Funerals & Power Outages

I've decided that the common link between funerals and power outages is that it forces people to come together as a family...whether you want to or not.

Thursday morning I was late for work because I had to chip my car free from its encasement of ice and it took me longer than expected. Glare ice was the word of the day for traveling, and I had to take the long route just to be safe. After being there half a day, we were told to go home because of the blizzard conditions headed our way. So I chipped my car out again, and again, made the long drive home.

In North Dakota, we know how to be prepared for this sort of thing. I immediately made up a grocery list for my husband, since he has a large vehicle and even though he may not admit it, there is something that appeals to male primal urges to go out in severe weather and conquer it. Not to mention plow through it, drive over it and slide across it. He came home with sacks and sacks full of...junk food. It's the chance I take when I send him.

Shortly after supper was made and consumed, the power went out. I don't know what it is about the lights going out on their own vs. being shut off at bedtime that makes the kids so scared. Is it the idea that they don't have the ability to turn them back whenever they want to? They attached themselves to my hip as I rounded up candles and lit them. The blizzard raged outside with snow coming down and wind driving the snow that was already there into little "snow-nados." Usually, if the power goes out, they are good about having it back on again within the hour. Not so this time. Our neighbor phoned and let us know that it was going to be at least another two hours. This wasn't a good time, since it meant our heat would be off during one of the worse snowstorms of the year.

It was fun at first. We bundled the kids up in sweatshirts, two pairs of socks and stocking caps. Shawn found a propane lantern and I raided the "camping closet" for sleeping bags. Without TV or any of our other technical gadgets, we were forced to resort to the old fashioned meaning of family time. We drug out the bingo game, and when that got old, we got out the cards. We actually huddled in blankets and fluffy comforters, talked, laughed and had a great time. As the power company kept pushing back the time that the power would be restored, the house grew colder and colder and the family got closer and closer...literally. We snuggled on the couch reading books illuminated by flashlights. Realizing we weren't going to have heat any time soon, we piled every available blanket on our bed and settled in like a bunch of hibernating bears waiting for Spring. How did the pioneers do it? No video games, no computers, and no indoor plumbing. I fell asleep thinking we had all become a little soft in our modern day comforts.

The power came on at about 5:00 AM. Our house had reached a chilly 40 degrees. We were all so warm tucked in our blanket cocoon, that it was extremely difficult to force myself out of bed. Until someone passed gas, and it suddenly I couldn't get out fast enough. I got up and made coffee. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy the conveniences of modern day, especially when it meant I would get my morning caffeine. I pealed off my layers of clothing and re-dressed for the day. The kids stumbled out with blankets wrapped around them. Kaiden said, "Wasn't that fun, mom? Playing cards and reading?" Why didn't they believe me when I've told them to turn the TV off and do something else over and over in the past? Shawn bundled up, started the snowblower and began the daunting task of clearing our driveway, and since he is how he is, he also cleared the neighbor's drive. I was amazed at the accumulation of snow. I listened to the weather on TV and shook my head at all those who had decided to drive and got stuck. There was a 100 car pile up just outside the city, and I was thankful we could get on with our day.

And then the power went out again. I called the power company and their automated system kindly informed me that most of the region was under extreme weather conditions (duh!) and the power would not be back on for another 14 hours. I nearly dropped my coffee cup. Okay, this was not fun any more. I looked for all my discarded clothing and donned as many layers as I could. I got the kids dressed warmly once again and told Shawn (who was still battling snowbanks) what was going on. I called my mother, who hearing the kids rummaging through the fridge, reminded me that we should keep the refrigerator door closed so the food wouldn't spoil. With the wonderful balmy temperature of -2 below zero, I didn't think that would be an issue. Once again the temperature started to drop. We phoned around to see if there was an available generator. We knew the second storm scheduled to hit our region would be here in about an hour, roads were being shut down and we had to act fast. Should we tough it out? Should we go stay in a Hotel? What if it got too cold and the water pipes froze? Even if we did manage to drive and pick up the generator from Shawn's brother, were there any gas stations open? Not to mention all we had to eat were cookies, chips, and salami. If we had to leave, we would have to leave soon or have no way out. We decided to stay.

I just about went nuts. The boys were going stir crazy, which means the noise level tends to get louder and louder and the fights become more frequent. We played more and more card games, drew pictures, and tried to keep warm. Yes, I could've cleaned house, but it's nearly impossible to move with long underwear, jeans, three shirts, scarf, hat and a big blanket tied around your waist like some hideous floor length skirt. I gave up trying to grasp anything with my bulky mittens. I finally ran out of things for them to do and gave in to letting them run, yell, tackle each other or do whatever would just keep them out of my hair for awhile while I curled up to read a book.

