Roger was supposed to work on Monday, but everyone was called off due to the storm. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph is not conducive to good flying weather! Roger and I were up around 5:30 am., and I was getting ready to make coffee when we heard a loud pop and the house went dark. That was the end of the electricity! Last winter we had purchased a generator since we did not want to be without heat should the power go out. We used a few times last winter and I think we put about fourteen hours on the generator. However, this week that generator has paid for itself! (Especially as there are very few generators for sale right now!)
Roger went out to start the generator and that solved part of our problems. The generator can run a lot of the house, and last winter our water also worked even when the electricity was down. However, even though we had lights in much of the house, we did not have running water. This is a slight problem when you aren’t prepared for it, and there are seven people that need water. And of course suddenly, everyone is parched and needs water! Roger spent much of the day working on the water problems and called several people for advice. We had left several buckets out in the yard to fill up with rain water the night before just in case we needed it. Well that water came in handy for flushing the toilets and boiling it so I could wash dishes. This water problem was a mystery though! (I’ll finish that up in a minute)
Meanwhile School was cancelled for Monday due to the storm, people without electricity, and parents not able to get out of their driveways due to storm damage. That meant the boys had a day off...and we used up one of our “snow days”! I also had plans to have Hannah, Josh, and Josh’s parents over for dinner on Tuesday evening. But I had forgotten that our church was hosting a “Trunk or Treat” event and we were helping. I love how God works out all the details in our lives as we need them. Originally the boys were also going to have their last soccer game of the season, but that was cancelled also. So instead I asked Hannah if they wanted to come on Monday night instead of Tuesday. She invited us to come up to their house since they had power. But the boys just really wanted to stay at home, so I suggested that they come to our house. When they arrived around five, we still did not have water. Roger had purchased an electric meter to try to figure out why the water pump wasn’t getting the pressure it needed. Roger had discovered that the water pressure tank wasn’t getting full power, but why he didn’t know! It worked last winter, why not today?! Josh’s Dad and Josh both also looked at the problem and eventually it was discovered that one of the wires on the generator had come looose and the generator wasn’t operating at full power. This explained why the lights were dim, the microwave only partially worked, and we didnt have any water! Oh praise Jesus! This was a fairly simple fix, and it was discovered because Roger had purchased the electric meter, and Josh and his dad knew how to help. Don’t you just love how God works in our lives!?
We had a very fun evening visiting with Hannah, and Josh, and Joe and Debbie Lynn. I had become good friends with Joe and Debbie Lynn on the trip to Haiti, and it was a good evening of fun and fellowship. I’m thankful that they came to our house, as that helped solve our water problem quicker; and I’m very thankful for a generator that allows most of the house to have lights and keeps the refrigerator working. Roger has been shutting off the generator at night, and it gets very, very quiet and dark. It’s hard to fall asleep with everything so quiet, and so is every house on our road. It has also made for the need to clean the bathroom in the morning as one of our boys has a hard time seeing in the dark-Travis! (I’ve given him a flashlight, which was misplaced, and I’ve discovered a puddle near the toilet, but not in the toliet the last few mornings!)
