After I did a few things yesterday (errands and an airport run for a friend), I decided I wanted to be lazy (continue being) and watch TV and maybe a movie, all night long. 

While I was watching I could hear a big storm coming through, but I didn’t think anything of it—I was safe and cozy in my home…until the power went out.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Step one: locate candles and flashlight.  Step two: go out to car to charge phone and bit more.  Step three: Annoy people on twitter?

A picture of the houses in the area from my car. You can how dark it is 😉

After about 2 1/2 hours the power did come back on, luckily.  I’m more accustomed to extensive power outages, OR power outages where you can’t run water either (at my parents’ house if you lose power, you lose water too because it is from a well, so you get ONE flush. Use it wisely—) so this really wasn’t a big deal at all. And I started rereading the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Do you guys remember or were you affected by the big power outage in the fall of 2003? I was just moving back to Cleveland, caravaning with my sister Leslie when the power went out. Things that suck: trying to move into a new apartment when there is no electricity or food, and all of the stores and restaurants have shut down because they have to power. We spent the night eating dry “Honey Bunches of Oats” and sweating from lack of fans and having to share one bed since that was all that we could manage to set up in the dark with just a flashlight.

The next day wasn’t much better—some restaurants were open so we were able to eat, but the restaurant didn’t have fountain Diet Coke! It was a nightmare.

We did finally get our power back on a few days later and in retrospect it was a wonderful adventure. Considering that the day I moved to Charlotte was September 11, 2001, the great Northeast Blackout of 2003 was really no big deal. I think the day we moved to St Louis was really uneventful in comparison though—the key is to have a day that doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry on it (the best I can find is it was the day Barack Obama was officially nominated for the Democratic Candidate for President, but that was a fairly foregone conclusion at that point anyway…). And I’m cheating a bit—my move to Charlotte was a multi day process—one day I moved from Cleveland to my parents house, then from there to Charlotte, and I made more than one trip. 

My sister sent this picture of her new kitty, Catalunya. I wanted to just share it randomly.  I don’t know how her little body is able to support that head…

Were you affected by the blackout in 2003? I probably wouldn’t remember it so strongly if I hadn’t also been moving at the same time.

It occurred to me this afternoon that maybe I’ve had the flu this whole time.  I wanted to practice this afternoon, but after about ten minutes of struggling, I realized I was UTTERLY EXHAUSTED and was missing shifts and really the whole exercise was pointless.  So I listened to some recordings instead and lay on the couch and rested up for my Tuesday afternoon teaching.

I asked Chris if he thought I was just turning into a cat and he told me that despite how much he knows I want that, it was highly unlikely.

Nonetheless.  I’m trying to convince myself that one week of not practicing is not going to entirely derail several previous great weeks of practicing, so this is just a minor setback.  Flu or not flu, this was a nasty bit of something, and I’ve still got a bad cough.  I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll have a bit more energy…or failing that, Thursday!  It will be fine. 

This is one of those blog posts where I just had a few things I wanted to say so I’m supplementing with cat pictures. 

Have you guys seen Homeland?  We’ve been watching it on-demand.  We’re on the second season and it’s really good!  I recommend you check it out if you haven’t seen it.  Very well done and thought provoking, and I really like the haircut of the character played by Claire Danes.  I think maybe I need more layers in my haircut next time?

My last haircut…what do you guys think?

Not the blonde—or should I do that too?  It’d be very St. Louis 😉

Okay, really, not the blonde, but some more layers?  My hair feels boring all of a sudden.  This is how I think–we were watching some really intense scenes from Homeland and then I turned to Chris and said, Hey honey, how do you think I’d look with her haircut? 

My husband thinks I’m a crazy person.  I’m pretty sure of that.  He also said, sure, why not?

Red pants, purple shoes? I wanted to wear purple shoes and I thought I saw somewhere that red and purple matched.  I think I need a “fashion” page on the blog, don’t I?

We had some crazy “spring” storms today!  I was happy to make it home from work safely tonight.  There was a lot of rain and water on the ground, and various tornado watches and warnings all afternoon and evening.  I guess it’s supposed to be cold again tomorrow.  What a crazy winter we’ve had!