All in all, it was quite a little adventure. The power came back on at about 5 in the evening (to a loud chorus of 'hurrays' and jumping up and down - and that was just me). The second blizzard is now picking up steam but I feel a bit more comfortable.

Just like family functions where it's great to see everyone and interact, for better or for worse, and you think, "Why don't we do this more often.?" the power outage provided a lot of much needed face-to-face interaction. But I must say, it's nice to have the option to walk away from the 200th game of "Go Fish."

Close To Nature

We live on a tight budget. Our vacations consist of visiting my parents, and camping. I've taken the boys camping since they were babes. We usually try to meet my parents in a location that is somewhat half-way between the two hometowns. It's nice to meet up with them, since they have a camper. But when we go on our own, it's a whole different animal.

I've mentioned that I consider myself an organized person, which used to result in the week prior to our leaving, being a lot of work on my part. But now I have it down to a science. I have even designated one of our closets as the "camping closet." It is full of plastic tubs, each with their own purpose; one for blankets, one for paper plates, plastic cups and anything to be used to eat with, (it also contains a wine opener in case things really get desperate) another is used for dry goods and yet another for lotions, bugs sprays, etc. I am ready to tackle any natural adventure that's out there...or so I thought.

I was bound and determined to fit one more weekend of camping in, somewhere a bit closer, so we wouldn't have to worry about taking any extra time off from work. I scoured the Internet and finally found a 'family friendly' camping site only 45 minutes away. It boasted fun for everyone and had the pictures to prove it. So I booked our reservation, which cost nearly 3 times what we would normally pay.

The weekend arrived, we packed our vehicle to its fullest capacity, squeezed the kids in the back seat and we were off. We stopped at the nearest gas station and filled up, and then realized we had forgotten the boat motor. So back home we go, grab the motor, and we're off...again.

Our vehicle made the climb up the hill which served as the entrance to the camp site. It was looking promising with a lake and lots of trees and very little civilization...until we came over the top of the hill. We were met by the hosts, who were driving a golf cart from their lavish home to come greet us, and collect our fees. She told us to follow her to our spot. There were a few large sheds, but what caught my attention was that all the campers were obviously permanent residents. They had each claimed their little piece of property, parked their campers, and then proceeded to build patios & decks, string up lights, hook up their satellite dishes and landscape their 'yards.' She indicated a spot to us, which very literally looked like we would be pitching our tent on someones lawn. We had one tree, an outlet, a picnic table, and a very generous view of everyone's camper windows, which meant they had an even more generous view of EVERYTHING we would be doing. The bathroom was a good 5 minute walk away, and our position obviously wasn't going to allow us to do our business any where else but there. Determined not to let this spoil the weekend, we got set up as quickly as we could amid the constant yammering from the kids wanting to go swimming.

Almost immediately after we were settled in, a little girl came over to see if the boys wanted to play, we'll call her Jenny. I thought that was cute, but only at first, because I soon found out that she was pushy, bossy, and would never leave. Apparently, her father wasn't too concerned about her whereabouts, since he never came to fetch her. Great, I was a built-in babysitter for the weekend. Not only did she follow our every move, she constantly asked to eat our carefully portioned food. I finally had to send her home with a promise that she could come back the following day. We built a campfire, while everyone else in the "community" went inside to glue their faces to their televisions. I silently congratulated myself on not being a slave to modern technology as we pulled up our folding chairs, talked and gazed at the stars until it was late enough that we felt like we might be a nuisance to our 'neighbors.'

We were up bright and early the next morning, not only to go fishing in the boat with dad, but to try to escape the imminent appearance of Jenny. We almost didn't make it, she hollered at us from the shore as we feigned the inability to hear her over the motor. This may sound cruel, but trust me, it wasn't. The boys enjoyed the ride, baiting their hooks and Kamrin even managed to catch his first fish. When we could no longer avoid the inevitable return to shore, we headed back. Shawn dropped me and the boys off and was able to return to his fishing. I was immediately accosted by Jenny, as I led the boys to the tent to change to go swimming. That was my entire afternoon. Watching the boys and the tag-along while they swam, rode bikes, or were forced to play whatever game Jenny had in mind for them. By later that afternoon, I was overjoyed to see Shawn returning to the shore and my opportunity to escape was arriving. I told the boys we were going to take a quick boat ride before supper, but alas, we only had enough life jackets for me and the boys. We drifted around the lake for a bit, but the boys were hungry and I didn't like the look of the clouds. A few yards to our destination, it started to sprinkle. As tiny as Kamrin is, my back was hurting and I couldn't get to the tent fast enough to lay him down. As I wove my way through the campers to our little tent space, I noticed several people standing in their yards, looking at the sky. After tucking Kamrin into his sleeping bag I asked a nearby gentleman what was going on. "Tornado warning," he replied, "Comin' this way." I only hesitated a split second as I started packing everything that would be damaged by rain in to their prospective water proof tubs. The sky grew darker and the wind blew stronger. I was wondering what was taking Shawn so long. I was starting to worry. But then I saw that someone was trying to get their boat up the sandy drive ahead of him and had become stuck. But no need to worry, our host just happened to have a huge tractor to pull him out (hence the sheds).

