Power Update!!

We are enjoying having the power back on, but Harry and Dawn are into Day 4 of The Great Monrovia Blackout of 2011!! They do have a gas stove, so they can cook. But like us they have a tankless water heater, so hot water has to be boiled on the stove!!

Dawn is a trooper though - we are still having the birthday celebration today for Harry W. and Ida!!

Can't keep a good woman down!

(Our house is available for baths, showers, laundry, and TV watching, but our kitchen and dining facilities are non-existent!!)

We will remember this winter I am sure!!

And power is still out at the church on Lemon, so we are meeting with Duarte Ward today.

And so some of us got out of teaching assignments!!

We take our tender mercies where we can!!

Hallelujah!!

It is after midnight on December 3rd - and we have been without power for almost 48 hours exactly!!

And the power just went back on!!

And we both shouted "Hallelujah!!"

It has been an eventful two days!! Ferocious winds felled trees all over the San Gabriel Valley on Wednesday night - our power went out about midnight then. The damage has been widespread - school has been closed for two days - apparently in addition to having no power, some school sites had trees fall on buildings too!!

The wind was so fierce, it pulled that lantana bush at the end of the driveway out by the roots!! All night long Dad was sure the big oak in Marugg's back yard would topple over on us!! It was scary indeed!

Having a school holiday was a mixed blessing - about the only thing I could do at home - with no power - was nap and read by sunlight or flashlight. All of Monrovia was shut down - no movies, no library, no Wendy's even!! Dad and I had lunch Thursday at Baja Fresh with what seemed to be the rest of the San Gabriel Valley!!

Tonight I hung out with Dawn and the kiddos while Dad worked at the temple. We headed to the mall for dinner and diversion - then back home for a cozy fire - they've been sleeping in the family room in front of it. Dawn said she could handle all of it except maybe the lack of hot showers - like us they have a tankless water heater. But their gas stove works fine!

The traffic lights up and down Foothill and Huntington were out - driving was slow and tedious. After a couple of outings, I gave up! Our land line phone did not work at all. My cell phone success was spotty. At least texting worked. I went across the street to Linda's to charge my phone. I took a tepid bath by boiling water on the propane stove Dad set up in the totally empty kitchen - cabinets go in the week of the 19th - ask me if Christmas is going to happen here!!

The locals who read this may recall that the house to the north of us and the houses across the street are on a different grid - and their power did not go out. It was comforting to have a street with some light on it - we drove down plenty of truly dark streets and it was spooky - but I grumbled a lot about the unfairness of it all!!

The big Christmas tree on the corner of Library Park went over - as did a Eucalyptus on Hillcrest and Primrose - it barely missed the owner's house and garage, but all were not so fortunate. Pasadena and Temple City sustained very major damage - they were told not to expect power until Sunday or Monday.

So I am grateful that ours came back on!! I was in the bathroom with my trusty flashlight and heard this rumble - that was the washer going back on - it's a good thing we were still awake - I might have thought an earthquake was waking me up it I'd been asleep!!

Eliza teased me in a text that it was a good thing Dad and I are the new Emergency Preparedness Specialists!! But we have certainly learned a thing or two. And we were glad for things like our propane stove and food supplies and water and flashlights and candles and cars that we could use to charge the portable DVD player!! (Last night Dad and I snuggled in bed to stay warm - and watched Hoosiers - it's fun to sit and watch movies when the power is out - you feel like you're putting one over on something!!)

Lots to do tomorrow - the one very mixed blessing to having the power out - or having part of your house under construction for that matter - is that you have this great excuse for not doing a lot of chores that need doing!!

And if you know of sites that sell curling irons or blow dryers that can be charged by hand cranking or in the car, let me know!

(My camera has not turned up - so no photos - sorry about that. Dad would stop at every fallen tree and take a photo with his phone - maybe I can get him to email them to me and I will post them!!)