Unscheduled Outage

For some reason my little cul de sac and the street across from us have had electrical outages for the last two days. The electricity would come on for a few hours and then off again for another eight to ten hours. We finally got around to using our fireplace. Here's what I've learned in two days without electricity:

* Although it's harder not having the tv to distract the kids during key times like the morning rush and 'crappy' hour (3:30- Daddy gets home) we did just fine.

* There's a good reason to have the damper open most of the way. My previously pristine white fireplace is smoke blackened. For a positive spin- I get to test out my cleaning supplies and see which one is best for removing that smoky gunk.

* You can bond over a 'firelog' fire and faux smores made with marshmallow creme. I think that was the best part of the whole thing. The joyful look on my daughters face when she was biting into a smore by her very own fireplace was priceless. She looked like she'd won the lottery. That warmed my heart better than any fire.

* I now have a valid reason to keep/buy all those candles. We had plenty of light to see by.

* My husband is very territorial with the fireplace. Every time I went near it he grunted like an annoyed caveman and told me to leave it alone more or less.

* We need a new air mattress.

* My daughter loves! having a sleepover in the living room and cried when the electricity came back on because she thought her fun was over.

* I think my son could be ready for a toddler bed. He did an excellent job of staying on his little pull out couch bed.

* I miss cooking and vacuuming.

* Dryer lint is an excellent fire starter. I think I'll always keep a baggie of it with my fire logs.

* The last two nights we've eaten at Taco Bell for $5.00 and another local Mexican restaurant for $28.00. Taco Bell food is pretty good and husband and I are both tired of spending lots of money for substandard food.

I have to go now. My coffee pot is full of hot water for cocoa. I haven't had cocoa for two days. Yum!