It's As If I've Been Given A Second Chance

This is gonna be quick. 

You know ICE STORM 2009?  

Which, by the way, is such a pet peeve.  We are 27 days into 2009.  How could we possibly know if this is THE ice storm of 2009?

Anyway.

I did not take the predictions of ICE STORM 2009 seriously enough.  That whole El-Queen B-o thing, and all...

But it is here.  And it is for real.

(My mom is soaking in the rays in Florida and I am frozen in the tundra.  Nice.)

At midnight last night, we heard a transformer blow, and knew we were in for it. Our power went off at 6 a.m. and came back on about 9 a.m.

Just long enough for me to begin making a mental list of all the things that I should have done to prepare.

(Top of list: Buy a generator.)

So now I feel as if I've been given another shot at the preparation.

The King has a meeting and I'm sending him with a list.

(Who schedules meetings in the middle of ICE STORM 2009?) 

(Oh yeah... The KIng.)

We need batteries and peanut butter and firewood and DIET MOUNTAIN DEW, for pete's sake, and charged cell phones and bread and extra Tylenol and Motrin and cat litter and dog food and the towels need to be out of the washer and into the dryer and paper plates and cups and chocolate and a battery-powered hair dryer...

It is just a matter of time until it goes off again.  I have heard two transformers go down in the last 15 minutes.

By the way, The Princess does not have strep.  She has some funky virus with ginormous sores in her little mouth.  She's still running a really high fever.  It got up to 105.4 yesterday.  Right now we're holding at 102.1.  (Note to self:  when sick child says her mouth hurts, you might want to look inside the mouth.)

I hope that you all stay warm and with power.  

I'm off to charge all of the battery-powered electronic things...

Here are a few pictures of the ice.  

And my favorite...the electric pole.  With the lines seriously sagging.

Comments

[KellyB]

Here in Bella Vista we still have power, but it has flickered. My sister in Spgdale has NO power. Praying yours stays on and mine does too! Also, hope the King is fine driving and my hubs makes it home before it gets worse. He is in Spgdale. I told him to take one of his 50 vaca days and STAY HOME! It was like talking to the wall (or one of my boys).

[Dana Jones]

I am the lucky person to go first?
I was just going to say you might want to wear gas mask before looking into any mouth with big sores in it. Is this diagnosis better than strep?

Hoping you have all the electricity you need.

[Kari]

my little girl has sores on her tongue a couple months ago...not fun. Supposedly a virus, maybe hand and mouth..not to be confused with hand foot mouth. apparently common with little kids, and I never was able to make the pain go away for her..I felt terrible! I think it was at least a week before it started subsiding, so helpless!
here's her story... http://wrightfarm.blogspot.com/2008/11/mondaywas-going-to-be-date-day.html

[Jen@ourdailybigtop]

Diet Dew is a must for your snow/ice survival! Hope the King doesn't forget it. Sorry to hear about Princess. Hope she feels better soon.

[Lindsay]

ooo no! You better stock up on the Diet Mt. Dew and peanut butter and chocolate.. how could a girl survive with out the essentials! I hope the Princess feels better soon! That does not sound fun!

[Mrs. Who]

We have ice and snow here in Lexington, Kentucky also. We still have our power so far, thank God. The last time we had a serious ice storm, we lost power for three days and waited it out. This time? I head for a hotel after a few hours.

[Jeni]

Sorry your power is going out! We've had freezing rain here, but it's just warm enough that the ice isn't accumulating too much. Just enough to be pretty - from the warm indoors.

I hope the Princess feels better soon! Viruses stink. I'd almost rather my Girlie have a bacterial something-or-other, so at least I can give her antibiotics.

[Amy @ By His Grace]

The King and a meeting...classic! Stay warm, stay charged and eat lots...I hear that helps you stay warm...at least that's what I'm telling myself as I eat chocolate! Get well soon, Princess! D-Man says he loves you!

[karen]

Uh huh, that's the storm that's heading our way. We got our peanut butter and dog food last night. (the cat is on his own. No, not really.) I hope the princess is feeling better soon!

[sandee foster]

Hi! I'm concerned about that fever. 105 is too too high. She will absolutely hate this but have you tired ice packs under arm pits and in in the bend of the leg above her thigh. (yes, I know..not a pleasant place to have a fever). Also, are you alternating motrin and tylenol?

[Diane]

I was going to make some snarky comment about how I can (sadly) give you generator-starting lessons, but your daughter's illness with SORES in HER MOUTH threw me off my game.
I HAD THAT! Years ago! No one knew what it was. What, did I live in Zimbabwe, that a doctor couldn't diagnose this?
It lasted weeks..fever, sore throat, stinky mouth sores...
Aren't I encouraging? It's just that I never ran into anyone else that had the same symptoms.
Poor girl. Tell her I said to wait on her hand and foot. And get a good grade on her science project for her.
I'd better go. I have other books to write, ya know.

[Marcie Johnson]

Oh I feel for you, haven't been without power but it has been the coldest winter on record for decades and the snow continues to accumulate.

[Brooke]

bundle up and stay warm!

[Kellyn]

The poor thing!! I hope she feels better soon. She must be miserable.

Run...charge! I will be thinking of you, praying you get it all done. Stay safe!!!!

[rrmama]

I hope the Princess gets better soon. I'm with you how do they know if it's the ice storm of 2009? Seriously. Today the weather is a balmy 70 and I am in capri pants tomorrow...46 and wet. It's no wonder everyone is sick here, including me!

[mandie @ thewrightingonthewall]

OH, that storm sounds bad. I am glad to hear that you are getting a second chance for preparedness.

I did want to say, my kids have had the same thing as the princess. I took them to the DR because they wouldn't eat. I thought they were starving themselves or something. When I asked my oldest why she said it hurt her tummy. I thought that meant she had a tummy ache. Well, apparently a three and a half year old doesn't really know how to communicate effectively that it was her throat and mouth that were hurting. The DR opened her mouth to take a peek and basically started laughing at me saying, "I think I know what the problem is."

That's when I learned to look inside a child's mouth before taking them to the DR.

It was an embarrassing lesson.

I hope she feels better soon. Stay warm!

[C]

Oh I hope the weather gets better for y'all!! And I hope the Princess gets better too. Maybe she has Mono? When my mom was a kid she got it and she had never kissed anyone before so I don't know why they call it the kissing disease! And I'm pretty sure that the Princess hasn't been kissing anyone!! :)

[Erin]

How stinky!!! Hope the storm settles down quickly! Glad to hear that Princess doesn't have strep but it doesn't sound pretty what she does have. Poor girl!

[Kelly @ Love Well]

I read a bunch of weather stories this afternoon (of course) about the ice shutting down power for millions of people. That's AMAZING to me. We rarely get ice up here; it's all snow, and that doesn't take down power lines. Hope you're staying warm and that you were able to get an infusion of Diet Mt. Dew.