Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Who needs electricity?? THIS GIRL!!

photo courtesy of wavy.com
Yes....ME, I NEED electricity and thankfully its back!!!  I had planned to partake in "Wordless Wednesday" and post some cute pics I took of the girl this weekend but we had some pretty serious storms move through our neck of the woods yesterday afternoon and I have been without my beloved internet until we got it back.  No internet of course means...no nighttime/early morning blogging (plus, I was at a conference today so no internet access at work)...no e-mail reading/responding...no curious web searches for miscellaneous information...no - nothing:(  

Reading what I just wrote makes me sound a bit ungrateful for the wonderful life I do have (its not all rainbows and butterflies but I've been very blessed with the life I've been given) so, please hear me when I say that I am in now way trying to take away from or even pretend to relate to the horrible storms that have plagued the midwest this year.  I cannot even begin to imagine what those people are suffering through and my thoughts and prayers are with them and their families.

photo courtesy of wavy.com
So, it all started yesterday afternoon - sitting at my desk - and, all of the sudden, it was like someone turned the lights out.  I turned to my left to look out my windows and it looked like nighttime outside.  The clouds were almost black and VERY low - it was eerie.  Shortly after, the rain and wind started and thats when things got downright scary.  Our building is a 20 floor building, and I sit on the 16th floor so if the building moves, I feel it.  And yesterday...I felt it - we were rocking and rolling (sort of like being on a boat), while the windows creaked and the glass shook.   This lasted for about 20 minutes and most of the folks on my floor stood in the hallways, outside of their offices checking their PDAs for updates on what was happening.  I know the building is built to sway...I get it...but you could not have convinced me of that yesterday afternoon!  After the storm passed, business as usual...just like that.  What none of us realized was that a large number of us were without power and our local power company was in no way prepared for the beast of a storm that had just wreaked havoc on the area.  My ride home was interesting...trees and debris strewn all over the interstate...but it was sunny outside...a beautiful evening.  It just didn't look like it fit.

photo courtesy of wavy.com
Arriving home to NO power was pretty awful.  It was about 80F in our house...I could live with it..the hubs on the other hand is like a portable space heater and is hot.all.the.time.  Luckily, it was still light out and we figured we'd run to dinner (clearly, we couldn't make anything) and hoped by the time we got back the power would have been restored.  Yeah, no dice on that one....we walked around with our flashlights...I took the coldest shower of my life...and we went to bed early (I had no blogging or internet surfing to do, no trash TV to watch, no warm relaxing shower to enjoy...no fun)  We opened the windows as it was about 74 outside and we figured that would be bearable to sleep in until the power came back...and we went to bed.

photo courtesy of wavy.com
At some point during the night, our power was restored and I awoke to my alarm clock next to the bed this morning instead of my phone....aahhh, the first time (other than my wedding day) I have ever been excited to hear that sound....now about that mess we left last night...because....we couldn't see.

Anyhow...I've randomly placed pics of some of the destruction from the storm from our area.  Our house was fine other than some downed tree limbs but some of our neighbors didn't fare as well and lost whole trees.  Still, we ARE lucky...so lucky...this storm was nothing compared to the hand others have been dealt.  And yes, in talking with friends there are still people in the area that don't have power yet...and its hot and its supposed to stay that way for the foreseeable future:(

I've missed out on alot of my usual blog reading so I'm hoping to catch up over the next day or so!!!

J

8 comments:

Melissa at Tall Blonde Blog said...

These storms are crazy. It just seems like they are never ending and jus won't quit. Glad you and your family are safe, and with power :)

Elizabeth said...

Oh girl....I am hating all of these storms! SO glad all your family are safe...we get our round tonight! :(

http://www.elizabeththomasblog.blogspot.com/

Joeylee said...

wow the storms are crazy right now! glad to hear that you guys are ok. I would not be happy either if I didn't have power.

Unknown said...

I JUST got into my car and was checking my voice mail when my car started to rock. I'm working near Lynnhaven and it was CRAZY. I called my husband who works in P'town and he said 264 was cuckoo. I'm telling you, J, it took me an HOUR to get from the mall to my 'hood and it's normally a 15ish minute drive. I dodged trees & limbs. I drove through major intersections that had no lights (and no cop). I get almost home, see my gas light is on and, guess what? I couldn't get gas! Ack! Fortunately, I found an Exxon close to home that had gas (take that, BP!). I had trouble getting my kids...the friend who is keeping them in the afternoon for us lives on a cut-through street that was so jam packed with cars yesterday it was ridiculous. Not to mention that his neighbor had a tree down on top of a power line in the front yard. Yikes.

Fortunately, all we lost were limbs off of our pines & our canopy cover. We didn't lose power until briefly this morning, but like you, I'm soooo thankful that it wasn't anything worse.

Megan said...

We had forecasts of some very severe storms last night, but luckily all we had was a thunderstom. The tornadoes have been out of control lately! Glad you're ok...and have your internet back :)

Natalie said...

These storms are crazy...so many people have been affected...all the records been broken...but not the good kind. I'm glad you are ok...and that your electricity is back on. Hopefully this weather will calm down for everyone!

Raven said...

eeek!!! Fortunately, we don't have storms where I live, but that is crazy! I could NOT do without the internet. Glad you are back :) you were missed.

Kelli Kegley said...

Oh yuck! I'm glad y'all are ok. I'm so ready for these spring storms to be over!!!