Or maybe you will. 

If you’re in the northeast, you probably got hit hard by Snowtober, that glorious nor’easter that snuck up on us and left so many of us in the cold.  Who the hell thinks up these hokey names, anyway?  And why am I using this one?  Sheesh….

So we’re literally stuck on the farm with no power, no heat and no water (going on 3 full days, and authorities say service won’t be restored for at least another 3 days). 

I’m so thankful to Irene and Lee for the training we received during the floods.  If not for them, I’d have no idea how to start a generator.   But given an alternative, I think I’d prefer NOT knowing, because that means we wouldn’t have needed it.   

But there was no alternative.   And there’s no alternative to this Halloween crappy turn-of-events either.

Now, though, I know all about gas and oil and choke and pull-starts. 

Now I know it takes many hand-washings before the gasoline smell comes off your hands.   (Me: DAMMIT!  I can’t get the smell of gas off my hands!  Thomas: Lemme smell. <I stick my hand in front of his nose> That doesn’t smell like gas.  That smells like PAPA!)

Now I know what it’s like to cook by candlelight. 

Now I know what it’s like to wash dishes in a bowl of boiled snow-water. 

Now I know what it’s like to snuggle under 4 layers of blankets with my little boy and try to keep warm until I finally fall asleep to the sound of the neighbors generators. 

I can honestly say I’ve never before slept with a winter hat on my head.  Granted, I always thought those nightcaps that Laura and Mary Ingalls wore were downright adorable.  My rainbow-striped Old Navy fleece hat?  Not so adorable.  In fact, it’s been on my head so much I think it may permanently fuse to my hair.  Good thing about it is I won’t have to worry about those roots for a while.  *sigh*

I haven’t been cooking much at all, but I did make a big pot of lentil soup today.  Making soup, or even just boiling water, is a great way to warm up the house.  When you wake up to INDOOR TEMPS in the 40s, anything helps…  Thankfully I have a gas stove and I can light a burner with a match. 

Lentil soup is one of Thomas’ favorite things to eat.  It was one of the first foods I gave him, actually, and he fell in love with it.  I used to heat it up and ‘cook’ whole wheat couscous in it – enough couscous to make it very thick.  Thomas was just learning to use a spoon then, and the thick-as-cement lentils with couscous stayed on the spoon even for this inexperienced self-feeder.  Kids LOVE to be successful doing something that they see adults doing, so why not give them a fighting chance? 

We may have to eat this soup for several days if the power doesn’t come back on soon.  Luckily, it’s no big deal to boil up a bit of shell pasta or cook up some couscous or polenta to bulk it up a little.  Plus, it’s a healthy and protein-rich thing to fill a second-graders belly.   Since dessert will inevitably be handfuls of Halloween candy, I’m grateful for any good food my kidlet will eat willingly.

*** If I’m not here for a while, chances are we’re still powerless and internet-less.  With the help of my friends, I WILL be showered, though, which is a huge bonus.  Many thanks to Fletch for computer-usage.  I hope the Trick or Treat leftovers are payment enough 😉