Question #1
How many days without electricity does it take for a two year old to understand that he can't watch tv?

I think the answer is at least four days. Since I knew Lincoln wouldn't be able to grasp the concept of electricity, I just told him that the tv was broken. We listed all of the things that were broken in our house several times each day. (tv, dvd player, computer, lights, etc.)

On Saturday night, the day after the hurricane, another storm came through. It was thundering and lightening, which woke Lincoln up. We went into the living room and ended up making shadows on the ceiling for a while. Eventually, I started getting really tired, so I thought I would see if he would lay down with me on the couch. As we were laying there, Lincoln looked up at the overhead light. He said, "Mom go to store and buy lightbulbs." If only it were that easy.

Question #2
How many days without electricity does it take for an adult to stop trying to turn on the light in every room she enters?

Apparently the answer is more than six. It's just one of those things that you do without even thinking.

I was going to try to be cute and write this whole entry with questions. Since it has been sitting unfinished for days, I think it may be better if I just write it before I forget.

Just in case you don't know, hurricanes make quite a mess. By the time we finished cleaning up my yard, there were over 15 bags of trash sitting in front of my house. (My dad bundled up all the big tree limbs separately.) I think we spent a total of three days on my yard. I think we spent two days on my parent's yard. I'm not really complaining. Some people don't even have a house. I just thought it would bring a chuckle to those of you who know me well. Yard work isn't really my thing.

We ate really well after the hurricane. I felt a bit like a Pioneer woman. I realize they didn't have grills or propane stoves, but I did have to take the food outside to cook it. Cooking turned out to be the highlight of my day. There's not a whole lot you can do when the power is out. I found myself thinking about the food that we had and what I could make with it. It was like a cooking challenge. Normally, I'm a recipe follower. Recipes don't really give directions for the grill, so I had to be creative. I even made homemade blueberry syrup.

There was a block party almost every night on mom and dad's street. (Apparently my street is no fun because this didn't happen on my street.) Several people had meat that needed to be cooked. One night we had chicken on the grill. One night we had steak. One night we had fajitas (that was our night). One night we had smoked turkey and brisket. We would just sit outside and eat and visit. It was fun. It reminded me of when I was little, and people were outside more.

Our Sonic opened up pretty quick after the storm. One day I waited in line an hour just to get a drink. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I really wanted a cold drink with ICE. And it wasn't like we had anything else to do. It was actually quite entertaining to listen to people as I waited in line. There was a group of teenage girls behind me who were cracking me up. One of the girls mentioned that her phone worked. Her friends were all puzzled because their phones didn't work. She explained that the phone had to have a cord. : ) Too funny.

I'll end with another funny Lincoln story:

A few days after we got power, Lincoln woke up from his nap. The house was dark because I decided to take a nap too. I heard him calling for me, so I went to get him. He climbed out of bed, walked into the hallway, and noticed that the lights were off. He held his hands out by his waist, started shaking his head, and said, "No lectricity." It was so cute! Man was he happy when I showed him that the lights worked!