Lights Out

Well, we've reached the end of another busy/challenging week.  We celebrated Emma's birthday on Thursday, but I'll get to that in a minute. 

Last Thursday (10 days ago), as we were watching our new favorite show, The Middle,  the lights went out.....

Unfortunately, it seemed only our side of the street was affected.  As we looked across the yard, we could see our neighbors enjoying their modern day conveniences of lighting and electricity.  We chalked it up to bad luck and went off to bed, certain that the power would be restored by morning. 

Well, as we awoke Friday morning....still no power.  I drove down to the Burger King to get some coffee and then we went on with our day--Bill to work, kids to school, and Mary and I for a tour of Okinawan grocery stores (which was very interesting and has me rethinking the local cuisine...and not in a good way)  We went out to lunch, certain the electricity would be restored by the time we got home.  No such luck.  Since I had nothing better to do, I worked on a project Andrew's teacher had asked me to do which involved cutting about 40 sets of triangles (which will eventually be rocket wings) out of corrugated cardboard.  I had been warned that this project would be quite cumbersome, but with my handy box cutter and cutting board, I whipped out those wings in record time.  I proudly returned my completed project when I picked up Andrew from school that afternoon, sure that this would clinch my "Class Parent of the Year" Award  (or at least make her forget all those late permission slips and forgotten homework folder signatures.)  "Wow!  I can't believe you finished that already!" the teacher said. "It was nothing," I smugly replied. "What was I going to do without any electricity anyway?" Luckily, the power was restored by the time I got home (18 hours after it went off), and things went back to business as usual. 

Fast forward to this Thursday (3 days ago).  Andrew forgot his lunchbox at school so we had to go back that afternoon to pick it up.  His teacher was so impressed with my rocket-wing cutting skills that she gave me another project--this time I was tasked with attaching some rubber bands to sets of moon shoes. (Apparently they're working on a space unit.)  As we left the classroom I warned her, "Last time I didn't have electric conveniences to keep me busy....I can't guarantee such fast service this time!"

That day was also Emma's tenth birthday.  (I still can't believe she's 10!) We celebrated in our usual way--singing and muffins in the morning, birthday person picks dinner, then cake and presents after that.  Emma chose to have dinner at Coco's Curry.  (You'll remember that's where Mary had her birthday dinner .)  She had also planned a pizza making/movie-watching birthday party at our house on Saturday night with 13 of her closest friends. 

 

After the birthday festivities and the kids went to off bed, Bill and I sat down to watch our favorite show again.   Like clockwork, this happened....

(Actually it was more like.....)

It was exactly like the first time...the across-the-street neighbors had lights on, but we were left in the dark.  We were a little optimistic that since the Electric People had so recently practiced their electricity-restoring skills, this time the power would return sooner.  No such luck.  We woke up in the dark.  Back to Burger King for coffee, and I sent the kids off to school, but not before writing this note to the teacher...

I don't know the technical terms, but apparently they had really blown some important electricity-generating fuse and by Friday afternoon we received notice that the power should return around midnight.  Using my iphone to communicate, Bill and I decided that we'd go out to dinner but we hadn't determined if we would meet there or if he'd pick us up at home. Meanwhile, the kids and I tried to keep busy without the joys of TV, computers and any other electronic forms of entertainment.  It wasn't easy.  Around 5:15 Bill received this email

He arrived home around an hour later to a more relaxed wife, and we all went off for an evening of Cap'n D's and glow bowling.  By this time, we were pros at the whole non-electricity thing, so when we returned home we got our candles and flashlights and made our way to bed.  I was slightly worried about Emma's birthday party planned for the next evening, but Bill kept saying the power would surely return by then.  In this age of ultra-privacy, I didn't even have the kids' phone numbers--Emma had passed out the invitations at school, so canceling was not an option.  Around 2am I woke up...still no power, and the worried feeling grew bigger.  Around 5:30am I woke up again to no power.  My feelings ranged from irritated  (What's wrong with these people!  Can't they fix anything! They're probably sleeping in their warm, cozy beds while we're stuck in the dark ages!) to panic (How the hell are we going to have a pizza making/movie-watching party with out electricity?) to creative (Maybe we can just order pizza and string a really long extension cord from the neighbors' across the street so the kids can watch the movie)  Luckily, at around 5:50 the dehumidifier roared back to life.  Yes!  I had never heard a more wonderful sound!  We were back to civilization.  I was so excited I even woke Bill up to share the good news, but he was less thrilled than I was and just rolled over and went back to sleep.  By that point I was wide awake so I went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee from my now-functioning coffee maker.  The joys of modern technology! 

That evening we opened our home to a gaggle of fourth grade girls.  Emma was so excited and the girls were very cute.  They're at that starting-to-like-boys age, but still like to play Barbies and Hide & Seek.  In fact, they spent the first 15 minutes of the party looking out the front windows at the boys who were playing across the street (who also happen to be in their class.)  Once I reined them in, they got to work making pizzas.  After that we started the movie (Spy Kids) and popcorn, and after that cake and presents. 

They ended the party with a game of indoor hide and seek while they waited for their parents to arrive.  The party was a success and the girls seemed to have a fun time.  I, however was wiped out from the events of the last few days.  I crashed even before the kids went to bed. 

This week I'll get to see my the kids' rocket wings and moon boots in action as Andrew's class takes part in "Space Night" at school.  It's sure to be "Out Of This World"  (I know, that was corny, but I couldn't help myself.)