Wima Made Me a Lazy Housewife

Oh, look. It's karma, getting me back for saying I wanted a hurricane to hit us so the power would go out and I could have a day off. Actually, I got five days off with no electricity. Ha, ha on me.

The first half of Hurricane Wima was not bad -- just a lot of rain and the trees were waving back and forth. The second half however, was very scary. When the windows started shaking, I grabbed the cats and Chris and dragged everyone into the walk-in closet. Last year we spent a sweaty, sticky, hot night in the bathroom as Hurricane Jeanne took her dang time sloshing about Palm Beach. This time I was determined to be more comfortable. And we were more comfortable -- until the pressure difference became so great that the door to the crawl space in the closet flew open, I saw the sky -- and the storm -- and then tons of insulation rained down on us. The door fell back down, very Wizard of Oz-like and we jumped up, shook off as much insulation as possible and headed to -- you guessed it -- the bathroom.

So we were without power for five days but since there was a cool front, it was actually really nice.

Here are the Top Three Good Things About Being Without Power for Five Days Because the Florida State Government Won't Cough Up the Cash to Bury the Power Lines Even Though Florida Has Been Hit by Hurricanes Many Times Before and Certainly Will Be Hit Again and Again and Again in the Very Near Future:

1. No light polution
It was so dark, I could see the milky way and shooting stars. Chris set up the telescope and showed me the Ring Nebula, the Andromenda Galaxy and a planet -- but I can't remember which one.

2. No work
No power in the high-rise means no connection to the servers which means I get a vacation from the bee hive. I can't tell you how peaceful it was to wake up and not have to think about/dread office politics.

3. Got to spend quality, stress-free time with my honey
Here's how my day went: Wake up late. Eat breakfast (banana bread and cream cheese from the cooler and a piece of fruit) with my husband. Take the world's fastest shower. Read as much as I want. Go for a walk. Play board games with Chris. Eat lunch (turkey burgers or chicken salad sandwiches from the cooler). Read. Go for a walk. Knit. Work on puzzle with Chris. Play with cats. Drink wine with Chris while he bar-b-ques something on the grill. Eat dinner by candlelight on the patio. Drink more wine. Look at the stars. Go to bed when we feel like it.

I guess it was like being a stay-at-home wife -- but one who doesn’t pay the power bill.

Of course, there were bad things, like the aforementioned shower which was dealing-with-a-car-mechanic painful. Freezing, freezing.

Really though, as opposed to last year's Jeanne and Francis, Wilma was a vacation.

Of course, as you can see the power has been restored and I'm back in the hive. Sigh........