Let there be light!

After 54 hours without electricity, we spotted the Puget Sound Energy trucks at the end of our street around 6 p.m. yesterday. It was cold, dark and wet out but there they were, restoring electricity to our street. I seriously love those guys. They were working around the clock, 24/7, restoring power to over 300,000 homes in the area. It was a cold and rough 54 hours without power, but we made it.<br /><br />Funny story, about three hours before the power came back on, my husband hooked up our generator. We plugged in the refrigerator, the coffee pot and we had TV. While my husband was at the store to buy more gas for the generator, the power came on. I knew as soon as he hooked up the generator, we'd get power. He should have done it three days ago!<br /><br />Thank goodness for our gas fireplace which kept the family room warm and toasty, and our gas hot water heater so we could still take showers. I even washed my hair and then sat by the fireplace trying to dry it. You don't realize how much you rely on electricity until it's gone.<br /><br />I couldn't even go to the gym because because their power was out too even after the streets cleared up. I thought that was a pretty good excuse for not working out.  <br /><br />We were house-bound Wednesday and Thursday because the snow was so bad we couldn't get out of our driveway. My husband has a four-wheel drive truck so he could have made it, but he decided it wasn't worth dealing with all the other drivers and the mess out there. When the ice storm hit on Thursday, I'm not sure the 4x4 would have done him that much good.<br /><br />It was truly an amazing sight this past week. Here are a few pictures from the Snowpocalypse or Iceaggeddon (everyone had a name for it). Most of the ice and snow are gone now with temperatures in the 40's, but it was fun while it lasted.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">My car, encased in ice. I had chipped the ice off the back and side windows, but I couldn't get the doors open because of the 1/4 inch of ice had frozen them shut. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9JGTR8Ep9ytksUYmiiApCdvACjPslfqStofzUzXSvEnICfTTvNe9eZcVmmK5eO6UIe7DDiMvSHdN6APaxuN7TVBUAIYKRJlp6vHN0IGzptil3DFCHV9_-zoAGO6e_zzFTzVcddeQ1Hto/s1600/my+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9JGTR8Ep9ytksUYmiiApCdvACjPslfqStofzUzXSvEnICfTTvNe9eZcVmmK5eO6UIe7DDiMvSHdN6APaxuN7TVBUAIYKRJlp6vHN0IGzptil3DFCHV9_-zoAGO6e_zzFTzVcddeQ1Hto/s400/my+car.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">A Tree in front of L.A. Fitness</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyRJ1J9K6F86hJwBAURj32Y5rHEivBJK7c6xk161zKsY1ZDaICLEfhuyION_VUopT-OiuXs3m64v26t0Z1dUzfKuwzo34EYDjoPeyJjltzS5HOM-vmV5T2507OLuvaTUFmyGDymeg00pA/s1600/Evergreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyRJ1J9K6F86hJwBAURj32Y5rHEivBJK7c6xk161zKsY1ZDaICLEfhuyION_VUopT-OiuXs3m64v26t0Z1dUzfKuwzo34EYDjoPeyJjltzS5HOM-vmV5T2507OLuvaTUFmyGDymeg00pA/s400/Evergreen.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The parking lot at Fred Meyers (grocery store that was open).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFgrp9B5DDrroywVaUgokX-rEEw7UaGUKirULRqWWMORQC0QMcKvy8x5AuVorOG22KcSg1dI-8SoCPknKlL-1e6_tE_3HFdJl4M-gpebeiebfN8UWTjzzFhPFKEPGTpewr-J6S7mVVtT6/s1600/Fred+Meyers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFgrp9B5DDrroywVaUgokX-rEEw7UaGUKirULRqWWMORQC0QMcKvy8x5AuVorOG22KcSg1dI-8SoCPknKlL-1e6_tE_3HFdJl4M-gpebeiebfN8UWTjzzFhPFKEPGTpewr-J6S7mVVtT6/s400/Fred+Meyers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A tree in front of Fred Meyers </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDa5BmMdpke3-RIoX5oXcRpgfwbuJxNCUz7CvE_azojuUUa3aNO_J1yPdtqSVhln5nxYxKG2Ql41zMW20q9-4p5UNS0VUTvilZUt6mtzeL7BT9ghMC3dLho28XtBIEYB44lutjanQDp1c/s1600/Ice+Tree+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDa5BmMdpke3-RIoX5oXcRpgfwbuJxNCUz7CvE_azojuUUa3aNO_J1yPdtqSVhln5nxYxKG2Ql41zMW20q9-4p5UNS0VUTvilZUt6mtzeL7BT9ghMC3dLho28XtBIEYB44lutjanQDp1c/s400/Ice+Tree+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Another ice encrusted tree </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif78_wBumfBo9z-6mhM58cztgPhPKbr4ohN2EZo-0V39l19P3JKm5W3Xp6T0pLJJdnwjWtAaIc_wOVO-AH_cpCd34qS5eG1-qIhJ7Mw0WWoMOojrk7GKqqE9pH_GPLW0K2qaBZn5LRb1_h/s1600/Ice+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif78_wBumfBo9z-6mhM58cztgPhPKbr4ohN2EZo-0V39l19P3JKm5W3Xp6T0pLJJdnwjWtAaIc_wOVO-AH_cpCd34qS5eG1-qIhJ7Mw0WWoMOojrk7GKqqE9pH_GPLW0K2qaBZn5LRb1_h/s400/Ice+tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Close up of the ice on branches - it was just beautiful </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQkPczAIPWixYBb1Ob55EnC7cCDVyXK0HJKUZ2yryeJhWXKSGZEQZ0i_TfT2G4O7JYnawf0pcJE2hAIzB0kWcdGdL-_pO4TJxgdpZFV3AlLCYQuW-1P2Imhi2VMNUvoUtsj7934u2ySUg/s1600/Ice+Trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQkPczAIPWixYBb1Ob55EnC7cCDVyXK0HJKUZ2yryeJhWXKSGZEQZ0i_TfT2G4O7JYnawf0pcJE2hAIzB0kWcdGdL-_pO4TJxgdpZFV3AlLCYQuW-1P2Imhi2VMNUvoUtsj7934u2ySUg/s400/Ice+Trees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our Japanese maple tree in front of our house </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqizOTP_P6gtGBvQS3lysIzpAvWa-BrxMaOxClsSolcSrsa7u51g18VMkgNQ-cde68W6WNTqb4JACJ7iptfYY6b8OZ39gN8l-3kqhg0zafbQLlAg9C2QEWfNEf7NlF75pIgc36DofHdt3/s1600/maple+tree+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqizOTP_P6gtGBvQS3lysIzpAvWa-BrxMaOxClsSolcSrsa7u51g18VMkgNQ-cde68W6WNTqb4JACJ7iptfYY6b8OZ39gN8l-3kqhg0zafbQLlAg9C2QEWfNEf7NlF75pIgc36DofHdt3/s400/maple+tree+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">View down our street. My husband was trying to get his truck cleaned off so he could take me to work on Friday. It took him about 20 minutes. Luckily he has remote auto start so it could thaw from the inside out or he might not have been able to open the doors because of the sheath of ice covering it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvtjxXGyu8gKrDNGD5AmPwourb2Twjs_cs8_-Ed5jPWCm0jS__WA8dKoIYvzwDAZ04IHdEmwZLG6WZMDvUYYbXp_0GATPE0ftS9zf-ROCjkcYTJ_gCrswZ_esuPod9q1zNGU-5Gp_T1m/s1600/our+streeet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvtjxXGyu8gKrDNGD5AmPwourb2Twjs_cs8_-Ed5jPWCm0jS__WA8dKoIYvzwDAZ04IHdEmwZLG6WZMDvUYYbXp_0GATPE0ftS9zf-ROCjkcYTJ_gCrswZ_esuPod9q1zNGU-5Gp_T1m/s400/our+streeet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">More ice encrusted branches on our Japanese maple. I had a fascination with the ice. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ_flOaSycnisMzrxOb9jVv6tG-dYmGwDfnRV7lfeRo9qEHFNR5rQGCoE4SfNUYyQNYVuZ4Xi0LNIshlh5yoLPkgthVoL7ESjLM51yuM8nd1TKavgnRU_mRJNcMXgTN3xHEbin21Tq1sh/s1600/Japanese+maple+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJ_flOaSycnisMzrxOb9jVv6tG-dYmGwDfnRV7lfeRo9qEHFNR5rQGCoE4SfNUYyQNYVuZ4Xi0LNIshlh5yoLPkgthVoL7ESjLM51yuM8nd1TKavgnRU_mRJNcMXgTN3xHEbin21Tq1sh/s400/Japanese+maple+tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The bamboo in our front yard. It's usually about 15 feet tall and completely blocks the view of our neighbor across the street. Now it's only about three feet tall since the ice made it fall, and we can see our neighbor from our front window (which I hate). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzErwGsi_GRf9VuhEPxTqSAKIDHXQKGb1m8abfYy_QzLq8yN4YOE4dMSfocCUPJVBHtp4qxK0pBCdbleD0v_sEVCCeI2-K2ypINmrsMyoRW1iujaf5GLLqVvpP7NcmiWa_UCq8J5KGpQV/s1600/Bamboo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzErwGsi_GRf9VuhEPxTqSAKIDHXQKGb1m8abfYy_QzLq8yN4YOE4dMSfocCUPJVBHtp4qxK0pBCdbleD0v_sEVCCeI2-K2ypINmrsMyoRW1iujaf5GLLqVvpP7NcmiWa_UCq8J5KGpQV/s400/Bamboo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />I made it to the gym yesterday, but my eating hasn't been stellar these past few days. A lot of eating out which I'm not accustomed to doing, and sometimes I didn't make the best food choices. We went to the movies Friday night and I had  popcorn <u>and</u> candy. I haven't done that in years and my husband was shocked. I told him to leave me alone, I was going through a bad spell. The whole sister/niece thing, and now the storm and no power, who gives a shit anyway about what I eat. I know. Silly me. Of course <u>I</u> care. Now it's back to the grindstone, eating right and exercising. Life goes on.

Let there be light!

After 54 hours without electricity, we spotted the Puget Sound Energy trucks at the end of our street around 6 p.m. yesterday. It was cold, ...

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