Like many people, I live in the south because I don’t care for cold weather. I am content with one snowstorm a year that drops just enough snow to play in, but not enough to keep me home for more than a day or two. And preferably, that day or two needs to come with a day off for my husband, not just my school age child. And I definitely need advance notice…at least a day or two!
This winter has been hard for the (many) people like me in this area. Much colder than normal and more snow than we’re used to have made it rather unpleasant. Yesterday, we had a winter weather advisory for the evening and overnight. We were expecting a dusting of snow on grassy and elevated surfaces. Lee County Schools did not make a decision about school (despite the fact that it looked like the snow was going to be worse than expected) so I went to bed around 1AM. As I walked through the house, I was surprised to look out the window and realize that the street was white. There were already 2-3 inches of snow and no signs that it was letting up. Hmmmmm…do you think they missed the forecast a little?
As I was laying in bed watching LOST (our satellite had gone out around 11:30 so I was relying on the DVR for my bedtime wind-down since my insomnia was bad) the power went out several times, but kept coming back on. I finished LOST and moved on to The Biggest Loser, but about 5 minutes in the power went off and stayed that way. This was 2AM. I called Progress Energy immediately and laid back down, but my bedtime ritual of watching TV wasn’t possible so sleep didn’t come easily. I think I fell asleep around 3:30, but Violet woke at about 4AM and I was in a lot of pain so I didn’t get much sleep the remainder of the night. At some point Progress Energy called to tell me the power would be back on by 6AM, but that would turn out to be untrue. Sometime around 6AM the school called to let us know that the kids were out today (Duh, ya think?) and I dozed off and on for another hour then finally got up because it was just too cold to sleep. Still no power, and as I look out the window I notice that our trees and bushes are really weighed down with snow and I’m guessing we have an easy 6 inches or more. It’s not looking good to get heat any time soon…
We got the kiddos up, dressed, and headed out to find a warm place to go. My preschooler started crying when we told him he couldn’t play outside since there was no place to get warmed up afterwards. With no TV and internet only via phone, we had no idea how bad it was in Lee County. Our neighborhood was a mess…lots of trees and branches down. The roads were pretty bad but we made it down to Walmart. We walked around for a while, my preschooler crying the whole time, and finally decided to go someplace where they could play. McDonald’s was packed, but warm, so we got some coffee and sat down to let the boys play…my oldest took off and was content to entertain himself climbing through the play structure. My preschooler refused to play and continued to cry, stopping only when my husband got him some apples and juice. That reprieve didn’t last long and then he started complaining that his ear hurt. Suddenly the whining and crying made sense! We called the pediatrician who said they could get us right in so we headed over there.
After a quick appointment, an ear infection (his first!) was confirmed and we headed back down to Walmart to get the prescriptions filled. Stopped at Wendy’s for lunch, then returned to pick up the drugs, only to find out they didn’t have one of them. UGH!!! Thus began the hunt for a pharmacy that had it, as well as a place to spend the rest of the day since we had been told at this point not to expect power before 6PM. We finally obtained the needed medication and landed at church, where I helped get some things together for our big move this weekend. Sometime around 3PM, Progress Energy called my cell phone to see if we had power yet. This had already happened at least 3 times and not once had we been able to say yes. I called the house again and got the answering machine. FINALLY! Electricity! Of course, by this point there hadn’t been any heat for 13 hours so it was too cold to go home right away anyway. When I finally did return home, I was utterly exhausted. The lack of sleep and state of high awareness (being out with kids is always much more difficult than staying home with them) I’d been in all day just about did me in.
So here I am, at 8:45, contemplating going to bed. I can assure you that my bedtime prayers will include begging God to bring spring to North Carolina. I can’t take much more of winter!