By this time, everyone had disappeared into their homes and I didn't even have a radio to monitor the weather. Just as the tractor finished pulling out the other boat, it started to pour. I grabbed Kaiden and shoved him inside the tent (where Kamrin was still asleep). I signaled to Shawn. He ran through the sheets of rain and we both ducked into the tent. We were all crammed into the only open space (since all the tubs were in there as well), when a crack of lightening illuminated everything. Kaiden let out a little yelp and dove under the cot that we used as bed. I looked at Shawn wide-eyed. "How much can this tent take?" I asked. He merely shrugged his shoulders. The wind was practically bending our poles to a 45 degree angle and small pools of water were forming in the corners. "I just wish I knew weather we should ride this out or pack it in." Once again, a loud clap of thunder and again, a whimper from under the cot I was perched on. Shawn reaches in his pocket and managed to locate a weather radar from his cell phone. There was a big red blob, indicating severe weather, and it was headed straight for us. "That's it, we're leav...." BOOM! This one sounded like it was right above us and I half expected our lonely tree to come through the top of the tent. I looked under the cot to see Kaiden with his blanket over his head, curled up in a fetal position. Kamrin still slept. The puddles were evolving into pools and then the hail came.

"Get the truck and pull it as close to the tent as you can. I'll run the kids out and then we're outta here!" I shouted. I started folding blankets and cots, shoving everything I could into whatever tub had space. Except the sleeping bag where Kamrin remained completely oblivious to everything going on. As soon as the truck was near, I grabbed Kaiden, "Here we go!" I yelled and ran over to the truck and threw him in. In the 50 ft. I ran from tent to truck and back again, I was soaked. My hair was plastered to my face and rain dripped off the tip of my nose. I hoisted Kamrin up and made my second sprint to the truck. As I put him in, he briefly opened his eyes...and promptly shut them again. Now it had become a mad, muddy, soaking wet race for Shawn and I to load everything into the truck. At this point, my organization skills fell by the wayside, as we grabbed what we could throwing it into the back of the truck pushing with our shoulders, squeezing everything in to any nook and cranny that was available.  We didn't bother with the precise folding of the tent, we balled it up tossed the poles on top, and while I shoved, Shawn shut the back door. As I hurled myself into the passenger seat, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror. I looked like a drowned raccoon. I had dark circles under my eyes from whatever residual mascara I had had, and mud streaks across my forehead. My shirt was so wet I had to wring it out onto the floor and it remained plastered to me like a second skin. My teeth were chattering and I had Shawn turn on the heat, "Let's get out of this place!"

That was easier said than done. The wind whipped the boat from side to side and we could barely see beyond our headlights. I held the door handle in a death grip. We listened as the radio advised no travel and yet we pushed on. As we neared Fargo, a miraculous thing happened, the clouds parted and the rain abruptly stopped. The sun came out and I developed a horrific case of the giggles. Could that have been any worse?  "My hungry," my now-awake son said from the back seat. I realized it had been a long time since we had anything to eat. "Let's just grab something." I said to Shawn, "How about Taco John's?" So he pulls into the nearest one. "I can't take the boat through the drive-through."

I cringed as I realized in my soggy state, I would have to indeed go inside the establishment to order. At this point, I just didn't care what other people thought.

We managed to get home, lay out most of our camping belongings out on OUR lawn to dry out. I think the best feeling in the world was putting on dry clothes after a hot shower. I pride myself on being able to "rough it" and to be close to nature...just not THAT close.

Packed to the hilt.

Like hobos on in a cardboard box on someone's lawn.

Wonderful escape.

Not my idea of isolation

Tag along

Is this roughing it?

