We Have The Power!!!!

Friday night after work David mowed the lawn. We packed up and straightened up as best we could. We opened the fridge and freezer doors to air them out. David put the generator in the garage. And then we headed up to New Hampshire where there was power. We weren't really expecting power until Tuesday or later to be honest. We were tired and dirty and cranky. I don't think David and I said two words on the 2 hour car ride up. We were at wits end. Even with all the help, our routine was different. Neither of us were sleeping very well. We were ready to get out of powerless Hebron.

Nancy and George let us crash, shower, eat, wash clothes and all the good things that you can do with power. Cranky and tired or not.

I went to bed shortly after getting to New Hampshire (about 9:00) and slept pretty well. We got up and went to a sale they were having in town and then on to Keene to run a few errands and to see Nancy's latest venture. There is a little knitting store in Keene called The Knitting Knook.

Nancy is going to start giving knitting lessons there on Saturdays, and they are going to display some of her work. They were working on putting her sweaters in the windows on Saturday afternoon, so we didn't get to see the finished product. But they had one of her designs displayed in the store.

We spent the afternoon at the lake house. The guys swam and I opted to sit on the deck and read. Turns out George and I are reading the same book, Unbrokenby Laura Hillenbrand. Yes, I know, I have been reading this all summer it seems. Well, I have. I've been picking it up from time to time and putting it down. I was so thankful to have a few hours to sit still and make it through several chapters. I'm such a slow reader and the more I get absorbed in a book, the more my mind creates these vivid pictures and the slower I seem to read. It's terribly tragic and so amazing what people can survive. Hopefully I'll finish it sooner than later!

We went home for dinner. Nancy was making a yummy eggplant lasagna and David decided to call home and check the voicemail. If the answering machine turned on, we knew we had power. He had called already several times that day. We were standing by the counter waiting for the machine, when all of a sudden it picked up. We screamed with delight ... high fives ... WE HAVE POWER!!!

Immediately after the initial thrill, I said, "Didn't we leave the fridge and freezer open?" We began recounting our last steps before leaving. "I think we were so defeated and so sure we would be coming home Sunday night without power, we left them on." We decided to leave for home after dinner.

So, full of food, clean and happy to be going home to a well-lit house, Nancy and George sent us off feeling completely opposite than when we had arrived. I pulled out the ipad and we played songs and sang all the way home, much to Evan's dismay. Even with one road closed for several miles due to the storm, we made it home quickly and safely. We slept well that night in our own beds.

Just a few hours short of a full week, we were finished with the Irene aftermath. We Have The Power!!