Never tempt Mother Nature

You know, I'm 50 years old--I should know better, but apparently Mother Nature decided to test my preparedness this weekend.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that our area of the country has been hit with a horrible ice storm, the worst that we have ever seen. Believe me when I say it is bad--I would say over half of Oklahoma City (over 600 square miles large) is or has been without power, and many are still without power tonight, three days after the storm hit. The storm only lasted a few hours, but it hit hard.

We have major intersections with no traffic lights, and some businesses have been closed since Sunday. And to make things worse, we're expecting at least 3-6 inches of snow this weekend, which will probably hamper the whole restoration process. I live in an area that has a lot of older trees, and I would say that every tree or large shrub in my neighborhood has either been damaged and destroyed, and there were still power lines down as late as yesterday morning. It looks like a tornado hit down here.

Sunday afternoon my power went off for about an hour and a half. It went off again Sunday night about 11 pm and came back on Monday about 10 am (my office was closed on Monday, so I was home). It went off again about noon on Monday and didn't come back on.

We weren't totally in the dark--I had lots of flashlights and candles, and I have an old battery-operated portable television and my ham radio, and the iPod and my Palm, so I had stuff to do and I could find out what the weather was doing, but it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable each day. Cold seems to get colder the longer it's cold, you know? Luckily it hasn't really been THAT cold, but it hasn't warmed up much each day.

The most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my entire life was at least 50 out-of-state utility trucks parading down May Avenue this morning as I made my way to work. I wanted to cry. I tried to stay positive all day today, because some of my neighborhood was back up this morning, but as I drove home tonight, I began to wonder if I could take another night in the cold and dark. A friend of mine at work had already told me that if there was no power by Friday night, we were spending the weekend with her--she wasn't taking no for an answer, and I was too tired to fight her.

I can't tell you how happy I was to turn the corner down my street tonight and actually see LIGHT. I ran up the stairs and opened the door, and Maggie ran to meet me like it was Christmas morning--we had power--and HEAT! (And I can finally take a shower!)

I'll have to clean out the fridge and restock before the weekend, but who cares? I have ELECTRICITY!!!!!

Just goes to show--never EVER take what you have for granted. Now I just have to pray that it doesn't go out again.

And a HUGE thank you to all the out-of-staters who are here to help--we can't thank you enough.

(And to those of you who will yell at me for staying here in the dark, please yell quietly--I'm really tired.)