Light.... It does the body good!

So finally our power came on at 4:15 p.m. I just looked at the PSNH website and 3,500 homes are still without power in Derry and 50,000 in NH. So I feel very thankful to have our services back. Its been fun having Stephanie, David, and the kids but they are ready for their power to be on too. Its amazing how stressful it can be. My sister Jennifer would cringe at all the people we've gotten to talk to and commisserate with. It is very obvious to me that the state and federal governments cannot be relied on in an emergency and the sense of community that has been realized is really neat. I hope all of you reading this will remember to pray for those without power and heat. It has drained many people's resources right before Christmas. We are also expecting a major snow storm tomorrow that will hold off the work that needs to be accomplished for those to get back into their homes.

88 hours and counting!

Ok, not having electricity is getting old FAST! We've been playing alot of games and there has been no school or church. David and Stephanie are staying with us which is fun... but the laundry is piling up, and the floors are in need of vacuuming. Even though I'm bored, I'm thankful for no school because preparing good meals and keeping up the woodstove and the house has become a full time job. It starts in the morning by making breakfast and starting supper for the day. I have gotten quite creative with meals. We've had chicken noodle soup, squash casserole, apple crisp, chicken, and eggs and toast.We've enjoyed hot chocolate as well. I went to the post office this morning and spoke with several people who are involved with neighborhood meals. It has brought a sense of community but people are weary and ready to get back into the swing of things. Many of the grocery stores lost everything in their freezers so milk is a hot commodity right now. It was 55 degrees today but it is going back down again tonight and it will be in the 30's tomorrow. There are many who are staying with family or at one of the shelters that are open. The national guard is running the hummers around town and trying to open up some roads. There is no school at least through tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday are iffy. There are still 100,000 people without power today and they are having to rebuild powerlines, etc. My kids have found another way to keep themselves occupied.... dressing up the dog! Poor Scout, we need the power on fast.

Winter Wonderland.... NOT

We got an ice storm Thursday into Friday a.m. that left 1" of ice on our trees and lines and now our house looks like a disaster zone. We heard trees snapping and saw transformers blow during the night, but we didn't realize just how much damage there was. We lost many trees in our yard including the one that came down on Tim's box truck. (no damage) The worst was not being able to get anywhere, and not knowing how our community-at-large fared. The Batchelder's came over but had to use a chain saw to get down the road. Our neighbor from down the street came to get some wood but needed to go into Windham and come back because there were 2 roads closed due to trees being across them.

Very few people in Derry have power at all. The restuarants are full of people trying to get warm and something to eat. There is a high of 30 degrees here today with a gusty wind. We have a generator and a very good friend who is an electrician who came and put in a plug to be able to connect our generator to the house. We also have a wood stove. We cannot run the oven on the generator so I made dinner on the hot wood stove. It took me about 4 hours but I was able to make a chicken noodle soup and an apple crisp. We also pulled out the sterno and fondue pot and had a little mid afternoon snack. They say it will be Monday or Tuesday before we have power and the biggest problem is getting to everyone. The house has really not gotten below 63 degrees so we are fortunate. The wood stove works wonderfully and the dogs see the benefit in its heat.

We've been playing alot of games. Today, we went to Panera bread in Manchester to eat and use the computer. My parents called on Skype and everyone around us was interested to talk. :) Most of the people in there were also without power. As of this morning, 300,000 people in NH, 150,000 in MA, and 200,000 people in ME have no power. Its amazing how dependent all of your activities are on having power. I suspect there will be no school on Monday and Tuesday.

When something unexpected like this happens, you realize what you are thankful for... a warm stove, good neighbors & friends, a generator that we just bought several months ago, food in the house, and gas in the car.

Prewash

It is amazing how fast Scout has learned to climb. She has climbed up a fence we put across the stairs and got stuck. She has very quickly learned to climb in and up on the dishwasher. She has also learned how to take silverware out of the tray and run off with it. There is a video on You-tube that shows a beagle escaping by climbing up a chicken wire fence. You can watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2iQUomByi8. I think the dog was Scout.

Class Ring

Amanda got her class ring on Thursday. It is silver and has the Pinkerton clock tower that is silver and put right in over the stone. She chose her birth stone which is pink but the stone sometimes looks purple depending on what she is wearing. Her name is engraved on the inside. She is excited to have this ring.