Day 18-And I'm Not Even Kidding

This is indeed day 18 without power. Apparently, we have not been good girls and boys because the power pole fairy has yet to arrive in our neighborhood. Every night we put a flashlight under our pillow in hopes the pole fairy will swap it out for electricity, and every day the wench stiffs us. I honestly cannot believe it’s day 18. The generators keep humming away on our street. It sounds like an airport when I turn into our neighborhood each evening. It’s going to sound incredibly quiet when we get to turn it off for good.

I bounce back and forth from day to day on how I feel about the situation. Yesterday, I was frustrated to the nth degree. Today, I’m peachy. I suppose that’s because the crisis stage of this ice storm ended today for the utility for which I work. All of our customers are back on except for those needing work by an electrician. We still have a lot of cleanup work to do around town, but we can start getting back to normal. No more 16 plus hour work days. No more rising at 4:30am. I can have dinner with my family each night and maybe go back to reading that library book that was due somewhere in the midst of this three week ordeal. It’s going to cost me a small fortune in fines, but I’m going to finish it before I take it back. I can’t renew it again, and I simply cannot turn in an unfinished book. And while there’s no immediate end to my power issues at home, there are some real positives I’m trying to dwell on in order to keep from losing my mind because I can’t use the microwave..or the dryer….or the dishwasher.

I have learned some things about myself.

1. I am a stubborn, tough old bird. When I have to, I can dig deep and grin and bear it, more so than some other folks I know. I have a strong core, and that’s good to know ‘cause who knows what else will come my way in the years to come.

2. I have a wonderful family. The Hula-gen’s are a tight trio. My jobs have always required me to be away from home during a crisis. Hubby and Teen Angel don’t like it, but they accept that they must share me with the community in emergencies, and they don’t complain about it. They keep things rolling at home and pick up where I should belong. They do laundry, dishes and everything else that needs to be done. Teen Angel has been a working fool during all of this, helping out at home, at her grandparents and at church. I couldn’t be more proud. Perhaps, I don’t suck at this parenting thing after all.

3. I am blessed with good friends, like Randall who loaned us his Mack daddy gas eating generator when his power came back on. We got it the day the temperature dipped into the teens, and it probably saved us from dying of either hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning from a propane heater we would have been forced to use. And Janjanmom who brought us not one but two meals this week and offered to do laundry. Did I mention she included cake, yellow with chocolate frosting, just like I used to get in grade school? And enough food for Mama J. and Papa T., too? God bless her soul.

4. Life goes on. Even when the poo hits the fan, the worst of the worst happens and you can’t see the future..life goes on. It gets better day by day and one day you wake up and things are normal. It’s not quite normal for the Hula-gen’s yet, but it will be soon, and a new adventure will be around the corner. This, my friends, is why I love life. Even when it sucks, I get something out of it. That rotten pole fairy can jerk me around all she wants. I can take it. I got my guts, and I got my peeps. Who needs her stinkin’ pole? Okay, I do, but you know what I mean.