And.... It Snowed.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be in a power outage with a special needs child? Grab a cup of coffee, settle into your chair, and listen while I tell you about my day.

The weather forecasters were pretty off on their timing of the winter storm starting, and I was hopeful that they'd be off on accumulations and temperature drops too. The day started off great. I worked on sanding down my future crafty spot off and on--a beautiful butcher block island that kept oozing a mysterious sticky resin left behind by previous owners & ultimately making it a junk spot. I did dishes, folded clothes & put them away, and as time went on I was feeling increasingly confident that we would keep our power on. So confident that I washed our winter coats. Roo spilled milk all over hers yesterday & I normally wash them all when I have to wash one.

Things were going well. Everybody was doing what they wanted. I proclaimed myself a maid for the day and informed my husband that he was now a manny (male nanny). The sink had just been loaded with more dishes--I'm not lucky enough to have a dishwasher (hired or electric), the dryer was ending  it's last cycle, and the coats were in the washer  waiting for the dryer.  Roo was occupied watching a favorite cartoon and Terry was outside shoveling snow.

The power went out.

...

The power came on.

.....

The power went out again, and this time it stayed off. And stayed off. And stayed off.

Before I go any farther, I need to tell you that my husband is an amazing man. He's the kind of man who pulls over to help people when they have a flat, not worrying that it could all just be a setup. He's the one who takes Roo back to the OR when she needs a procedure, because mommy just can't bear to watch her child be put to sleep, even if it is just anesthesia. Today was not his best day. I often think that he would sleep better/handle certain stresses better if he would take an antidepressant. In fact, I think that if he went on medication, I would be able to take less. ;) regardless of the way this day played out, this is not his typical character.

Roo was stunned, in awe that no matter how many times she flipped the switch, the lights would not come back on. I took out an old bill to report our outage and she brought me my debit card from the desk. The look on her face was priceless, "Pay it, Mommy, quick!" :)) It was awesome.

My husband came inside from shoveling and it wasn't long before he started panicking. He wanted to go somewhere. He was afraid that the power would be out for days and we would be stuck here in sub-zero weather. I had prepared for this storm. I had a plan. I was not abandoning 2 guinea pigs & a cat, packing up every single stinking thing that my daughter would need somewhere else, packing up everything that he & I would need when the risk of traveling the roads was greater than the risk of staying home. We had groceries, we have a gas stove that doesn't require electricity to stay lit, and with this being a small home, that would probably keep us warm enough. Even the paranoid part of me was okay because being home meant keeping the house warmer than it would be if we left, and the pipes would have less chance of freezing annnnddd I know that there is an increased risk of CO2 poisoning when you heat your home with the oven, but we also have working, battery operated fire & CO2 alarms. In my mind, we were good.

Then my brother-in-law called and said that we could all camp out at his house if we wanted to and that he had a spare room. From a social perspective, this was ideal, but even in fair weather, it takes about 20 minutes to get to his house and the heavy wet snow, combined with the horrible risk of being stranded, didn't make it worth it... to me. Terry was mad. He was freaking out, and mad. I said, give it a couple of more hours. I'm at least fixing supper and then we'll decide what to do.

Roo is ultra-sensitive to emotions. I don't quite understand how she can sometimes perceive a group of happy laughing people as funny one time, and terrifying the next, but we generally just take it as it comes. It sounds stupid, but when I sense her stressing I try to put out a calm, tranquil signal. I must be halfway okay at this because I've been called "the baby whisperer" on more than one occasion over the years. Anyway, Roo is crying because daddy is mad and mommy is irritated and -- ya know what, he was a jerk and I stood my ground. You don't need to know the details, the words that were said.. I'm not airing out the laundry. My point is, our kids play off our emotions, and if we can't hold it together, how can we expect them to?

