The unforgettable ice storm of '09

Well, there are no pictures to go along with this post (frankly, grabbing the camera was the farthest thing from my mind), but I thought I would still tell about our powerless, but fun, week. It all started a week ago Sunday when Scott and I went out with our good friends, Chad and Leslie. We went and ate at Hog Haus in Fayetteville, and then went to see Brian Regan live @ the WAC. What a funny, funny man!! It was such a great night....until 1:30, anyway... I woke up SICK. Some kind of stomach bug, apparently (I had made the comment that I had a "stomach of steel" just 2 days before this...). So, I stayed home from school on Monday and followed the weather and the storm that was rolling our way. The ice was definitely coming, so the girls' school let out at 2. Thankfully, Scott had waited to take his lunch hour, so he picked the girls up and brought them home (I was going to try to venture out myself, but still had the stomach stuff going on. Gross, I know.). This time the weathermen were right on - worst ice storm I've ever seen in my 32 years! School was canceled for all of us on Tuesday and I was feeling MUCH better, so I decided to make pancakes for me and the girls. As I was finishing up, the lights started to flicker. I thought, "I'd better take a shower before we lose power and hot water", and as I was stepping out of the shower - everything went dead. Wet hair still in a towel and not many options for fixing it. So, I put on my best sweats, put on a hat, skipped the make-up, and the girls and I took our places in front of the fireplace (which came on when I flipped the switch, thank the Lord!). And that is where we spent the entire day...me studying and the girls asking, "Can I have a drink? When is lunch? Can we go outside? When's the power gonna come back on? What can I do? What should I do? What time is it? When is dad coming home? Where are we sleeping tonight?" and on and on and on..... Scott came in around 5:30, listened to this for about 15 minutes, and started making phone calls. He was concerned that we didn't have power for the essentials like heat and refrigeration, but even more concerned that we didn't have power for entertainment, like TV's and computers and knew that he'd be stuck playing boardgames all night if he didn't find a way out! Luckily, our friend Blake called soon after and asked about our power situation. We told him it was out and wasn't looking good, so he and Beth offered to let us crash at their place for the night....and we stayed 8. No electricity in our house for 8 days. The worst part was the other street in our neighborhood was lit up like Silver Dollar City at Christmastime!! We apparently were the cutoff line for electricity restoration. So, we came home everyday with our fingers crossed, walked into a cold, dark house, and packed a bag for the next day. I know it sounds just awful and depressing, but it was actually a really fun week! Beth and I hung out and relaxed with the kids all day while the guys worked, then we spent the evenings eating out, watching movies, watching basketball...they even got us tickets for a charity bowl they were going to, and it was a total blast!! (I'll post pics of that later.) We loved the Hanbys before, but we love them even more now. They were the perfect hosts. So, while I was drying my hair Wednesday morning, Scott came in and showed me a text message on his phone - it was from our neighbor across the street saying that the power had come back on at 5:30 am. Hallelujah!! I didn't believe it completely, so I took the girls to school and ran by here to see for myself. Sure enough - there was light and heat! It's amazing how something like that can make you appreciate the things you normally take for granted. So...we're settled back in and have returned to normal life again. And now it's in the 60's....only in Arkansas....