Power, and the lack thereof.

So Philip and I, clearly, are not prepared for a disaster. Not that we could ever give the impression of being the “I can survive in the wilderness with duck-tape and matches” kind. One only has to mention the word “camping” to me, and I start to shudder and head for the nearest Starbucks. However, living in the mountains of Colorado, a person really needs to know some basic survival skills. You know, like keeping batteries in your flashlights, and having a source of fire to lights candles and to, well, start a fire.

I suppose we got a little lazy regarding this because last winter we survived storm after storm without ever losing power. At one point we had 42 inches of snow piled up on our deck. So we felt rather invincible. We didn’t consider that it wouldn’t be the weather that would knock out our power, but rather a person driving too fast, wrapping their car around a pole, causing a chain of events that left over 1200 people in Evergreen without power. This happened about a week and a half ago.

After this occurred, the next 36 hours turned into a comedy of errors. The power went out at 4pm on a Friday. We were in the middle of transitioning Callie’s crib into a big-girl bed. Not worried, we called the power company, and they told us the power would be back on at 7:36pm. Seriously, that’s what they said. So we hung out, played with the kids, made a little fire, expecting our heat to come on in no time. At 8pm, it wasn’t on, so we called again, and they told us it would be 11pm. So we gathered all the candles we could find (four), found our flashlights (one), bundled up the babies and got them to sleep. Justus I think could sleep out in the snow, he hates being hot, so he went to sleep right away. Callie hates being cold, and also, she now had the freedom to get out of bed at will, which she did. A lot.

At 11pm, still now power, so we call back and they say it will be on at 2:45am. Now it’s starting to get really cold, but we decide to stick it out for awhile. Philip and I got into bed, lit the decorative candles above our bed (just asking for trouble, right? Luckily, no trouble from that fire hazard). At 1pm, the fire alarm starts beeping, you know, the sound it makes when your battery is dead. Seriously? The one night in almost two years where we have open flames around our house, and the fire alarm dies?

Shortly after that, we were sitting in bed reading (there was no way I was sleeping by this time, since we had candles in both the babies’ rooms, and my imagination takes crazy flight the later it gets). We then hear the sound of a creature in our kitchen. I promise, it sounded like a raccoon in our pantry, it was so loud. So Philip and I tiptoe into the kitchen, armed with a flashlight that is dying. We realize it has to be a mouse, because when it heard us it stopped making noise. I’m standing on a chair in the dining room, telling Philip to take care of it. He asked me how he was supposed to take care of it without power. I asked how he would take care of it with power. He acknowledged that I had a good point. We decide there were no good options at this time, and run back to our room.

At 3am, still no power, so we call and are told it won’t be on until 8am. By this time, the house was frigid, so we called the only motel in Evergreen, played the “I have two babies in diapers” card, and got one of the few rooms available. We bundle up the kids, go to the motel, sleep for maybe 45 minutes, and then the kids are up. I call about the power and am told it won’t be on until 8pm that night.

Here’s where it takes all of your will power to stay calm, find the humor, and assure the kids that everything is ok, and that we’re just on an adventure. So we head to the house, pick up a few things, and go to Philip’s brother’s house down in Denver. We were able to come home that night, but by that time we hadn’t slept in over 36 hours, and were at the hysterical part of the lack of sleep.

I realize this is a long entry, but it’s just a brief synopsis of the craziness. We found out that night that Callie can climb out of a pack-n-play and over a child safety gate, making no noise, with her blanket and baby in tow, which means she had to plan it. One minute you think she’s asleep in the next room, and then suddenly she’s standing in front of you with a grin. Dude. She’s two.

It was also a reminder that, in most trying circumstances like these, you have the choice of finding the humor in it and thanking God for what you do have, or getting extremely frustrated and irritable, which will lead to the kids being irritable and frightened. It’s also a reminder that, really, some basic survival skills and necessary items for power outages would really be the wise way to go.

So now I keep a good stock of Dr. Pepper in the fridge. I’ve learned my lesson.