There were lots of crying spells. Once when I told Roo she would have to take a break from the Ipad because we needed to make sure we didn't run out of battery life. Another time was when I broke down sobbing over the phone with my mother, because I felt like the weight of world was on my shoulders. Another offer was made to "rescue us" --a very generous, selfless, four wheel drive offer-- and I turned it down because we didn't need rescued. Then a state of emergency was declared.. that was the whole purpose of my mom calling and I answered the phone ready to tell someone off because no one was listening to me that I didn't want to go anywhere! "Is it a blizzard?!" I asked my mother. "No," she said. "Then why is everyone freaking out?!!" God bless her, she made me feel so much better. Finally somebody told me that I was doing everything right, that it made more sense and was a good idea to stay put.

A little while later, maybe an hour, the lights came back on. I'm praying and hoping that they continue to stay on, and glad that the snow bit of this weather is over. Temperatures are dropping very low over the next couple of days, making me look forward to that promised high of 28 towards the end of this week.

Two Pumpkins & A Guinea Pig

So here's a little something you may not know about me, I am an animal lover. If I had the resources and time, I would put Dr. Doolittle to shame. As of right now, we have 2 guinea pigs, a cat, and the occasional grasshopper or toad (because who doesn't like hoppers??:). The toads and other found pets have a short stay of a couple of days in a temporary cage, but it's still fun.

The guinea pigs are both male and close to 3 years old. They each have their own personality and preferences, and Roo & I love them. I'm not completely sure about her dad, but I *think* he might be a closet guinea pig lover.

The first one we bought from a friend for Roo, and he was such a chunker that I wanted to name him Gus after the little mouse on Cinderella. After about a week of going back and forth on names and talking to her about it & getting no where, I was almost set on Gus. Then she overheard me talking to my mom on the phone about it, and she very clearly chimed in "Moo Moo, yeah. Moo Moo."  I was shocked, Mom thought it was funny, and when I would try to convince her of a different name she would get upset. So, Moo Moo it was.

Moo Moo is a sweetie, but after awhile he became lazy. Almost like he was bored. I did a little online research and it turned out that guinea pigs are a "herd animal" and that they tend to be happier when they have some friends. 

So I turned to Craigslist and found a beautiful pig for sale not to far from me. He came from a home full of kids, so I hoped that he would be more outgoing than Moo Moo because he was still very skittish. 

Well, I was wrong. Moo Moo stepped up to be the dominant pig, and Lucky let him. I've heard awful stories about boars fighting and spraying when they first meet, but it was like these two shook hands and agreed upon it. Moo Moo became outgoing and protective of his new friend to the point that I couldn't look at Lucky without Moo Moo chattering his teeth at me. They're buddies.

The absolute worst part of owning a guinea pig is how often they poop. The second worst part is if they pee on their hay it will make the whole house smell like a barn (same with wood shavings, that's why I don't use them). Occasionally I will call them my little poopers.. but they're pretty good. Moo Moo has made some new friends though...

I bought some soft, cute pumpkins from Petsmart for them to cuddle with and when they do it's adorable, but something got into Moo Moo the other day... I thought for sure they were fighting over food or something. So I grabbed a couple of carrots to split them up. Lucky started to gobble his up, and Moo Moo ignored his. The only thing I could think of was that maybe Lucky had challenged Moo Moo somehow, because 3 year old pigs are way past puberty so that shouldn't be an issue. So I sat down, and the fighting continued.. I looked over & I started to watch them.. 

not my pic, but pretty much my facial expression

Dirty Little Moo Moo was acting like a pig and trying to mount Lucky, and Lucky was like "Don't even.." and then Moo Moo started mounting the pumpkins! I'm not joking! Those poor pumpkins. There were two of them, and a little witch and he would give a little love to all three of them & try again with Lucky.. And this went on for like a half hour! Gotta hand it to Lucky though, he never gave in. So if you ever here me talk about "the pumpkin humper" or "the one who isn't gay," you'll know who I'm referring to.