Sweet electricity

On day #2 without electricity, our freezer started to thaw. We fired up the grill and started cooking a few things to keep them from spoiling.

When we make cookies we usually put half the dough in the freezer for another time. I wasn't about to let my cookie dough be wasted, so they baked on the grill. The grill taste wasn't too awful, and they were a nice treat during our "suffering."

We put Evie in the sun to warm up. By mid-afternoon of day #2 it was the same temperature inside and outside, but the sun was shining outside so it actually felt warmer out there. Crazy Texas weather! You can see how much of the snow had already melted.

Warming up water on the grill for tea in our Turkish teapot. Living without electricity brought back some great memories from Turkey, where going without electricity or water wasn't so unusual.

Nate drinking his hot tea and warming up.

About an hour after my last post about the snow, our electricity went out and stayed out for almost exactly 48 hours. Fort Worth had a record snowfall for a 24 hour period - about 12 inches - and I guess the power lines weren't prepared. Neither were we. I think we made the best of it though. We're thankful for our friends, Nathan and Lynsi, who offered their house as a place to warm up and take hot showers, and who would have forced us to spend the night if we weren't so stubborn.

Since I don't keep a freezer full of food we didn't lose much. We filled our coolers with snow and ice and saved our milk, cheese, and yogurt, and grilled some fish and cookies. The only major loss was a few weeks of baby food that I had in the freezer, and that's mostly a time loss anyway. And I think we're just a little bit more thankful for the small things - hot showers and warm beds - temporarily at least ...