:ugh Hey, everyone,

My area has been hit with a major ice storm...it has passed now, but we were without power/electricity for three days and our isp also was without power. So, this is the first chance I've had to get online and my internet connection is pretty intermittent, so I may or may not reply to your emails in a timely manner. :D I am hoping things get fixed up here and that we no longer have these types of problems. There is another (bigger) ice storm expected on Wednesday, so who knows what will happen!

I have been thinking about you Melanie. Biggest hugs!!!
That must've REALLY sucked!!! You must've felt like an extra on Little House on the Prairie or something.

I am happy to see that you are back! I missed you! :wave
I hope your power stays on through this next ice storm too. Sheeeeesh!!!

OH! I'm glad you're OK! I noticed you were missing for a few days & was wondering what was up! Figured you were busy or away! :wave
snowdrop <== Is that the one in control of winter weather??

Ahhh a perfect opportunity for a Herself the Elf lesson! LOL!!! LOL!!!

snowdrop Snow_drop "is in charge of the air and water."
:elf Herself the Elf "makes sure the snow falls in winter, flowers bloom in spring. sun shines bright in summer, and leaves turn red and gold in fall."
meadow MeadowMorn "watches over the animals."
woodpink Wood_pink "is in charge of the colors in nature."
willow WillowSong "rules over the sounds of nature."

Guess Mel needs these 2 then!
:elf snowdrop

Yep, all's well here, but I do believe that fifteen percent of Wichita is still without power. Their power company enlisted other workers from Texas and Tennessee to help out. The ice accumulates quite rapidly in the freezing rain and so many trees are broken, it's so sad. But trees are so amazing and they will bounce back and this will encourage new growth as long as there's no infection. So, to the elves that manage air, water and snow; could the next storm please be mild? Thanks!

:elf snowdrop

Oh, and here's a little story for you all: Jon
went to Home Depot, the only place in all of Wichita (which boasts a population of nearly 350,000 people) that had generators, and just missed out on buying the last one when the manager announced that a truck had just been deployed from Oklahoma carrying 200 generators and it would be a first come first serve basis. The estimated waiting period for one of those generators was two hours. So, Jon called to say he was going to wait in line. He was in about the 33rd place in a line of over 250 people. The manager had buckets brought out to the line members for sitting on and he also offered them a ten percent discount on the item. About two hours later he called home again to say that they had word from the driver and he was a hundred miles away still and could only travel at about 40 mph, so it would take him another 2.5 hours. Jon said he'd wait. And finally, Jon called at the seven hour mark and said that the truck driver had been incarcerated and the trucking company had to send a relief driver, so the manager at Home Depot had the line members fill out some form and they were told they could come pick up their generators the following day. So, we did get a generator, which pleased the children because I hooked up the tv, directv, gamecube, vcr, dvd player, stereo and a lamp. LOL I also hooked up the well pump, since without electricity, we have no water! I also hung up blankets over the hallway entrances, so it would be easier to heat the house, most importantly the family room, the kids' rooms, the dining room and the kitchen. We do have a wood burning stove in the family room and Jon and Iian had picked up some free wood earlier in the month (Jon has a double barrel wood burning stove in the garage) so we had plenty of wood. It was hard to be without electricity, but it was so cold outside that I just moved all of the food in the freezer to the trunk of my car, so we didn't lose any of that. LOL
And my experience with cooking (or heating food up rather) on that wood burning stove has given new life to the phrase "slaving over a hot stove" !! :beer

Oh wow!! That's quite an experience!! Jon was really dedicated to get your generator, so I'm glad it worked out and you guys got one!

My mom says when I was young and we lost power, I kept asking to use stuff like the tv, or radio, etc... because I had no idea what ran by electricity. I thought only lights were gone! LOL

LOL! :lol: :lol: :lol:
that is the funniest thing Mel!!! so glad you're back... you have no idea how boring work is without you to talk to!!! okay, yeah, that sounds like I want your electricity for selfish reasons... but I seriously do hope that you're not without electricity anymore!

OMG what an ordeal for that generator! And I can't get over the fact that the driver was incarcerated!!! WTF!!! That is just too much bad luck all at once for Jon! I am sooo happy that waiting there paid off though. :)

I hope nothing like this happens any time soon to you, my deary! I am so happy to see you back :wub:

Jon didn't seem all that upset about it, he had his gameboy sp with him and he chatted with people in the store...not to mention there was electricity there, LOL I'm hoping that this next storm will be mild. It is super foggy out and still well below freezing, my main concern today is that Kindred's plane arrives home without mishap. :D :frostywink :cookie

Oo yes! Kindred is finally coming home! I hope his flight arrives as planned.
That's a long vacation away! You must've really missed the little guy! :wub:

OMG his plane arrived early! He was waiting at the departure/arrival gate for me when I got there. We're glad to have Kindred home and yes, it was a long (and quiet for us) vacation. :D

Yeah!!! It's nice that Kindred made it home safely & without any incidences. Glad that you still have your power. BTW, how do those generators work? (I mean where do they get their power??)

Well, Joyce, I don't really know how a generator works, but it reminds me of a lawn mower. It uses gasoline and provides approximately 1-2 hours of energy per gallon. It claims that it provides ten hours of power for it's full tank, which is five gallons and it provides 5550 watts of power...constant and has a maximum of about 8550 watts. So, it can run some important functions of the house, like water, entertainment, the fridge if I get another extension cord. It can run the microwave or the vacuum cleaner if those are needed and for cooking without power the microwave is a neccessity, but I would have to unplug other things to use those. It's not really pleasant to have to use it, but it does make a power outage situation bearable and definitely relieves some stress. :D

Kindred's back and super bratty. He's kept me running around the house all day, I actually walked 2 miles just inside my house today! (I wore a pedomiter) Ugh, we've had to completely re-set our boundaries with him and he's still pushing us to see how far he can take situations. They spoiled him absolutely rotten out in CA! :angry:

Megan is the same way when she visits her grandparents in California! When she comes home she thinks she can do whatever she wants, and she constantly talks back! it takes months to get her back to normal.

I was wondering how a generator worked also! do you keep them outside or in? are they really loud? you should take a picture and post it! :P

LOL... I guess it helps to know that a generator runs on gasoline! I imagined something where you flip a switch and it goes on, but I knew it had to get power from somewhere! I didn't know if it was something self-powered... and how they would do that. So, I guess a generator isn't endless supply of power... it'll run out of gas!

OMG, I wish you just had to flip a switch to get it started, but it has a choke and a pull line...like a lawn mower and I think it should be easier to start! It is very loud and we do keep it outside. The ground in the back of the house is level with the windows so we have the generator by the kitchen window and have an extension cord run from it through the window in the laundry room (the last room of our house and sort of within the family room. We don't have a smaller extension cord with a splitter on it yet to get power to the kitchen also, but we shouldn't need it again this season.

I think there should be a pedal powered generator... so that if you want to use the computer or play video games, then you'd get exercise at the same time! LOL

LOL Talk about getting what you give out of something! That would be a good thing for my little brother who lives for video games. I wonder if he would like to play his games as much if he had to pedal his way! LOL

I know exactly what those generators sound like because during the HUGE blackout that one summer, the people behind us had one and it DOES sound just like a lawn mower. lol It probably seemed even louder than it was because of the fact that there was no power (so there was no other noise, like tvs, etc...) to drown it out a bit. lol

I am so happy to hear that Kindred had a good flight but I am sorry that you are now going through a battle of limitations with him. :( Ugh...makes me tired to just think about!