Be careful what you wish for

I will have to remember this maxim the next time I start moaning and groaning about the dullness of our routine: Be careful what you wish for. While it is often rather boring, I prefer the routine to chaos. And what we've got this week is chaos.

Sunday evening was the beginning of the Great Ice Storm of 2007. Monday morning, 2:13 a.m. The power went out. By 7 that morning, our waterbed was feeling a bit chilly and the bedrooms were getting cold. Looking outside our front window, we found our beautiful Bradford Pear tree had been peeled into 4 pieces, just like a banana. We'd planted that tree 10 years ago when Sport was a baby. We were all rather sick at heart to see it splayed out in such an undignified way. It was blocking part of the road, part of our driveway, and some of the front door.

"We'll panic at noon if the power doesn't come up," I said to SO. We bundled up and went out to start cutting limbs. Next door, my sister-in-law and niece were trying to de-ice their cars. An occasional CRACK! would have us shouting, "Run!" as we dodged large branches snapping and falling from the top of their tree.

Down the street, an enormous branch of a sycamore tree was blocking the road. We joined a group of neighbors to help move it out of the way. That sucker was heavy! But it was nice to see neighbors working together toward a common purpose.

At 12 o'clock on the dot, I said to SO, "We'll panic if the power isn't on by 4." The boys played with their army men while the adults tried to read but all of us ended of falling asleep. Another branch fell, taking out our telephone line.

By 4, we started to panic. Actually, we started making long-term plans for the night. Our gas-lit fireplace would keep the library and tv room warm, so we closed off the rest of the house, dragged in the boys' mattresses, and gathered up blankets, candles, and flashlights. For dinner, we ate at a local diner, along with just about everyone else who had no power. Despite it all, we were in a festive mood. We even got a piece of chocolate pie to-go. The house was pitch black and we all were asleep by 7:30.

The next day, it was more of the same. SO and the boys headed out to his folks' house to hang out while I went into work at 10. This morning, with school cancelled once again, I grabbed the crock pot and ingredients so I could whip something up at work using the electrical outlets. It looks like we could be living this way for a week to ten days, although I'm praying the power will come back on tonight. Sleeping on the couch is hard on my spine!

We're lucky, though. We have hot water and so many friends have offered to take us in. At this point, we are still willing to rough it. I'm really rooting for those OG&E guys to make it to our neighborhood today.