sherriknits

I pray you had a wonderful day filled with all you hoped it would be.

This Christmas, we were filled with a sense of gratitude for people and for God’s goodness in our lives.   It’s been a very interesting season leading up to today.  Even Sunday at church people were commenting on how difficult it was to get into the commercial side of things because of the storm.  We drove to Olympia after church and I haven’t really seen that highway in the daylight since the storm and I felt emotionally whipped after the trip.  It is just so shocking.  We’re not really stuck in the whole thing to the point that we can’t enjoy each other but as we continue to marvel…we really did go through something!  (and came out whole for the most part!)

It was an interesting week since I last posted.  The theater work was really affecting business in a huge way.  They had our street blocked off for several weeks and the last week especially, it was nearly impossible to find parking but we know in the long run, it will be a good thing.  Last Friday, they made good on their promise….

See the marquis reader board?  It’s still giving trouble, but they did get it running.  It will have the time and temperature along with whatever message they want running.

About an hour later, we were treated to this:

What was so cool was that there were quite a few people on the street clapping and whistling as it came to life.  It was pretty cool!  For our little town, this is a pretty exciting thing.  It is going to be fun to see the interior and I hear there is to be a little coffee shop opening soon in one of the front little shop areas.  We’ll get to have some big-name concerts here, evidently it’s something that can be done when bands come to the casino an hour away.  I don’t know how many I’ll go to, but I’ll get to watch the loading and unloading.

Moving along….

Our family always gets together with the extended family and the store crew (including some employees who retired 15 years ago) for a big breakfast.  The cafe we go to is closed on Christmas Eve, but they open to serve us and we get to order anything we want.  We put in our order a week ahead and we get seating with place cards and grouped by families.  I forgot to get my camera out, but we did have fun.

We had a crazy day at the shop.  I am closed on Mondays so my shop was not hopping although I did have several people pop in for last minute gifts.  For the most part, I gift wrapped in my family’s business and had a great time.  By 3 when we closed, I was really tired, but it was so much fun laughing and being silly when we were all getting pretty ready to be done.

We then go to my sister’s house for our big extended family gathering.  Poor number 1 son had a breakdown with his van on the way there so dinner was delayed while his girlfriend’s dad came to get them and take them home to our jeep.  We were only 10 miles away at my sister’s but her daddy was close enough to come help.  (we did get the van home today and it wasn’t as bad as we thought although the thing is on it’s last legs)

We got to come home and relax for about 2 hours before we headed to church.  Candlelight service is something we all look forward to every year.  We sing carols and have a brief message that is very low-key and personal.  Hubby only had had to schedule the music but actually got to sit with the family.  I was late getting to my seat because I went to find my friend who works in the office and we had a very special time of talking with each other.  The church has gone through some tough times that has divided family members and her family was especially affected, but we have definitely deepened our friendship over the past year and a half and we had a very positive time of talking and laughing together until we realized the service had started and my family was wondering where in the world I had disappeared to!

We have one little imp who evidently enjoys putting on his tux at least once a week so one big sis decided he needed to wear the jacket with his jeans to church on Christmas eve. 

The picture is dark but the smile is real.  One of the pastors took this picture at the candlelight service.  Notice the raw nose, he’s really been struggling with a whopping cold … owee.  He’s not very happy to blow the nose these days, it hurts.

I think hubby and I got to bed around 1 a.m. after we got home from church.

This morning, we woke up to the closest thing we see to a white Christmas.  It was kind of a fun touch.   

It was a little harder getting everyone together this year and we have come to the realization that life as we know it is going to be different now.  With one daughter married, one to be married and a son who will be married sometime in the near future, they have other places to go and other people who have become more of their focus. 

Most of us were together this morning and the little imp got a huge surprise.

