Freezing the in dark....

We had the Great Blizzard of 2013... no wait, scratch that, it wasn't that bad.  No, really.   It wasn't that bad.   Mostly because I ran home like a scared little girl when the snow started getting thick.   Yep.  My boss actually told me I suck.  I took it with a grain of salt.  We pretty much have to do that sort of thing (telling her we're leaving because we don't want to die trying to drive without being able to see) to her every time the weather gets nasty because she grew up in Wyoming.  Wyoming where winter doesn't bother anyone and they just get out the snow tires and then blow and carve through it like Yeti in the mountains.   In Oklahoma, we get this once or twice a winter.  Blizzards? Once every other year?  Maybe? 

The power went out last night around 10pm.  I made myself take a shower while the house was still warm.  By candlelight.   Before you think I'm a Spartan warrior woman bear in mind Leslie has a gas hot water heater.   Tea lights, it turns out, take quite a bit spitting before they sputter out and I got through showering in the dark just fine.   It was actually kind of cool.  It was a little cold when I first woke up this morning.  By 9 am I was freezing, and then the power came back on.   I had started reading Carrie (Stephen King) and I was getting through the part where she gets up the nerve to confront her mother about not explaining menstrual cycles.   Thank God the power came back on or it would have been hot cocoa and creepy Jesus for hours. 

Creepy Jesus knows. 

It made me think about how utterly different the experience was from the Ice Storm of 2002.  The one that knocked out power for weeks for some people, months for others.   The one I spent the first few days of in a trailer house with my crazy roommate and Andrew---my other roommate who was considerably less insane than the one I had for most of college. (And thus, stopped living with us after a short time)  The house got very cold very quickly.  My car was almost out of gas and the power was out all over town---which mean no gas.   Everything was covered in a thick sheet of ice.  It was really really cold.  I remember eating a lot of cheese.   We lit every candle in the house and put them on the coffee table, where we huddled for warmth.   The only bright spot, which didn't last very long, was watching Queer as Folk on DVD on Andrew's lap top until the battery died.   Then Laura's crazy went up a notch.  She decided that blankets were not enough and that we needed to sleep on the sleeper sofa for warmth.  All of us.  Together.  Like bears or something. 

It was not a good idea.  I'm convinced that our three fat asses laying on that thing at the same time are what bent the frame and made that couch sit weird for the next three years.   I could not sleep, so when she finally started snoring (praise God) I slipped out from under the covers and went to my own bedroom.  I climbed into a sleeping bag and slept surprisingly well.  I'm not going to narrate the rest of my journey through ice storm related craziness because I don't want to insult people who took me in when I was cold and broke.   Let's just say it was an eye opener and I am really glad I have the family I do.  

I do not do cold well.   If I had it my way, this house would still have a gas powered floor furnace that does not need electricity, or a wall furnace one as a back up.   My grandmother was a genius for demanding hers be left in when she got central heat and air.  I also want to point out that I will never willingly live in a trailer again because of this experience.  At least not one like that one.   It took my house 10 hours to get really cold after the power went off.  It took that house ten minutes.  Same thing with cold air in the summer.  It heats up and cools down like an aluminum pop can.    I don't have a problem with OTHER PEOPLE living in trailers, but I will keep my sturdy little house in town with the nice insulation, thank you, thank you very much.   I know I could get a bigger house for $35,000 than this one if we're talking trailers, but I don't need a bigger house, I needed a good house that I could actually take care of on my salary without much paid labor.  (In other words, all repairs needed had to be something I could do with adult--Dad's-- supervision or with the help of him and my brothers.)  

Happy snow day, people.  Stay warm and safe.