Since Thursday evening at 8 PM we’ve been without power at my house. Powerless.

No power.
No heat.
No refrigerator.
No washer.
No dryer.
No vacuum.
No Internet.
No hairdryer.
No lights.
No T.V.
No phone.
No dishwasher.
No freezer … oh wait … there’s plenty “freeze” just outside any door. We’ve got that one covered.

I’m posting this at a local sandwich shop that has wi-fi. Connection with the outside world … it’s a beautiful thing.

There’s just so much to blog about. So much time to sit and ponder life that there’s just so much to share. It’s rare to have the opportunity to slow down this much. And boy do I mean slow. Last night we all went to bed by 9:00 … laying together in front of the fireplace, snuggled beneath just about every single blanket, sheet and down comforter that we own.

Having so many of life’s little luxuries stripped away for a while makes you grateful. I simply can’t wait to run the vacuum again. I think I’ll do cartwheels when I GET to run my washer and dryer again. Yep …I’m looking forward to doing laundry! And … using my hairdryer … I can’t imagine the joy I’ll feel. And oddly, I’m completely serious.

I believe everything happens for a reason. I needed to slow down and appreciate the abundance in my every day life. I thought I had done this over Thanksgiving … but I guess not enough. I need to slow down more. Appreciate more. And I realize I have so much to be grateful for … every day and during this temporary inconvenience in our life.

I’m grateful for my family, the meals we’ve cooked over our gas stove and the gas stove itself. We’ve had bacon, eggs and toast cooked on foil over a gas burner … prepared by Jay and Collin. The best spaghetti I’ve ever tasted in my life, eaten by candlelight. Kailea and I made chili and skillet corn bread last night. (Did you know you could “bake” cornbread in a skillet? The bottom was burnt and I mean to a crisp … but we just didn’t scrape down too low. It was hot and delicious.) We’ve even had hot coffee, prepared with a bodum press and coffee beans that Jay crushed by putting them in a plastic bag and smashing them with a spoon. It’s been kind of fun … camping out at home. Being industrious. Figuring out how to create a sense of normalcy in the midst of no power.

I’m grateful for our gas hot water heater. (Hot showers are good. Clean dishes are good …and washing dishes in hot water when your house is fa-reezing cold … that is good, too.)

I’m grateful for our wood burning fireplace and Jay’s foresight in having days worth of wood stockpiled. And even more so, I’m grateful to Jay for keeping logs on our fire ALL NIGHT LONG so we can sleep in warmth and comfort.

I’m grateful for candles … especially unscented ones because too many scents mixed together is simply unpleasant.

I’m grateful for the clean laundry Jay washed earlier in the day on Thursday before we lost power.

And I’m really grateful for my non-electric can opener.

And … I’ll be grateful when life returns to normal. But I’m sure, I’ll look back on these past few days with happy feelings. It was actually kind of fun. I’m glad I had this time … time to reflect. Time to make do. Time to slow down. And time to realize how much I have in my “normal” life.

So it turns out … in spite of not having power of the electrical kind … we haven’t been powerless at all.