Thursday Thoughts: No Power Pro Tips

Hello and happy Thursday…and hallelujah! …the electricity turned on Tuesday night…right in time for bed. haha We were all so excited!

Well, most of the time I plan out my blog posts. Other times, I just let the blog topics come to me. Having no power for over four days, has me thinking about some of the things that came in handy during our days on the prairie (without power.)

When the power went out on Friday at 5pm, Travis was out of town for the night. Hayden went to the basement and came up with a bag. He said, “Dad said if the power went out, we might need these things.” In the bag were some hand warmers, which we thankfully never needed, his running headlamp, batteries and more.

I do want to start by saying it could have been worse. From Saturday – Monday we had very mild weather. I spent a lot of time on the front porch. It was warmer outside than in my house.

The kids were able to play outside most of the days, and even on Tuesday, when the temps were cooler, they still kept busy during the day with friends. If the power had gone out in the winter, we would have been freezing. If it went out in the summer, we would have been hot. Also, we were pretty busy most evenings, so we only sat in the dark for about an hour before bed every night.

Our thermostat never dipped below 60 degrees, and it was easy to keep warm with sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, and blankets. We had no damage to our yard or house, and others definitely can’t say the same.

Anyway, here are a few other things that came in handy during our days without power:

Who knew when I purchased the flameless candles in January for decorative purposes, they’d be our lifeline at night? Also, I’m so thankful I bought the seven pack! I kept one on in the hall over night, the kids each kept on in their rooms and their bathroom, and then we had one in our room too.

On Saturday morning, when Hayden woke up, he asked when the power came back on. I told him it didn’t –it was only daylight! haha

Anyway, as he bounced the basketball around the house, Hadley said she really needed him to have a charged phone. That’s when she told him he could charge his phone through his chromebook! Genius.

So when we could, we charged our computers at friends’ houses because they worked as another opportunity to charge our phones. We also charged them in the car occasionally.

Dual USB chargers that we bought a couple years ago to use during baseball tournaments also came in handy. I don’t think I’ve charged them up in years, and when I found one Friday night, I was able to charge my phone! So, these clearly hold their charge. I ended up charging these when I could too.

One thing I missed the most was just being able to drink coffee first thing in the morning. A friend brought me some on Saturday morning. Then, on Sunday, we were at the hotel. Monday and Tuesday, Travis did a Starbucks run before going to work. He suggested putting my second cup in my travel mug because it would stay warm until I could drink it. Again, genius!

My Kindle was the real MVP of this time. I was able to finish the second half of Spare, and read almost all of Wrong Place Wrong Time. Thankfully, my Kindle holds a charge for quite a while.

Hadley was really missing her sound machine at night. On Sunday night, I remembered that her old sound machine (that I keep in my overnight bag for travel), will run on batteries. She was so happy…that night, she put on her “snuggy” –the blanket with a hood-, blasted her sound machine, and slept like a baby.

Thankfully, our water heater is gas, so we could still take hot showers. That being said, I think I had a claw clip in my hair Saturday-Tuesday!

Also, my brother and sister-in-law let us hang out here…and especially on Tuesday, as I started this post, we’d hung out here for most of the day. I was able to work on some school things, and the kids did too. I also did laundry and charged all the things (again) since I never knew when we’d get power.

Another helpful tool was this travel power strip that I got Travis for Christmas. We were able to charge everything at once just using one outlet.

While our fireplace doesn’t put out much heat, we were grateful for some warmth (and light) in the mornings and nights.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a plan for the fridge and freezer. I thought about saving a few things but also hoped the power would come back on. Obviously, it didn’t. So by Sunday night, our fridge and freezer looked like this:

*silver lining* The fridge needed a good clean, and now it has it.

In my almost 20 years in Lexington, this is only the second time we’ve been in a house that’s lost power. In January 2021, we lost it for a few hours. So, this was obviously more extensive, but we’ve never thought we needed a generator. As friends started to get power, one reached out and offered us their generator which was so thoughtful of them. Tuesday night, we went to dinner and continued to see the utility trucks on our street. So, I was hopeful we wouldn’t need the generator. Right as we were going to bed at 10:00, the lights clicked back on! We appreciated the kind offer, but I’m glad we didn’t end up needing it.

While I’m sure hoping we never need a generator, maybe we should add that to our household list for the future!

Again, counting my blessings. It could have been worse.