Tuesday was Rogers scheduled day off of work, and we woke up to still no electricity. But this morning we did have water! The boys again had a “snow day” as the school was without power. Oh dear, we are using up our snow days on days without snow! But Chandler said his teacher wouldn’t want to teach without power because she can’t see very good in the dark. 🙂 I asked my friend, Allison, if her girls wanted to come over to play for some of the day. We were still planning on having the “Trunk or Treat” even without power as it was an outside event anyways. The boys were thrilled to have playmates for part of the day and then spent time making slime, playing soccer, and being outside. I made popcorn (thankful for that generator) for the Trunk or Treat and filled a carafe with hot water. Allison had thought of the idea to have a table with hot chocolate, tea, and popcorn at the event. Since the church was without power, I had to do get ready for it at home. By the time we arrived at the event at church the power was back on...hooray! We can have School tomorrow! We had about fourteen trunks participate in the event and probably had about eighty kids come to the event. Garett stayed by the table with the hot chocolate, tea, and popcorn so that Roger and I could interact with the kids that came by our Trunk. However, every time I looked over at Garett, he appeared to be eating the popcorn! The event started at five pm, and by ten after five, Garett was out of hot water in the carafe! But praise the Lord for power as I could heat up more for the carafe. The table was a big hit with lots of adults stopping by, getting hot drinks, and even taking a few of the tracts we had out. As believers there are many differing opinions on Halloween, and I know much of it is dark and Satanic. However, this is a community event where many kids and parents are coming to us. What a perfect opportunity to interact with them, tell them about our church, and give them Jesus. It’s tiring, a lot of prep work, and it takes time to plan and coordinate events like these. But what an opportunity! We were done at six pm, and we picked up pizza for supper tonight. We still don’t have electricity at home, and we’ve been working at eating what is in the refrigerator and freezer. Although the generator is pulling its weight, we can’t leave it on 24/7 so we are going to have some food in distress if this keeps up. Not to worry though, the boys are helping with that problem! Because we don’t have power at the house, we also don’t have internet. That’s not all bad though as it does free us up from the distractions of the internet. It also makes it harder to research a problem as in Monday’s problem of no water! However, we have nothing to complain about when you realize that in Puerto Rico they have been without power for 42 days!
Wednesday...back to school! Everyone was ready to go back to school today, and the boys actually only have a day and a half of school this week. A teacher workshop was planned on the calendar for Friday and an early release day on Thursday. It’s been a cray week! Since we didn’t have school on Monday, we also didn’t have music class. This is not good as the program is six weeks away. It didn’t want to take away time from the teachers, but music class is also important right now. We all worked together to come up with a solution of a combined music class for most of the Classes. I was thankful for the time that we were able to squeeze in as every little bit is helpful.
After Emma was done with school, I helped with lunch duty, and we ran a few errands. I didn’t go back home, because there is a slight concern that they will close our road. Since the tree is in the power line, which is dead, and we are squeezing by under the tree, I don’t want to be stuck at home and not able to get out. So I leave with all our children, and I return with all our children. I didn’t want to get home with Emma, have them close the road, and not be able to get back for the other boys and their soccer game. The boys had an end of the season game today against the parents! Any parents that wanted to play were invited to play against the kids. Of course, yes, I will! Roger was able to get off of work for a bit to play in the game also. It was a fun time, and soccer is something I enjoy (what’s not to like- it’s fun and exercise!) Roger had to head back to work before the game was over, but it was nice that he was able to come for a bit. As the game was wrapping up, I noticed that my three younger children were gathered around the truck pulling on the door handles. Oh yes! The keys are locked in the car! Not Awesome! I called Roger who was back at work, and he said he would be there in a bit. One of my friends, Annah, has triple A, so she offered to call for help. That seemed like a good idea, so she did that. They said it might be a forty minute wait...and it was getting dark. I’m thankful for good friends who are willing to stay with us while we waited! Roger arrived first, and he had it unlocked in less than five minutes! By the time we had everything worked out it was almost dark, the boys were cold from sweating and then cooling down, and the power was still out at our house. Garett wanted to go with Roger back to work for a while, but he’s the one who starts the generator when Roger isn’t around. I told him he had to come with mom, which he wasn’t thrilled about but he had a good attitude. But then Roger’s boss told him to just head home instead of coming back to work. Garett got to ride with his daddy so he was a happy boy! Garett does a great job starting the generator and I’m very thankful for his willingness to learn about it. It was another simple meal, and we had to stay up a bit later than usual so that the refrigerator and freezer could catch up a bit. Since no one was home all day the generator was off all day. I’m ready to have power again, but the outage page is reporting that it will by November 2 by 8:00 pm. Still we have so little to whine about as it hasn’t been too cold, so a few extra blankets for everyone at night is helping us to stay warm.
It’s been an adventure of a week, and we are looking forward to power soon. The little boys haven’t had a bath all week...not that they complained, but it’s a necessary thing! God is so good to us though, and He has kept us safe and warm all week. He is faithful and true, and I love that He cares for every little detail in our lives.
Please don’t mind the grammatical errors today as I have very limited time with internet!
Blessings,
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment