I HAVE THE POWER!!!

Oh wait, I HAVE power! The storm that raged through Wisconsin and Minnesota last night caused several trees to fall throughout town, ultimately causing our lack of electricity at about 10:20 pm. I'd gone to a friends house to watch a movie, but the storm proved to be much more exciting! When the power went off, the movie, trapped in the DVD player, quickly took it's place further down my priority list! We watched the storm outside until nearly 2:00am, when we dozed in the living room instead. The entire neighborhood in the center of town was pitch black. I didn't want to come home, though, to a dark house when my friendly pet bat from the previous night was still on the loose! I can handle dark. I can handle Bats(barely). I CANNOT handle bats IN the dark. However could I hit it with my broom? (I had done this the night before at 3:30am and the little beast had crawled off and is currently AWOL)

Anywho- a tree had split and gone down(conveniently) in between my friend's house and the house next to it. That was only one of many that had come down in the winds. This one, unlike a few others, hadn't hit any major power lines. Fortunately, or unfortunately, when I got to my house, the section of town starting across the street from me still had power so my house was vaguely lit by the street lights. I woke up sure that the power would have been fixed, I even left fans on in the windows and my phone on the charger in anticipation. No such luck. At 10:00am I canceled my plans for the day, knowing that when the power came back on, I could have to take care of the food in my fridge and freezer. I heard on my car radio that Xcel reported that 13,000 people were still without power, and my town should be restored by the end of the day THURSDAY. I repeat: the. end. of. THURSDAY! I went to the gas station in another part of town to get ice for my fridge items, but there was too many people. I decided to wait. If it was going to be DAYS, another solution would need to be found anyway. I was sitting in my living room, doing what ever people do when they have no TV, no internet and only a little battery operated radio for entertainment, picking my nose, wait- no I was talking on my phone to my new boss, when the power came back on! My fans started blowing, my smoke detectors and microwave beeped and my fish tank resumed its general hum and gurgle routine. It was almost 2:00pm, making the total time without power more than 15 hours. For sure the longest period of time I can remember being without power. I confess my indisputable guilt. I TAKE ELECTRICITY FOR GRANTED! Thank you, Xcel, for your hard work! I have a whole new appreciation . . .