Another Crazy Weekend and More Little Victories

Dear Mom,

I thought that last weekend was crazy, well that was nothing compared to what the next weekend would be. The weekend of October 29 was quite the interesting weekend. We were surprised, pleasantly, on Saturday morning to some men from your church coming over to the house. I had just gotten a text that they would be coming so we hurriedly got out of bed, got dressed and went to go have our breakfast. Soon after they came over and started taking care of some of the things that needed fixing around the house. They checked the washing machine, which had been spewing water all over and found that there was a little hole in the bottom of the tub. They took that washing machine out and brought a good, working one that had been just sitting in the church's shed for months. They nailed the falling drain pipe back in it's proper place. They pulled up all the wet carpet from the laundry room and threw it away. They turned off the outside faucet that had been constantly dripping so much it was almost running. They were such a blessing to us! As they left, I had a plan of trying to get to the mall quickly before this supposed snow storm came. On my way to the mall, sleet started coming down. That made me nervous, because the weather forecasters were saying this could be a rough storm. So plans changed...instead of the mall, I ended up just going to the Chinese Restaurant near the mall to get some food and Bubble Tea for us. When I left the Chinese Restaurant and saw the coating of snow on my car, I knew I had made the right decision. The wet, heavy snow continued through the night and was coming down pretty hard. At about 4:30 or 5 that night our lights went out. I got the flashlights, lanterns, and candles out. We had plenty of light to see by. We hung out together in the living room, listening to talk radio and watching the flashing of some transformers, as well as some lightning. We even heard some snow thunder as we were sitting there. I made sure you were all bundled up in a couple pairs of pj's, some gloves, a big comfy robe and a huge soft, fluffy blanket. We sat for a while enjoying one another's company, then got ready to go to bed. As we slept that night, you slept totally fine, but I kept hearing the cracking and breaking of large branches around us constantly. I was concerned for you and Bella because your room is at the back of the house, where we have some tall trees. I kept checking to make sure nothing was coming toward the house, and especially your room. I'm glad you slept well though. The power never came back on that night, so I woke up later than usual. I wanted to make sure you got up so the bed wouldn't be wet. The first thing you wanted to do was to put the TV on. You didn't understand why it wouldn't come on. I had to remind you that the power was out. This surprised you, and you asked why, I explained that we had a bad snow storm and that's why. I went to take Bella out and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The trees were leaning down so heavily, many huge branches and limbs were down. As I looked around the street, I saw the tree at the end of the street was leaning over the road on some wires, and there was also a large wire hanging down on the street. I took pictures to show you. We didn't know it at the time, but this was going to be the beginning of a long week. Neither one of us had church Sunday because of the storm and the after effects of the storm. I may write some more personal, more specific letters to you later. But it was another crazy weekend. You didn't go anywhere Sunday, but I had to go get gas for the car because I was almost on empty. There was only one gas station open in our town, but the crazy line that was forming down the block made me go elsewhere. I was afraid if I tried to wait in that line I would run out of gas before I got to a pump. So, I had to drive to another town and was one of the last cars to make it before they ran out of gas. The next day, I did take you out. Then the victory part came because we left the house everyday to get warm. We went to a great outdoor mall, Evergreen Walk. We took Bella because they allow dogs there. It was so great to get you and Bella out. You walked around a little, then when you were tired there were plenty of benches where you could sit in the sun. What a great thing, you were getting out of the house, getting some sun, walking some, and socializing a little with different people we met. It was great to see you and Bella do so well. You were such a trooper all week, I was so proud of you and was so thankful for all the time we got to spend together, lots of laughs and good memories. So even during a time that wasn't the best, we enjoyed a great time together. So thankful for these memories! Love you!