on, but that's about it. I don't know when the power is expected to come back on, but it could be out for several more days. So much for baking Christmas cookies with my kids, but at least my babies are warm- which is more than some folks around here can say. Trees and branches are down all over town. Power lines are down all over town. We've seen electric company trucks out working, however it kind of appears that they maybe starting at the south end of town and working their way north. Guess which end of town we live on? We are on the northern side, of course. Can you feel my joy? We do have food in the house, but much of it is perishable and requires cooking. We moved some of it outside to keep it cold. We used the BBQ grill outside to heat water for Ramen noodles for lunch today. Ramen and M&M's. It's just like being in college again. Cell phone service comes and goes, and our land line is intermittent as well, and very crackly. Darrell went up to the roof yesterday to remove some large limbs laying on it, over our bedroom. We were right in the middle of installing new flooring and painting our bedroom (to make everything look pretty for Christmas company... LOL!) when this hit, so our bedroom is completely emptied out and the furniture is crammed into a spare room, and everything is in a state of chaos here. There's more freezing rain expected today, and rain and snow until Thursday, when it's supposed to clear off. The amount of laundry backing up around here is... I can't find the words... *Terrifying* comes to mind. Wait, here's a few more: Depressing. Daunting. Impossible. Unbelievable. Insurmountable. I know this is a silly and minor thing to gripe about right now, but keep in mind that as a family of 8, we can create more dirty laundry in a couple days than many families have in a week- especially with all the wet, muddy clothes from going in and out to work on the limbs, and the clothes that reek of gas and oil from monkeying around with the generator every few hours. I'm envisioning the mountain of laundry I'm going to have waiting for me when the power comes back on and, frankly, it's more depressing than the idea of living without electricity for days. We have out-of-town company coming in for Christmas on the 22nd and 23rd. I can just see it: "Why, sit right down here, Mom, on the wet, mildewy towels. Softest spot in the house. We saved it just for you!" "...Oh, don't mind the dog, Grandma. He's been walking around with someone's underwear in his mouth for weeks. It doesn't bother you, does it?" "Wasn't able to get to the store for dinner napkins, everybody, but I have placed a child's T shirt next to each plate for you to wipe your mouth on. Don't worry, you can't hurt it- it's already dirty." "That smell? What smell? I don't smell anything. What? A mix of armpit, gasoline, and feet, with just a hint of dead animal scent? Oh Nana, you say the funniest things!"
I've already decided... I'm going to pack up the Christmas tree and put it away, build a laundry pyramid in its place, hang ornaments from it, spray pine air freshener on it, and call it done. Merry Christmas. Can you tell my Christmas spirit is kind of... um... deflated? It's hiding under a pile of dirty socks.
I've already decided... I'm going to pack up the Christmas tree and put it away, build a laundry pyramid in its place, hang ornaments from it, spray pine air freshener on it, and call it done. Merry Christmas. Can you tell my Christmas spirit is kind of... um... deflated? It's hiding under a pile of dirty socks.
While typing this, my mom called to tell me it's 80-something degrees where she lives. "That's nice," I say. Of course, I can see my breath while saying it, but whatever...
The view from my front door:
A few images from around my poor, little town: Is this a winter wonderland...
or a winter wasteland?
The view from my front door:
A few images from around my poor, little town: Is this a winter wonderland...
or a winter wasteland?
And finally, I leave you with a PSA entitled "The Evils of Stocking Caps": BEFORE
AFTER
This is what can happen to a perfectly good coif, kids, when you dabble with the dangers of stocking cap overuse. Let this be a lesson to you.
2 comments:
Oh My goodness-I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face! But I will pray that your power comes on real soon and I am so happy that you are all safe!!! CONGRATULATIONS on your dossier being sent to VN! I hope to hear good news soon!!!!!
Where do I start, my dear Michelle? First of all CONGRATS on being DTV!!!!!!! YAY!!!! And secondly I have to say, as your pseudo-cyber mother, STAY SAFE...that goes for your whole family. I will pray for some warmer weather to melt that darn ice. We are lucky if the temp gets into the double digits up here and we have a gaggle of snow, but ice is the worst! And lastly, you are so funny ;) I love your attitude in the face on laundry mountains! Keep us posted on how things are going...
Post a Comment