Indoor Arctic Adventures

When we went to sleep last night, the lightly falling snow seemed to be a wonderfully warm and comforting tuck in from the sky. There is nothing quite like the glow in the sky and the cozy blanket of fresh snow to make for a gorgeous night's sleep.

Nothing, that is, except the pitch black rude awakening of a dark cold house and three bodies shivering up to you while four ice feet and two cold footies are firmly placed on any exposed skin and determinedly leaching away any warmth left in your body.

All this because of a systems failure with the power company.

Today I had an amazing opportunity to count many of my blessings which I often overlook. The first being flannel sheets. I am so thankful for the extra warmth a set of flannel sheets provides. When the heatless air is nipping at my nose, I am happily snuggled to my neck in my superb sheets and blanket. When cold little Bobbins join me, they quickly warm up between the goodness of my sheets and the trapped warmth of our bodies.

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Building bed tents is not beneath me when all four of us are shivering from a power outage.

I am thankful for the excitement and sense of adventure that the ten year old in me nursed into a never-dying Olympic flame.The power is out? No problem! We will play and enjoy every second of that delicious dark day.

 Bust out the candles, cocoa, and roasting sticks! I love that my children didn't see the power outage as anything other than an adventure. I love that we were able to take a kettle and put it on the fire to boil water and make some incredible hot cocoa.

I love that the girls wanted nothing more than to sit in front of the fire and read stories. I love that all I have to do is say "it is old fashioned" and Faye is sold on whatever idea it is.

When we were house hunting, I was insistent on a fireplace. I am so thankful for that stubbornness now. Who knew it would come in so handy? While our fireplace is a gas fireplace, it is an old fashioned one that has to be lit with a lighter, but that came in very useful today. The fancy-schmancy ones that light with a flick of a switch wouldn't have worked without electricity to provide the initial spark, and mine worked just fine. Not only did it work fine, it really helped to heat up the house. I could absolutely feel a difference. Yay for fireplaces!

I am so thankful for my love and hoarding of candles. Not only did it provide us light, especially in the window-less bathroom, but it made my house smell really really good.

google image. Because we all want a bathroom that pretty.

What a blessing it is to have a water heater and running water completely independent of electricity! I was still able to wash the dishes, clean my kitchen, and shower while the power was out. And the water got so hot and toasty! I know of some people who have no water due to the electric water pump when their power goes out and I am so grateful for my non electric water source.

I am so grateful for the men and women who went out into the cold and worked on fixing the problem from 3:00 am this morning until power was restored at 3:45 this afternoon.

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I need to send the power company a card or something, because I really am thankful for them, freezing outside, just so I could have all the luxuries of modern electricity.

Also, I couldn't have done it without the wonderful pizza delivery guys in this area. I couldn't really cook anything for dinner since my stove is electric, and I had an appointment at 4:30 and didn't get home until 5:30 and then the missionaries were coming over at 6:00 for FHE.

Thank you so much, Pizza dude!

{If you get this movie quote, you are about a million times cooler than you were 5 seconds ago.}

I think mostly, though, today I am grateful for my heater. Not having it was rather eye opening, and every time I ran for another layer, or I sat in front of the fire until my back was summery, I thought about how spoiled I am. How good I have it to have a heater in my house which keeps the temperature at a very comfortable place. How wonderful is it to wake up to a pleasantly snug and glowing house? More than that, how easy is it to get out of bed when the air around is warm? How pleasant to walk in from the cold and have my glasses fog up from the heat, my nose to start rum from the sudden thaw, and my fingers and toes to tingle from the immediate heat. I love that! I love that I am so blessed in seemingly forgotten ways, yet ways that enrich my life so much!

While it is true we were a little chilly, it was nothing that a jacket and lots of movement couldn't fix. I think the thing I take most for granted is Thomas Edison and his advancements into the world of electricity as we know it. Seriously, who likes to sit in the dark? I mean, besides on occasion. Once in a while it is fun, although a little inconvenient. I am spoiled with all that I have, and it is nice to be reminded of it, and to help my kids see the blessings in their lives as well.

Because one indoor arctic day a year is enough, right?