On Monday, Hurricane Sandy graced us and the east coast with her presence. Although (being in Ohio), we thankfully did not experience her full force, we were still left without power for a week.
Therefore, there has been a little bit of a delay in my blogging lately! Let the catch up process begin. :)
In our lifetime, Phil and I have never experienced (that we can remember) a storm with this much force before. Maybe it had something to do with the hot and dry summer we had (leaving tree roots dry and close to the ground surface), but Hurricane Sandy's aftermath to our area was a sight to behold. All across town, huge trees were uprooted and scattered across yards, roofs, roads, etc. The small trees seemed pretty resistant, yet the old, large trees, finally gave in.
One, in particular, was our neighbor's tree, who took a dive right into the direct power line to our house on Monday around 5 p.m. :
The reason we didn't have power.
Check out that poor sideways pine tree.
It unfortunately still looks like that today.
Well, after the sun went down (about 2 hours later), Phil and I decided that sitting in the dark with candles, starring at each other, didn't seem like the best way to be spending our time. Plus, without heat and electricity, the house started getting cold. And we were hungry (did I mention I was 33 weeks pregnant?!). Maybe the power will get fixed tomorrow? We thought... So that night we decided to take advantage and go grab dinner and a movie. A movie theater seemed like a safe and enclosed place to be during the storm, right? We saw Argo with Ben Affleck. Great choice (very interesting, highly recommend)!
Woke up Tuesday morning, still no power = couldn't take a shower to get ready for work. Phil managed, while I on the other hand opted for leggings and a sweater and headed out to the local Caribou Coffee to get breakfast and work remotely. Unfortunately, I think every person in our town had the same idea. Of the places that actually had power (Panera and Caribou) everywhere was packed. Packed. As in standing room only, folks. Let the hoarding of power outlets and wireless connections begin. I quickly realized that our power was not going to get fixed soon, as pretty much the majority of the city, and surrounding areas, were also in the same boat.
Therefore, for the next 3 nights, we shacked up with Mama and Papa Wisch in their spare room (Phil's old room!). We were very thankful to be able to spend time with them, shower, and enjoy each other's company during this interesting time. So glad our parents live close by, and had power! Thank you for taking care of us!! Being largely pregnant, it was also a nice break in the week to be able to work remotely (from the Wisch home in the mornings, and the Yale home in the afternoons). Plus, I'm sure everyone loved seeing the baby belly more often. :)
By Friday, our backyard looked like this:
Progress! Big tree has been cut down into pieces!
Unfortunately, lines are still down, no power.
Did I mention my BABY SHOWER was scheduled for the next day, at OUR house?! Yes, this was an interesting week for sure. As both my mom and Phil's mom were helping to plan my baby shower, not knowing whether the power would come back on in time for the shower (did I have a plan B?!) was a little stressful on all of us. However, luckily, we were able to find a perfect plan B, and the shower went off without a hitch! (More on that to come in the next post).
Over the weekend, as Lindsay, Ann and Katie came into town for the shower, we all shacked up at the local Marriott Courtyard hotel. This was also the hotel entire crews of male electrical workers were staying (as help from other states came in to support clean up and get power back on around the area). We may have been the only ladies there. At least they looked at us that way!
And, of course (as luck would have it), as soon as the girls and I came back from Sunday brunch after checkout, this is what we came home to:
Lights are on!?!
One week later, power is finally back on!
