{ the storm }

We were hit with a big windstorm this week-blah! We spent Sunday-Wednesday with no electricity. We were lucky to have gotten away with only scratched & dented cars, a few crushed tomato plants and A LOT of clean up. Our poor neighbor had a tree fall and crush a hole in their roof. Trees were uprooted and downed power lines were everywhere. We sadly had to throw away all of our perishable foods. There was no where to find ice as all the business who still had power sold out immediately.

The first day(Monday) was very frustrating. The kids wanted to watch tv...and have lights. They were a little bored and didn't really understand what was going on. We spent the day cleaning the tree branches and debris from the yard. I was stressed about all the food and we drove around for 2 hours in search of ice-no luck. I was not looking forward to another evening without night lights and the kids coming out of their bedrooms 100 times due to be scared. Luckily, my mother in law was in town and staying at a hotel with power! We took a trip up to see her and went out to dinner. The stress of the day melted away quite a bit.

The second day went much better. I had gotten over the "food issue". We tossed everything and moved one. The news was saying Thursday at the earliest for power, so we were getting ready for a few days. I had the most wonderful relaxing day with my children. No emails to check, sewing could not be done and available cleaning was at a minimum. I spent the morning snuggling on the couch and just...being. It was absolutely refreshing! I had no guilt about the cleaning, or working on items for Kunklebaby.

We were so desperate for the electricity to come back, and when it finally did I felt a little sad. It was such a nice break from the daily hustle & bustle. I spent more quality time with the kids than I have in awhile. I felt happy & rested. I was going to bed early, as I could not work in the dark, my sewing machine and Internet were worthless. I read an entire book-with candlight. Our dogs got a much needed grooming. My husband and I actually got to sit and talk to each other.

While I am happy to no longer be in the dark, the storm did teach me a lesson. I need to forget about everything every so often and just "be". I really took a look at my life and saw how unimportant some of the things I do to fill my time are. I'm looking forward to a few "power free" days with the kids every week now. Just spending time hanging out and seeing where the day takes us. We used to do this so often before I started Kunklebaby.

So the calamity actually helped me "see the light".