A cell phone! Big sis has been trying to talk me into this for 2 years and we finally decided it was something to try.  The main reason we got this is to teach him responsibility…keeping ahold of it, keeping it charged, learning to call people, interacting a little more with others….then on top of that, he is a wanderer and with his phone we hope we won’t panic so much if we lose sight of him for a minute.  We know it won’t be a babysitter, but I can’t tell you the stressful times he has put us through.  Adding him to our family plan was pretty cheap.  And yes, we have all had several calls from him today but he received one call from one of our pastors and as he walked by the doorway on the phone and daddy asked him who he was talking to, he took the phone away from his mouth and in a stage whisper said, “it’s Pastor Rick!!!!”  He was pretty tickled.  We had anything that could cost us a lot of money blocked (texting, downloads, etc) and they assured us he could not call overseas.  I had a long talk with his case manager from Dept. of Developmental Disabilities and both she and our former case mgr. said they’ve seen families do this for kids who are a lot more involved than he is but for the same reason.  I’ll let you know if we made the right choice.  lol

And now to the knitting part, after I show you one of my gifts:

I know the lighting isn’t good, but can you see the knitting needles and yarn?  This is from hubby.  Here’s the front of the mug:

Can you read that on the inside rim?

Here’s another hint:

Yep, a week ago Saturday, we found out we’re going to be grandparents!  This is my wild knitting over the past week when I didn’t really have time.  These are Saartje’s booties and I’ve wanted to make them for quite some time.  They take very little time, I think it takes almost as much time to weave in the ends.  I tried the in the round version but wasn’t wild about knitting a row, purling a row and opted to do the original version.  Quite fun!!!

Here’s the inside of the little basket hubby put together for me

The new mommy really wants lots of hats. 

Baby isn’t due until the end of August so there is lots of knitting time from here to there but it’s going to be quite the year for us…another wedding and entry into the grandparent club!

As I was finishing this post, we got a call from #2 daughter and her fiance.  We had told the kids we were cutting back this year.  Our immediate family is now 9 people when you add the extras…and since we are not the main focus of their lives any more, we need to do things a little differently.  We have a tradition of giving pjs to the kids to wear on Christmas day and anyone who is hanging out here has to wear jammies on Christmas day.  We gave them to the kids before breakfast yesterday.  Today they got house socks (no, I didn’t knit them ~sad to say) and little Starbucks or Blockbuster gift cards and some money as well as their Christmas stockings filled with candy.  We had hung the tree with little Christmas buckets and put the money in those so when they opened their little gifts, we also gave those to them.  Well, the fiance was having his time with his family when we did that and then when he arrived, #1 son threw the little pail to him, it hit the floor and the lid popped off so the little bride handed it to him and said there was nothing in it so he wouldn’t be embarrassed looking.  It wasn’t until this evening as they were driving to his house that he thought it would have made sense if there was candy in it and when he opened it, he saw $$$.  They were embarrassed but laughing when they called.  She said she was so grateful for everything she got and was just fine with it all but now they felt terrible for not noticing or acknowledging it. Isn’t it funny how you think back to the things you said assuming they would know what you meant?  (like pooling $$$ and giftcards for something)  We just figured they could put their money together and get something or use it themselves but at this age, they usually want something that they appreciate the help getting there.  We’re all laughing now and I called the other kids to see if they had noticed there was anything in the pail.  I can only imagine how strange those two thought that was to be handed a silly little thing like that.  lol

The kids will be here soon for the exchange between themselves and games.  We’ve had our naps and are gearing up for the final round.  I haven’t even figured out if I’ll open my shop tomorrow.  (the nice thing about having it located inside my family’s business is if I’m not there, they’ll help out and call me if they need help).

My most sincere wishes for a very meaningful Christmas for you all!

Tags: my life

It’s been a busy few days…hmm, I guess I wouldn’t be the only one saying that! 

Monday night I got exactly 1 hour of sleep…from about 5:15 a.m. to 6:15.  I had to get up Tuesday morning and be at the county courthouse at 8:15 for jury selection!  I had considered calling and begging to be let off, but from the stories I have hard, it didn’t seem like it would be worth the trouble.  Needless to say, I was exhausted.  I was #39 so I really thought it was highly unlikely I’d be picked.  The judge asked if anyone had a reason that it would be a hardship to serve for 3 days.  A number of us raised our hands.  He went one by one and asked us what our reasons were.  The week before Christmas when you were already forced to be closed last week because of the storm was not a valid reason.  I do understand, who does want to serve right now.  Well, turns out I knew one of the witnessess, too…in fact, he is my sister’s brother-in-law.  So, even though the judge didn’t release me, the attorneys didn’t want me but when they were naming the jurors, they got to #38 as the 12th juror and then they needed one more since one would be an alternate.  It took him forever to name the 13th name and most of us were holding our breaths…but he jumped over me and the fellow next to me and named the next lady who I thought looked like she’d faint.  Sorry to say I was glad to leave.