Sleep Comes

Following a week of very little sleep, it's hard not to be jealous of the way children seem to be able to fall asleep anywhere and at any time. While I can be so tired that I feel like I can hardly hold my head up, I still tend to lie in bed, wide awake, with the "to do" list of tomorrow running over and over in my head.

The boys, however, have no worries, no concerns about tomorrow, or what the new day will bring. They are still at an age of being held hostage by the demands of their bodies. They eat when they're hungry, quit when they are full, and doze when their body asks for it. When they are first born, parents are also held captive by this rigorous time schedule, feedings every few hours, long naps in the middle of the day, and awake again no matter how early in the morning it is.

I would give anything to be able to take even the tiniest portion of the energy my boys possess, bottle it and use it whenever I felt like it. If I could sell it, it would surpass any energy drink media campaign out there a hundred times over. The downside to having this kind of energy is that you crash and burn when it's all spent.

So, no matter what they are doing, how much room they have, or how noisy it is, they will sleep. The most conducive place for sleep for them is driving in the car. Usually because they have had a hard day of play or school and the warmth of the car's interior and gentle sound of the wheels on the road lulls them to sleep. Their heads usually end up at such an odd angle that I'm amazed it doesn't hurt them. I've mentioned before how I usually put a stack of pillows between them to rest their heads on, which is mostly for my sake since it pains me just to see them like that.

Sometimes the needs of their bodies come in pairs, such as eating and needing slumber. I've had many chuckles watching my tired boys, sitting at the table, doing what we have dubbed the "hungry chicken." It's that slow pecking motion that happens a few times, and then the head jerks up just before it's about to hit the table. I've watch them chew their food, their eyes complete shut, just trying to stay awake long enough to satisfy their hunger. I've also seen where hunger has lost to sleep, as the boys cross their arms in front of them on the edge of the table, place their foreheads on their little hands and are completely gone. I've pulled pieces of half chewed food, bottles and suckers out of their slack little mouths.

The positions they fall asleep in would make any contortionist envious. They drape themselves over arms of chairs, up-side-down, and sitting cross-legged with their heads resting on the floor. Lord help us if they fall asleep in our bed. I have had a little boy "hat" as he curls his body around my head, I've been slapped, kicked, pushed and nearly made to wet my pants when a hard little heel found my bladder in the middle of the night.

There are many nights that they fight the bedtime hour. Prolonging that dreaded trip to bed by pleading for a bedtime snack, a drink, or having to find that favorite stuffed animal or blanky has become an art. They will tell you they aren't tired, at all. My oldest will drag his feet all the way to the bedroom, grudgingly climb into bed and then ask for a drink. I go get him a glass of water or milk, and then while drinking, between sips, he will now tell me stories I have been begging to hear of all the things that have happened to him during the day. I have to follow the routine precisely, or he'll make me start over. First a hug, then a kiss, then a "sniss-sniss" (rubbing our noses together like an Eskimo kiss.) After all of that, I tell him I love him to the moon and back and he tries to come up with a distance that's even further to prove how much he loves me back. I turn out the light, say goodnight and as I take a step in to the hallway he says, "Mom? Can you send Dad in?"

Once asleep, at least for my children, there is nearly nothing that will wake them. I have unbuckled them from the back seat of the car in the middle of a snowstorm, carried them to the house (I'm pretty sure they are 4 lbs heavier when they are asleep) while the wind blew ice cold flakes on their little faces, laid them down in their beds and completely undressed them and re-dressed them in their PJs without them stirring. I don't even have to be gentle about it. I pull the boots off while holding them in a fireman's carry, yank on their socks, and have held them upright as I push plump rag doll arms through sleeves. All the while, they don't even flinch. I have, on several occasions, caused the smoke alarm to go off (it's my oven, not my cooking!) which is located within 2 ft. of all our bedroom doors. Not even a whimper. Of course, this works to my disadvantage when trying to wake them up in the morning. I try tickling them, bouncing on their bed, clapping my hands, singing loudly and off-key, and even stand them upright (whereas they immediately flop back on their beds.)

I don't know what it is, but there is something magical that happens when you watch your child sleep. You look at that cherub face, heart-shaped lips and long lashes and suddenly, no matter how hard your day, or how rotten they may have behaved, it's completely wiped away and forgotten in that single moment. My heart is warmed by the sound of their even quiet breathing. I just want to scoop them up and hold them close. I don't want them to keep growing so quickly, I want them to stay safe and sound and have beautiful dreams.

When Kamrin was a baby

Asleep in a laundry basket

Asleep in a hot tent while camping

A trip home

Up-side-down

Sleeping like dad

Warms my heart