The other night we lost electricity on our house for the first time since we moved in, over two years ago.
Winds had been howling all day, and extended into the evening. Sustained at 35-30 mph. Gusts over 60 mph.
Strong enough that I could see the panes in our windows bending ever so slightly when the gusts came along. Needless to say, that freaked me out.
Also needless to say, Jason was on shift. Stupid Murphy's Law.
Around 11:30pm, just as I was getting ready to slip into bed, the electricity went out.
Do you have any idea how dark it is in a house at 11:30pm with no light anywhere? It's dark. Pitch black dark.
It was also cold. Temps in the low 20s. Wind chills in the teens. And no more furnace.
No more 72 degrees (we keep it warm due to Jena's cold-air induced cough).
Worried that since we lived in a rural area (ie. fewer people) we would be last on the list for the electric company to fix, I sprang into action. Using the dim light from my cell phone I made my way thru the house, gathered an extra quilt and spread it on top of our bed, already covered in flannel sheets and a toasty comforter. Then I went to Jena's room and carried her into our bed (she sleeps like a rock & never woke up). Back to her room to get her comforter and spread it on top of our bed as well.
Climbed into bed, cuddled up next to her... and realized I was sweating. Maybe we don't need all 3 blankets just yet. I folded the top two down and snuggled back in to sleep.
Woke up when the lights came on at 3am. Walked thru the house checking things out, and decided to check the thermostat to see how cold it got. Didn't feel too bad.
70 degrees.
And that, folks, is why we paid extra for the nicer windows when we were renovating the house. Two years ago we got all new windows & doors as part of the renovation.
It took nearly 3 hours for the temp inside the house to drop a mere 2 degrees.
That, plus the fact that we have a wood-burning fireplace, makes me feel a lot better should we lose power during the Winter again.
Although I'd still probably bring the munchkin into bed, just to be safe.
As always, thanks for checking in.
1 comment:
I too am a '72 degreer' because I am just so darn cold every day of my life(-no, my thyroid is not broken, I'm just one cold chick). Hence my need to move to a warmer place...
Totally freak out as well when the power goes out, but we're lucky on this one because we live right near a place that has people who need power for health reasons so we never lose power for long!
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