When I got to my shop, I was shocked to find this….

Take a day off and go to jury duty and they make major progress on the theater!  It was a constant source of my attention today, too.  I am so excited to see it lit up!

I had to take a walk to the bank today and while I was out, the heavens opened and there was rain like you wouldn’t believe.  My pants were soaked in no time at all. 

As I was running back to work, I was really pondering what it was going to take to put life back into me.  The teller at the bank told me that across the board, everyone seems to be struggling with getting into the holiday spirit since the storm.  I cannot tell you how many people have said they had bare trees in their living rooms.  It’s weird how it has affected the community as a whole.

Anyway, I was thinking about it and when I blew back into my shop, a dear friend was waiting for me.  She had brought me a gift and I literally lost my breath and got choked up when I saw what she gave me.

These are the Bohus Blue Shimmer Cuffs she made at a retreat last year and I have loved them from the minute I saw them.  Her daughter was able to take the same class this past October and it just made me want to get into a class even more.   

I borrowed her picture from Ravelry, but she borrowed my camera and my hands to take the picture so I hope she doesn’t mind. 

All afternoon, I felt so warm and encouraged that she would ever consider giving me such a treasure.  I struggled for about 30 seconds to accept them and I felt like crying happy tears because it meant so much to me but she said that they really aren’t her colors and she wanted me to have them so I tried to graciously accept them. 

I had an appointment this afternoon and all through it, the person I was meeting with was trying to figure out if they were part of my sweater or what, she thought they were soooo beautiful.  I will treasure these forever and most of all, it will remind me of a caring friend and that we have much to be thankful for.

I had a friend tell me today that she talked with a lady who had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and she has about one year to live and you know what she said?  ‘08 is going to be the best year yet!

Imagine if we just decided that’s how it would be in spite of what we had going on.  I know I’m going to consider this a lot.

I hope everyone is getting done all that needs done!

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We had 2 storm warnings for this weekend but so far they have not materialized.  I have to say thank God!  Some of us actually got warnings by telephone…the concern was mainly that since so many roofs had tarps and so many trees have loosened, there could be damage from even a 50 mph wind.  I tell you, it is still so shocking when we drive around the area and see all the sawed off fallen trees or blue tarped homes.  For the most part, we’re doing fine, but this has definitely taken an emotional toll on the community.

Last night, we went to a wedding.  It was very sweet, the bride was a doll.  It’s so fun to watch these kids grow up and then walk down that aisle.  This little bride actually majored in mechanics.  She made a very beautiful bride, but I had to ask her to show me her shoes!

How cute is that?

Tonight, we went to our children’s play at church.  The play was written in mid October and then we lost all that time due to the storm, but I think it was the cutest thing we have ever done.  It was a tv news program following events of the birth of Jesus. 

Here are 2 shepherds wandering around before it started.

I have to say, it was heartwarming to see all of the children who helped keep one sweet shepherd on task.

Here are newscasters Katie Suric and Barbara Falters…

It was just shocking how well these kids did.  These girls had so many lines to learn and they had to do a little bit of ad libbing but they were so professional, it was adorable.  We had roving reporters and some of the kids were 4 and 5 years old and said these big lines.  It was soooo cute.  Even though it was funny, it was all done with so much respect.  We had some videotaped portions and some live, it was really hard to tell what was what because the live interviews were shown on the big screens just like the taped ones.  Some of the scenes were taped outside in the dark with flashlights.  Gosh, what a hit!

This is most of the cast during some of the songs. 

Here’s a closeup of the object of our interest.

As the kids all gathered around the manger, one little shepherd got a little distracted and no one noticed.  He’s standing by the open door…and spent most of his time smiling at his family.  Yes, that’s big brother looking at the camera.

The house was packed and we heard rave reviews afterwards.  They even had a little reception line for all the stars.  The little red-headed girl was the flower girl in our wedding last summer.  Those are her handsome big brothers.

Ahhhh, it’s all over, now the good stuff.

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The recovery continues.  You know, it is really interesting when you go through what we have gone through.  One one hand, there is huge gratitude that we are ok, there was very little loss of life (although the 2 deaths here were tragic and sobering).  On the other hand, the emotion is overwhelming.  I continue to hear incredible stories, most of the things I hear are positive…but it wears on you.  I fight feeling sad for the loss of our tree…our only one and the memories of our kids climbing in it.  #1 son once was up in it (wasn’t supposed to be) and fell off, his foot caught in it and he was hanging upside down.  Big sis was babysitting and heard him yelling, but thought he was just playing.  They’ve laughed over that for years. 

I am just so tired.  I find so many people are having a terrible time getting their decorating and their shopping started or done.  That’s me, too. 

I got a call today about wreaths being given for free by a company out of town who had a surplus, they brought them here (and I heard they were BEAUTIFUL) to share the blessing.  I heard several options of how to get reimbursed for food lost.  Some friends of ours told hubby yesterday that they haven’t gotten their power yet because a tree tore the box off their house.  They thought when the trucks came to their area to fix the lines that they would automatically fix that, too.  No.  They had to call an electrician (and they were far down the list).  Hubby called some men in the church who could help.  I don’t think they did the electrical work but they did help with generators.  The little kids in that home were coughing and getting sick from the dampness.

But look what I saw the other day.

The way I heard it, a construction company owner felt God told him to tarp people’s homes who lost their roofs (rooves?) for free.  He hired some extra help and started in.  Then Home Depot heard about it and started supplying the tarps.  This just happens to be my grandma’s old home! 

I was really intrigued by this trailer I have driven by several times.

Gosh, I hope no one was living in it.  The whole trailer park is a mess but I saw a sign that says it is going to become a mini storage.

Now…off that subject and on to what has been happening here.  We got a chance to do a little wedding prep the other day.  The bride #2 has been spending a lot of time on the Paper Source website and we got a chance to visit one of their stores on Monday.

This is in Bellevue.  I wish hubby and I could go stay up there for a couple of nights.  The streets are so cute with their Christmas decorations and we had a great time although it was a really rushed trip.  Here’s that cute girl after we finished shopping.

Last night was knit night and it was an interesting evening.  We had to call the police because one dear friend had some guy try to open her car door when she got there.  Then we noticed groups of rowdy young adults all over and heard clanging metal in the alleyway.  As soon as I made the call, that all stopped.  What’s going on around here?  It just feels so weird since the storm.

Remember the fair isle socks I have shown you the past 2 times we’ve met?  Look at the latest ones!

I tell you, this girl is talented.  These are not self-striping socks…she does this herself!  She even makes up part of the design as she goes.  When I took them to take a picture of them, one of the ladies whispered to me that they’d fit her!  I had to say if they were smaller, I’d be tempted to ‘borrow’ them.  (just kidding, friend!)  Is she talented or what?  These 3 pairs of socks she has knit have been probably my most favorite.

I’m working on the most simple project and enjoying it very much…Dashing from Knitty.  I wanted to do something quick for hubby just to say I love you.  It’s crazy, at knit night I had to have help doing the cable, though.  My brain is just out on vacation or something.  The pattern is so simple and its really a fast knit.  I may make some Fetching mitts before I go back to any one of the zillion other projects I have in progress.

Dashing is exactly what I needed to get a little of the knitting mojo back.

I hope I don’t sound too down, I’m really not.  It’s just a very sobering time and I feel very introspective.  I think it’s good once in awhile to take a step back and consider what’s really important. 

Blessings to you all…thanks so much for the caring comments and emails.  It means a lot!

