In the dark

The ice storm last Thursday night hit us hard. We lost power at 11pm Thursday. All night long and until about noon Friday limbs and trees crashed all around the neighborhood. It was surreal. When we got up at 7am, we checked our sump pumps and realized it was going to be inevitable. No power, and the massive amount of rain, and then melting ice, the water was rising. All 5 of us had flashlights and tried to get everything up off the basement floor. Jason made a trip to Home Depot and bought an inverter to try and run the pump off the car battery. It didn't work. Realizing there was nothing more we could do, Jason left for work, and I sat down to wait. At 12:30 the water overflowed and quickly every square inch of the basement was covered. It maxed at about 3-4 inches deep.

We kept the kitchen warm by simmering pots of water on the gas stove. The kids hung out in the den where we have the gas insert in our fireplace that gives us the illusion of warmth. By the time the sun went down I had to get out of the house to warm up and charge my phone. The kids and I went out and sat at Starbucks until Jason could meet us for dinner. This adventure was slowly losing its charm.

Did I mention we had a massive amount of large limbs down, including large ones that demolished our neighbor's fence, crashed into his shed, as well as the top of a tree that landed in another neighbor's yard? Our insurance company was helpful, but this is going to be complicated.

After putting the kids to bed Friday, Jason and I emptied the deep freezer and refrigerator. Things were already defrosted. We sat in our cold kitchen at 10pm, me eating melted Klondike bars, and Jason eating a bowl of his beloved blueberries he picked in July. I can't think about the food. It's too upsetting.

We slept at home Friday night, and the temp in the house got down to about 50 degrees. Breakfast was french toast with blueberries. Silly to eat cereal when we had food going bad. Thank goodness we can use the stove. After breakfast Jason took the kids outside to take pictures for the insurance company, and I had a mission. I had less than 20 minutes to splash through the basement and move all of our hidden Christmas gifts up two flights of stairs to hide them somewhere else. Luckily we didn't lose anything to the water. I'll look back and laugh someday, right?

Jason went to talk to our neighbor and he had gotten his hands on a generator to run his sump pump. He generously offered to let us plug our pump in. Within an hour we had pumped the water out, it was amazing. Jason and I spent another hour sweeping water around the basement towards the pumps. Hopefully our hot water heater and furnace will turn on again once we get power. Saturday afternoon, we packed up and drove to my aunt's house for the night. Hot shower, hot meal, heaven. Jason went back home though so that he could keep an eye on the pumps. As of this morning, Sunday, the house was in the 40s and he is switching the generator back and forth on our two pumps. The water table is still extremely high.

We were able to salvage a large cooler full of meat from the freezer, plus another small bag of things which I stashed at my friend's house. Hopefully the deep freezer wasn't damaged by the water either.

I'm sitting here in my brother's living room, enjoying the heat, and his wireless Internet. The kids have been so good, but we all want to get home to our house. I don't know when that will be. I heard the schools have power, but there are still a huge number of closed roads, and the buses won't be able to get through. If school is open Monday, I suppose I'll bring the kids home. Other than that, I'm not sure what I will do. Imagine this was next weekend and a day or two before Christmas. I'm already overwhelmed. Have almost started crying a few times. Have been able to hold it together thus far. Talk about a humbling experience.

Last night my little girl lost her front tooth. She has a little lisp now and a beautiful smile. Life goes on.