Guess who's back...

So, we drove home last night - miserable commute as there was a big accident and the tollways are all still free so the traffic is terrible. We did our usual check of the neighborhood taking the long way to our house.

- Downed trees still on overhead wires? - yep
- New power pole delivered 8 days ago still lying on ground? - yep
- No sign of any utility workers anywhere near us? - yep

Then we noticed some differences... a neighbor was running their sprinklers (which need power to operate the valves) but he had a generator so perhaps he'd hooked up the sprinkler controller as it has been some time since we had rain... but then the house next door also had their sprinklers going and that house is still empty... maybe? just maybe we have power? could it be?

I could not get into the house quickly enough! My hands shook as I tried to get the key in the door... I ran into the lounge - lights on! Air conditioning on! We have power!

Now, this may seem dramatic since it has been 'only' 10 days since we last had power, but that moment was akin to a vague memory I have of some biblical dude in a movie getting a sign from god - imagine if you will a bright light from the heavens and a chorus of angels "aaaa-aaaaaaah"... yep, it was like that :-)

There were lots of tears until Emma told me to pull myself together (just kidding but there were a few tears from someone in the house who will remain unnamed).

So then we checked the house - A/C was on, alarm was not working (fixed after we remembered to re-connect the battery that had been beeping for low voltage), TV works, cable is on, internet is on, phone is on. We are back on the grid!

Then we hit trouble - oh my god, the fridge is still unplugged... that means it's not cold yet... which means we have no ice... which means... No margaritas to celebrate?! Oh the humanity.

So I hit the store for some supplies - frozen strawberries (daiquiris anyone?), some food for dinner and some limes for future margaritas. Then it was time for the last thing, ice. Of course, that is usually a sign you still don't have power so, as I placed the bag of ice into the shopping cart, this nice little old lady touched my arm and said "oh my dear, you still don't have power? you poor thing". I explained that no, we do have power, I just need ice for a margarita... she looked a little confused and wandered away...

So last night we had lights, we had air conditioning, we had strawberry daiquiris, we had a nice hot dinner and we watched TV... fabulous!