A terrible awesome day
Or alternately titled: a terribly awesome day, an awesomely terrible day or wait for it... an awesome terrible day. Wednesday was just bi-polar. Truly. It started out great, it really did. It tried hard to do good. We woke up to a winter wonderland - branches packed with snow and holding on for dear life, every flat surface just blanketed and big popcorn sized snowflakes falling hard. The power went out for two hours and then came back on. Papa was home with us and we all had breakfast in bed, playtime in bed and then retired for a nap, also in bed. When we woke up the power was off. The serious silence gave me a feeling it was for good this time.
But not to fear! We prepared for this one! There was water in the bathtub, wood under the deck to be burned and a camping tea pot just waiting to be used! Papa built us quite the roaring fire and we all huddled around it. It wasn't so bad. Then we went for a walk and I brought my trusty camera with me to document the awesomeness. Except that halfway through the walk the awesomeness started to disappear...
It was melting. And fast. We kept getting pelted with what felt like giant snowballs that would viciously land on our heads after a strong wind blew them down. There was slush everywhere and Birdie started getting fussy when there was still a good mile and half left before we would be home. At home things weren't much better. It was getting really cold. Not the cute "lets put on wooly socks and make out by the fire" cold. No, it was the "my appendages are all numb" kind of cold. Oh and we had a baby that kind of necessitates warm surroundings. Stupidly we thought "we got this" so it was another fire, feedings by the fire, diaper changes by the fire... And then we realized that it was one thing to not have no power or to not have water; but it's a whole other ballgame to not have both.
With one remaining hour of sunlight we started to pack for DC frantically. When the last bag went in the car right before seven we thought we were golden. We should have paid more attention to kitty's hisses (not a big fan of the car this one) because it was foreshadowing what was to come. What was to come was starvation induced headaches (we realized we basically forgot to eat), a disastrous McDonald's run (where I tried to nurse and eat at the same time), a pit stop at Target for water for Belle during which she decided to pee on the passenger seat and kitty (who was already angry and on the passenger seat) and it all culminated with a baby that wouldn't go to sleep until midnight and then woke up at two and five.
So Wednesday was all magical and romantic until it decided not to be. Which is when it became horrible. Lesson learned: being without power can be fun for a maximum of six hours, after which point it becomes terribly un-fun.
I know people in DC are mad about the storm being a bust but let me tell ya' I am greatly enjoying running water and electricity. And the lack of snow or slush. It's nice to wear real shoes again.