Hunkering In

Can I make a confession?

I was kind of excited for the hurricane.

For one, I love me a good thunderstorm.  Especially at night.  It usually wakes me up, but I don't care.  I love the sound of the thunder, the lightning, the wind, and the rain on the roof.  For some reason, it calms me.  So I was ready for the noise and commotion that Irene was threatening to bring.

More than that though, I was looking forward to hunkering in with my family.  Since the kids and I returned from our ten day trip to North Carolina last week, time with my husband has been scarce. Some deal that was an emergency and life would end if conference calls were not conducted and drafts were not revised.  Blah blah blah, same old, same old.  Not his fault, but still.  We miss him.

My husband had mentioned that there was a chance that he would have to go into the office this weekend.  Ugh.  But then.... Irene!  I obviously would not wish a hurricane on anyone, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited at the prospect of my husband being stuck in the house with us instead of back at the office on a weekend.

Before allowing enthusiasm to take over, I did give some thought to the potential damage that a weather event such as a hurricane could cause to our home.  We could lose power.  And if we did, it could last days (the incompetence of PEPCO deserves its own post).  But the silver lining?  No electricity = no internet connection = no working remotely.  We'll take it!  And then of course there is the chance that a tree could fall on our house.  But that happened to us a couple of years ago, during Snowmageddon.  What are the chances of that happening twice? I decided it was slim.

So it was settled.  I wasn't scared of this hurricane.  I was ready.  In fact, I couldn't wait.  And as it turned out, Irene gave us a great day.

We started off Saturday like the rest of the east coast - at the grocery store buying canned good and batteries and water bottles and several other items we probably didn't need, but if everyone else was buying them, well, then we should too.  Once we unpacked our groceries, we started on the task of trying to cook up anything and everything that could go bad if our refrigerator konked out. We made all sorts of random items, but by far the best was my husband's meatballs.

This is the first time he has worn this apron.  Promise.

While my husband slaved away in kitchen, I hung out with the boys and watched Yo Gabba Gabba.

It was my favorite episode, "Baby," featuring Solange Knowles.  

After stuffing our faces and watching, ahem, high quality educational television, we undertook our first attempt at bathing the boys together.  It was somewhat successful, but it took four hands.  I don't think I'm ready to attempt this one on my own yet.

About 5 seconds after this picture was taken, Casey attempted to climb out of the bath
and ended up hitting his head against the tub.  Hence, why I will not yet attempt this solo.  

Because of the tree-magnet nature of our house, we decided it would be safest if we all slept on our lower level.  We told Braden it was like a sleepover and he got super excited about it.  Braden and I were assigned to the guest room queen bed, my husband got the futon in the hallway, and Casey was stationed in the pack and play next to him - all within a ten foot radius of each other. Despite their novel surroundings, both boys were out like a light by 8pm.

Instead of hanging out in our living room upstairs as we usually do in the evenings, my husband and I set up shop in the den/playroom downstairs.  We never hang out down there without the kids, and I'm not sure why.  It is much cozier, and fully equipped with Verizon multi-room DVR.

Yes, that would be a bottle of wine on the train table.  

My husband fell asleep before me, giving me the opportunity to finally watch Sex and the City 2.  And yes, it was horrible.  But something about Carrie Bradshaw, a nice glass (or two) of Pinot, the wind howling outside, and the three boys I love most in the world sleeping in the room next to me, made the night more than perfect.

I finally climbed into bed with Braden around midnight, and I comforted him for a few minutes when he woke up confused as to where he was.  I have to be honest - I usually dread sleeping with Braden (due to constant kicking, pushing, elbowing, and 5am wakeup calls), but that night he was a perfect bedmate.  Maybe the wind and rain calms him just like it does his mommy.  I slept better than I had in weeks.

The next morning we woke up to.... calm.  The storm had come and gone.  We had lost electricity for a grand total of 17 minutes.  There were leaves and small branches scattered across our lawn, and unfortunately a neighbor faced our fate with his own tree.  But other than that, life resumed as normal.  We ran errands and read the newspaper and went through the bills and slept in our normal bedrooms.   Tomorrow Braden starts school.  My husband's deal will close at some point this week.  And I'll blog and do laundry and make lunch and entertain my kids and try to convince myself to exercise.

Ever day life resumes.  And I can't knock that.  Who wants drama?  Who wants a hurricane?

As a general rule, I don't.  But every once in a while, I'll take a minor natural disaster, moderate snowfall, or overhyped hurricane, if it means we're all stuck at home to weather it together.