Tags: my life

No, I’m not losing my mind.  haha

2 heartwarming little stories:

• Some of the power companies who sent crews requested that they now return home.  The workers said no, they can’t.  The people here still need them.  So they stay.
  • Those same workers marvel at the resiliance of the people in the community.  Even when they have had no power for 5 days, they bring them coffee and donuts.  So, we are blessed by them, they are blessed by us. 
• Our friends began to move out of their house today.  Someone has given them a house to stay in and they are figuring out how to get their internet hooked up and all that fun stuff.  $10 to change it to the new house.  $45 for one month of cable since they are used to satellite.  Not so bad.  But that’s not the cute story.
  • People wen tto help them move their stuff today.  There were so many people that they told hubby not to come (he did anyway).  They had gotten their tree literally about an hour before the storm.  The wife/mom was lamenting that they bought and decorated their tree and she didn’t do laundry or dishes and they lost their power immediately after decorating the tree.  Some friends went to their house today with a trailer, put the tree on it and put a bag over it and moved it fully-decorated to their new house.  Is that cool or what?

We went on our date tonight and it was fun.  We went to the mall and saw several people we knew and heard lots of stories.  Some had power now, some not.  What a sense of community, though.  This young kiddo we’ve known since he was months old, he is now about 16, stopped and talked to us for about 20 minutes.  I don’t think in all the time I’ve known him he ever talked that much.  We all just need to connect.

I so wish I could get pictures of some of the stuff I saw tonight but it was dark.  The power trucks are out on the highway working.  And a sad one…this really cool restaurant that has been around forever…used to be really good, then went downhill, then new owners about 2 years ago brought it back and we have never driven by but what the parking lot was jammed. It’s out in the middle of nowhere.  On Monday, crews were there working and suddenly they heard a sound like a freight train and suddenly someone screamed “RUN!” and a huge wall of water and mud came cascading down the hill and totally demolished the restaurant.  Last night the news said the insurance will not cover the loss, now totalling a million dollars.  (not sure how that is, but that’s what they said).  We could barely see it when we drove by.

And listen to this.  There are some construction companies who are going to houses who lost their roof and for free putting tarps on them … the tarps are being provided free by Home Depot!

A grocery store has been giving out free ice.  An employee told me today that they are going to give a one-time coupon to everyone for 20% off all groceries so people can get back on their feet.  *smile smile smile*  It is so heartwarming.

Anyway, most of what we are seeing is the kindness of others.

I promise I will stop talking about this soon, still trying to sort through it all.  I do hope to pick up some knitting needles sometime soon!!

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Power has been restored to most of the area and those who don’t have it should have it by this afternoon.  The area of town that holds Starbucks, Walmart, McDonald’s, etc is lit again.  I’m not sure what the problem was there because I heard it was a priority area…then one of the very last to get back up and running.

I forgot something important when I posted last night … I had meant to mention our gratitude to all of the teams of power company workers who have come in from all over the place.  This morning I drove past the one decent motel here in town and the parking lot was full of those white trucks.  It was still dark so I couldn’t get a picture.

Something that really affected me yesterday was the signs on businesses thanking the workers, one business was advertising dry ice for another business, others told of the availability of generators and then just the simple hand lettered “we’re open” signs…it all just affected me and I can’t find the words to explain my feelings.

And when we drove out to our friends’ house yesterday, I saw a gentleman from our church standing at the exit off the highway in the rain.  I turned to look as we drove by and hubby said he was working the food bank and wanted to let people know if they could get through the road or not (people were working on a downed tree right there).  Seeing him there made me cry.  It was cold and wet and I’m sure he could have sat at the food bank and let people figure it out for themselves, but he wanted to let people know they were open indeed, in spite of the fact there was no power.  The goodness of those who are giving! I think we’ll be hearing stories for a long time to come.

Here’s our tree.

When I turned around to come back inside, I saw this breathtaking sight.

Isn’t the sun just beautiful the way it’s shining on the house? And now we see the house until next Spring.  I think I’d rather have raked a few leaves rather than what we went through.  The leaves are probably 20 miles away.   lol

And now I think I will return to my knitting.  I probably knit about 10 rows on this square over the last 5 days.

