Life in the Boonies

Okay, so Friday night I wanted some GOOD sleep. I was planning to spend 13 hours scrapbooking on Saturday. Yeah, I'm a bit obsessed with it all you might say. I enjoy the chatting with friends as much as the whole creative process. I shouldn't have planned for something that has rarely been happening though. I ended up turning out my light at 11:15. At 11:25 J came in (the 2 year old). I brought him in to bed with us. I don't mind this first thing in the morning but don't enjoy it this late at night with the whole rest of the evening to sharing the bed & pillows with him. Call me selfish. I went out on the couch with him. Around midnight I woke up & went to put him to bed. Bam! Out went the lights. My flashlight is by my bed. I'm in the living room & everyone else is sound asleep. I remembered that my insulin pump has a light on it so take that out & it lights up everything enough for me to see. However, it turns off after about 10 seconds. So here I am trying to carry a 39 pound sleeping 2 year old down the hallway to his room while keeping my pump light on. I get to his doorway & he wakes up. I bring him back to my room knowing that there is no way he will settle down in a completely dark room. I grab my flashlight & pull out the small ones I keep for the boys. I put one in J & N's room. I go back & get J who has fallen quickly back to sleep in my bed on my pillow. Back to bed he goes & so do I.

Fast forward to about 1:30 am. N has come in to my room - stumbling a bit - since it's completely black out. The flashlight I had left in their room to work as a nightlight is flickering & not working right. I get out the other one, put in new batteries & put him back to bed. I just want to sleep at this point!!!

Fast forward to about 4am. B (the oldest) wakes me up by yelling my name loudly. I grab my flashlight & head out to see what's wrong. It's dark & he wants a flashlight. Sorry - no more working flashlights are in the house & all batteries are in use currently. He grudgingly goes back to sleep & I also head back to bed. Sleep!!!! I need sleep!!!!

My next recollection is J again climbing in bed with me. I start to go back to sleep & decided (thankfully!!!) to check the time. I pull out my insulin pump again. It's 6:30am. I need to leave the house by 7am. I have to get up now. Bummer! I leave J in my spot on the bed all comfy & cozy with my hubby. I head to the bathroom to get dressed. Still no power. N is sleeping on the couch. I tiptoe about getting things packed & drive out of my driveway at 6:50 to meet up with a friend who is scrapbooking with me.

Three of us are planning to spend the day at an event where my in-laws work (a private school for troubled kids). We have 13 hours of uninterrupted time with free meals. Can't beat that! I, however, had little sleep & no shower to wake me up this am. I'm dragging. Another friend who lives north of me didn't have power either. We manage to get lots done though!

I completed an 8x8 album of J's 2nd birthday. I had taken so many photos that I figured I'd just put them in their own album to save space in our family one. It came out cute. My MIL had made him a Blue's Clues cake - his favorite show then - so I had bought a blue album & had a Blue's Clues paper/sticker pack that I used. I'll post some scans later.

Throughout the day I tried calling to check in. Not only did we not have power but the phone lines were down as well. I finally got through to my MIL around 5pm. They had gotten power back around noon but didn't get phones back until much later in the afternoon.

Life in rural Maine is never dull during the fall/winter season around here! This is not the first time we've lost power this month alone & there are many more times this winter I'm sure we will loose it as well. I'm going to start stocking up on batteries & glow sticks for the boys. Thankfully my dh's grandfather has a very large generator that handles his place & ours. When it's going & we are hooked up we have our furnace, fridge, & one outlet that we can plug extensions in to. We usually use it for a bright light in the living room. My in-laws also have a generator & when it's going we have running water here as well. All three of us share one well.

Today is very rainy & I had B do school on his own by doing some stuff on his computer (educational games) & reading some books. I'm updating my blog, checking e-mail, & then I'm going to clean out my pantry. I have to admit to having canned goods from about 2001 in there. We've been moving them with us for that long! That was about 2-3 moves I think. Time to clean it all out & put up the newly canned things I made this fall!!