Greetings from the Arctic

We are alive! This is an epic length post, so good luck! Here's a recap of what we've done this week:

Monday: It literally started sleeting the minute I left the office for my Jefferson City trip. I made it to Enterprise car rental where they had nothing but minivans left to choose from. I get the van, get on the interstate and stop 5 times between Jackson and Fruitland (7 miles away) to clean ice off the windshield. I exit with all the other people on the highway and decide there is no way I'll make it to St Louis, much less Jefferson City. I call my St Louis coworkers and tell them I'm not making the trip, then drive 35 miles an hour home on the now ice covered road. I park the rental van in the driveway and seek shelter inside. Greg gets home 2 hours later and we decide to leave Carson at MeMaw and PawPaw's house due to the weather. We snuggle in to watch TV and I have the foresight to turn on the electric blanket on our bed. It continues to sleet/ice/rain and covers the trees and power lines. The power goes out at 10:17 pm. We go to bed, which is at least warm from the blanket. We do not sleep because the sound of limbs cracking and hitting the roof sounds like bombs going off all night.

Tuesday: It is really freaking cold in the house and we have no power, no internet, and no phone. We live outside the city limits, so we have a well for water. No electric means no well pump to get water. We turn on the radio to learn that 11,000 people are without power, including both sets of parents and my grandmother. My grandma leaves with my uncle to his home, where there is a wood stove for heat, and both of our parents stay home near their fireplaces. The Enterprise van is firmly stuck in the ice in our driveway. Our van is realtively ice free under the carport. We light the gas fireplace, light candles, and eat cereal. I take a flashlight to the basement to dig out scrapping supplies and park my butt in front of the fireplace for most of the day. I light our gas stove and make soup with the stuff that is defrosting in our freezer. Greg takes hot soup to our elderly neighbors and goes for a walk. He reports that the neighborhood looks like a war zone with power lines down everywhere and broken trees and limbs all over the road. There are 5 inches of ice on our driveway. No one is leaving their houses. We use cell phones to report the outages of our phone, internet, and power. I try to convince myself that this is an adventure. At 2:00, I can't stand it and we leave the house. We discover that my office has heat and power and stop there briefly to get warm. We drive around looking at the damage and make a trip to Walmart with everyone else in town. We run into Rob and Becky, who also don't have power. We make a stop at El Torero, which does have power, for some dinner. I really stink at this point, but so does everyone else in town. At 9:00 pm, we decide to try to sleep. I am now wearing polar fleece pants, two pairs of wool socks, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, polar fleece jacket, sock cap and hood to bed. I cover up with 2 fleece blankets and a down comforter. It is 50 degrees when we go to sleep. I am really wishing I had showered Monday night. (It's also Mom's birthday. It wasn't the most festive day.)

Wednesday: It is 42 freaking degrees in the living room when we wake up. I pack a bag, drop Greg off at work, and slowly make my way to his aunt's house where there is power and hot water. I shower then head back to the office, which is supposed to open at 1:00, to use the internet and check the status of our power, phone, and internet service calls. I dioscover that the ceiling has leaked all over two of my coworkers' desks and destroyed everything in their workspaces. I stay for several hours working on odds and ends, then attempt to go see two of my therapy babies, but can't get the van up the hill into their neighborhood. I meet Mom at her friend Marcia's house for some lunch, since Marcia now has power. The university ends up staying closed all day, so I head to Grandma Pat's since she now has electricity. PawPaw is finally able to leave their house, so he brings Carson in to town and drops him off with me. He and MeMaw finish packing for their cruise to Mexico, which they had planned to leave early for today, but decide to wait until early morning. We pick up Greg at work and decide to run home for clothes and spend the night at Grandma Pat's. It is 40 degrees in the house when we stop by. The Enterprise van, which was due back this morning, is still firmly stuck in the ice. We sleep well in Grandma's warm house and awake to aroma of sausage and eggs.

Thursday: I take Greg to work again, then run by our house. It's back up to 42 in the dining room. Still no power or phone services and no way to check for internet service. The Enterprise van still won't budge. Carson and I drive Grandma to the grocery store and hang out at her house. By 2:00 the icicles are rapidly melting and the temperature outside is up to 38 degrees. I decide that I am going to free the Enterprise van if I have to boil water on the stove and dump it on the ice. I arrive home to find the power, phone, and internet back on. Praise sweet Jesus in Heaven! I have never been happier to hear the furnace run! I decide to give the van one more try and it comes right out of the ice!!! I take it back to Enterprise where the guys have to push our car up a hill and out of the parking lot because it's still so slippery. I pick up Carson at Grandma's and we pick up Greg at work. We had a celebratory dinner at Chan's Chinese Restaurant and have been home in our toasty house watching satellite, reading email, and roaming around the house in a sinlge layer of clothing! I love electricty!!!

I am so looking foward to staying home and getting things back in order for the next three days. I can now say with certainty that I hate camping and that if I am ever offered a job in Florida, I will be packing my bags in a heartbeat. Have a great Friday and thanks for checking back in after my hiatus!