Tags: my life

Ok, this has been hard.  Our daughter and her hubby still do not have power, right in the middle of town.  I drove through their neighborhood on the way home from work and it is just creepy, so dark.  The temperature is supposed to drop into the 20’s tonight.  Funny thing for daughter, though…her hubby says it gets *down* to 72 in the middle of the night in their house so they’re not hurting for heat.  They’ve really been doing well, but from our short experience, I know the candlelight and lanterns gets hard on the eyes.

Today hubby bought a generator.  We just don’t want to get caught like this again.  The daughter didn’t want to use it so he took it out to some friends’ house.  I was at work for the first time this week, but told him I wanted to go because I wanted to see how everyone out there was faring.  They live right out of town and are not expected to get power back for up to 10 days although it could be sooner.  The devastation out there was amazing.  What used to be kind of like a forest behind our church now has about half of the trees cut off at the halfway point.  Someone said it’s almost like a helicopter chopped them off.  We saw power company trucks working all along the way.

Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead so that’s it for pictures.

Our friends we took the generator to have to move out of their house.  That had water coming through their light fixtures and so much damage in their yard.  They had baskets and baskets of laundry because when the ceilings started leaking they started using all their towels and spare blankets to mop it up.  Their ceilings are sagging.  They have been able to borrow a washer and dryer so what I saw was not even all of it.  They put up a good front but I could tell they were nearing the end of being able to cope.  They have been cooking everything on their barbecue, including pancakes….in the rain!  So now at least they have some power as they figure out how to move out for awhile.  Been there, not fun.  (but they do get new ceilings, sheet rock, paint and who knows what else…trying to look at the end result)

I talked to a few friends today and saw another one.  Go see Dip Lady to hear about her experience.  I was so happy to see her face today!

One of my friends called and told me they lost many, many trees.  Many of them had very significant memories.  It took them 4 hours to cut their way out of their driveway.  She had no way to reach her elderly father because even if they could have gotten out, the roads were blocked.  So when she did get out, what did she do?  At the grocery store she met a little elderly man who was confused (it’s so weird, when you get to the store when it’s all so nuts..you can’t think what you need when your ability to cook is limited to a wood stove or barbecue or in his case, no way to cook).  She gave him some money to buy sandwiches and then, get this, got his name and address and went home and made him spaghetti (on her bbq!!!!) and took a hot meal and more groceries to him and his bedridden wife!  She had to navigate through a pitch dark building to the top floor.  I was so blessed to hear that while she was going through much herself, she did this.

I walked to the popcorn store today.  I thanked the owner for standing on the street and selling coffee on Tuesday.  She said she was the one who received the blessing.  We talked a bit about how wonderful it is to see people coming together and helping others while they have needs themselves.  We both ended up crying.

Last night, we went to buy a chain saw (thank God for Home Depot gift cards) but who would be in that aisle but our son’s girlfriend’s dad.  He told us not to buy one and he came here today and cut our tree apart.  It was dark when I got home so I couldn’t really see how bad the fence was…but I was so blessed at his kindness.  

We’re starting to hear from family where the flooding is.  Thankfully they are doing ok.  We were supposed to take the little imp to get fit for orthotics in that very area but that has been postponed.

I got a call from a cousin tonight who heard that we were cut off from everything when she was in Hawaii.  Someone asked her if she wasn’t from our community and she came home not knowing what was going on.  She thought the bluff had come down at the edge of town like it did once before.  We talked a few minutes before she realized it wasn’t that at all but wind.  She kept telling me she loved us all and is here for us, will do whatever she can to help.

So, yes, it’s hard….but it’s also been a huge blessing seeing people pull together.  I think the emotion I have been struggling with all day is just that reality is setting in.  I so desperately want to hear that power is restored. 

Thanks to all of you who care, it sure helps.  To keep it in perspective, I think about the Katrina, Rita, Sept. 11 and realize it could be much worse.  It seems the people I talk to  are mostly aware of their love for each other.  Isn’t it amazing what comes out of us?

And those who do things like stealing gas cans out of pickups (dear daughter and fiance went to Wal-mart this evening and forgot to put their gas into the truck and it was gone when they came out)….I just feel sorry for them. 

Count your blessings!

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This post was originally started at 10:30 am Monday:

A few days ago, we had half a day of snow.  As predicted, it started raining that night.  Then we were told that we’d get wind.  They did say it was going to be a wild weather week, but I didn’t dream what we’d actually get!

Last night the wind started hitting.  Around midnight, it was getting pretty bad and hubby and I ended up coming downstairs as our room takes the brunt of the wind and it felt like the wall was going to come in on us, the house was really shaking and we kept seeing huge flashes of light (lightning, I assume).  At 1 I was doing dishes and trying to keep busy because it was getting worse and worse.  We rarely lose our power because we are on our hospital grid.  Neither of us slept much last night and it was hard not to worry about people like my mom who lives on low ground and is alone.  I didn’t know if she was at my brother’s house and didn’t dare try to call.  (wouldn’t have mattered, phones weren’t working).  We’ve heard that we’ve had winds up to 81 mph but then they lost contact with the weather service.  What’s scary is, we are totally an island at this point, there is no way in or out of our community.  A power company employee was badly hurt last night around midnight when a tree came down on his bucket and they had to cut a way through to get him to Seattle.

Excuse the quality of the pictures because I am not caring to go outside again, but this is across the street from us.  Funny how you can’t get the wind to show.

After I was looking out the front, I was horrified to see this on the side of our house!

This is our tree and it took out our neighbor’s fence.  The tree is Y-shaped and part of it is still standing but not looking terribly stable.  Thankfully, no one is in the neighbor’s house and the house is ok.  Thankfully, too, it didn’t hit our jeep!

The winds are supposed to continue through the day.  The whole community is shut down. We seem to be an attraction, though, because cars are driving by and videotaping our damage.  I can’t imagine what else other damage there is because it sounds like it’s awful.

The little imp is disturbed. He got out our broom and laid it across a shoe to re-enact the tree disaster outside.  Our family is all home and our oldest daughter and her hubby are coming over in a little while because they don’t have power.

I’m borrowing our neighbor’s connection because ours is out (they don’t care).  We don’t have tv….I’m really concerned for some of my friends in outlying areas (Dip Lady…are you there?????)  

ps  And wouldn’t you know, when I pressed save to server…our power went out.  It’s been half an hour and this is really unusual!  Some people won’t have power for 8 days but they said most will be out for 5!!!!!

Well, yes, we did lose our power and it was 37 hours before it came back on.  It is 2 am and I am still a little wired so thought I’d post more pictures, but so tired I’ll try to make sense. Part 2: The storm continued in quite a bit of fury until about 5 a.m. Tues.  It started late Sunday night.  We have talked to so many neighbors who have all said they cannot ever remember a storm that kept on and on like that.  We expected it to start subsiding at 4 pm Monday but it just kept blowing and blowing.  The weather stations were knocked out so the highest wind gusts clocked at 81 mph but our neighbor who’s been in many, many hurricanes and huge storms said it far far surpassed that so we’re thinking we did have hurricane force winds.  We’re used to wind and rain but not like this!!!  I actually considered getting the family into our bathtub at one point.  Our house was shaking and felt like we’d blow away, seriously.  One of the closets in the middle of the house kept blowing open.   

They did get a road open so we could get out of here, but travel is pretty difficult right now with many detours. 

As we lost our power, we were just starting to get out our Christmas decorations and one disturbed little imp was having fun and distracted from the wind. 

We got out a little bit so I’m going to share some of the pictures, not the greatest quality because I was just so amazed at what I was seeing and trying to snap from a moving vehicle.  Before we left, I took pictures of our tree.  This morning, a neighbor came over and told us that if we plan to cut the tree up ourselves, he is going to help.  Several years ago, hubby helped him when he had big trouble with his garage and he wants to return the favor.  How nice!  Our tree split in half, so only half came down and we do have to bring down the other half.  It was  s c a r y  during the continued storm because it looked pretty unstable. 

This is 1 block from our house.  We thought this was why we lost our power but actually it was because the whole Bonneville power system feeding our area got knocked out.

Remember the beautiful tree I took a picture of a few weeks ago?  Well, it is now stripped of it’s leaves.  I didn’t get a very good picture here but it kind of shows.  They lost tons of branches and small trees.

Not at all sure what happened to the temporary fencing they had put up around the theater but it’s not there now.  It could be in the next county.  Someone found my shop’s sign somewhere down the road.  There is a huge fan of some sort leaning up against our building and it’s hard to say where it came from.  We were fortunate but many of the buildings around us had a lot of damage.

This is next door to the theater.  This building lost windows on the front of their building, too.  It was sickening.

A few years ago, the city turned a park into a drain field and excess water is pumped here.  Some people were boating in it!  It did it’s job!

I know these machines are heavy. 

Shortly after we lost our power, we went to the grocery store.  It was crazy…packed with people and we could only use cash or check.  These are the lines.  I had a nice visit with a lady and her daughter and we shared experiences.

This is the 2nd day we went out.  We saw a line of people at the popcorn shop where we had our Knit in Public day.  We stopped for mochas and hot chocolate, so nice to have something really hot.  I also wanted to say hi to the owner, she was working so hard. After we got there, the line doubled.

We also drove up the hill to see the power lines right past the hospital.  This blocked the road in to a new community of homes.  I assume they are just stuck in there.  It’s weird when you can’t get news.

All and all, we fared well.  We have a gas fireplace insert so we were always warm.  We heated soup and chili on it and even toasted bread. 

When we got home from the grocery store, this fellow came running up the street asking if we had any phone service.  His parents are in a community about an hour away and he’d heard that their house had been taken by a river and they were on the roof.  He had phone service through our cable company, as do we, and that was totally knocked out even before we lost our power …and his cell phone didn’t work at all.  Ours worked sporadically but he couldn’t get a call out so hubby took him to a neighbor’s and they did have phones but he didn’t really get any information.  It was sickening…no way out of here and barely any communication. 

We plan to change our phone service back to the phone company, this was awful.  We also plan to get a phone that doesn’t need electricity.  Here is a crazy one, many of my phone numbers were in my computer, which I couldn’t turn on.  Believe me, tomorrow I’ll get them into my cell phone, I was just lazy and didn’t do it.  We’ll consider getting a generator even though we rarely lose power.  I think we learned a lot through this and it was probably good for us.  Our state has been declared a disaster (or whatever you call it, I am so tired) so hopefully there will be help to get this all cleaned up.  I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like because our main highway out of town will probably be blocked for 5 days.  Areas within an hour are dealing with horrible flooding.  I heard my cousin’s daughter (special needs, married) had water up to her counters and lost everything.  They also lost her, but found her at a friend’s home. 

I’m not sure what the answer is to the phone service because when it took an hour to actually get a call to my brother who lives a mile from me, that was pretty scary.  My mom came here and is still here.  If the river starts flooding here, we’ll end up with people staying with us in the next few days.  Our house is a disaster but when the power came on at 12:25 a.m. I was just too tired to start cleaning it up.  Tomorrow.

And for now, I am off to bed, counting my blessings and hoping we can get ahold of my in-laws.  We’ve had no way to reach them and that is unnerving.  I know they got winds up to 125 mph according to the little news we could get.  We probably had that, too.

It’s 2:45 am and even though I still don’t feel sleepy, I am exhausted so I’m headed to bed. 

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Wow, can you believe it is December already?

I spent a quiet day at the yarn shop today.  We started the day with this…

We tend to get a little excited around here because we don’t see this all that often.  It made for an entertaining day but it was also quiet.  The good side of that is  I made myself do neglected paperwork.

I spent the afternoon working on this…

This is the 2nd square of the Great American Afghan.  It’s pretty easy.  I took the picture after I had bound off the stitches in the middle of the row, the next row they are picked back up.  I’m done with that part now, too.  I actually had started another square after I frogged the other one but had forgotten it at home so this one was born.  I’m kind of excited to see a stack of squares like the Dip Lady’s. 

This evening our snow is melting (although the lawns are white).  We are supposed to get wind and rain tomorrow, that’s more typical for us.  We should be getting our tree up tomorrow to satisfy one little imp.  The furniture is moved but mom needs to do a little bit of de-cluttering first. 

Tags: my life