This year my
birthday was a blackout… No, not the went out partying, had too much fun and to drink,
and blacked out birthday. It was the half a million people without power
blackout birthday…
Let’s start
at the beginning of my memorable/miserable birthday…
Friday after
work Doug, his mom and dad, and I went to the Orioles game. I had bought
tickets earlier in the month and we were all super excited. Well, that is until
we saw the weather. Game time temperature was 100 degrees! Yep. That’s not even
with the heat index! Our seats were under the overhang so we were out of the
sun but there was no breeze IN THE WHOLE BALLPARK! My clothes were even sweating.
It was miserable. By the time we got inside the ballpark sweat was dripping
down my back and face. And of course the place was packed being a night game
with fireworks. After the sun set, the temperature fell some but not at our
seats. Nope, the overhang trapped the hot air so we sat in a sauna the entire
time. I kept looking around for fans but they had none. CRAZY! We tried to make
the best of it and his parents were super nice, smiling the whole time. His dad spent most of the game by the concession stands, watching the game on the TVs. They
insisted they were okay but I knew they were cussing me. Ha! I remember there
being a game, players on the field and all, and I remember eating some bbq sandwich
everybody kept talking about but all my attention was focused on how hot I was.
They provided cups of ice to everyone but NOTHING could cool you off in that
heat but an ice cold pool or an AC.
At the end
of the 7th inning I decided to put everybody out of their misery and
head home. I was sad to miss the fireworks but turns out it was a good
decision. I might have not even missed them. See, on our way home we noticed
lots and lots of lightening. I mean, this lightening was constant and very bright. No thunder so I thought it was heat lightening and
didn’t think anything of it. We pull into the parking lot and one by one we
watch all the lights go out in the neighborhood. The wind kicked it into high
gear, the rain started pouring, and the lightning and thunder began its show.
An hour later it was over but the damage was done.
The first
night was not bad. This house was cool from the air running all night. We had to shower in the dark at 11 pm after the storm ended
because we were stank nasty from the game. We opened the window in the bedroom
to let the cool air and breeze from the storm in. Auburn barked and growled at everything that moved
all night. We got some sleep but not much. The next morning (my official birth day) I woke up at 5 to
check the status of the power. It was then we realized how bad the storm was.
My plans of shopping all day for my birthday were screeching to a halt. I went back to sleep
while Doug went and got breakfast and helped his dad hook up the
generator. I showered at our house and
then trekked over to their house to dry my hair. OMG! It took an hour to blow
dry and straighten! I had to keep the blow dryer on low heat, low power. It was
miserable. But I was grateful for the power.
So here it
is, my birthday, and I had no power, a bad hair day, little sleep, and a few
missing pounds from sweating my ass off the night before. All I wanted was
Cracker Barrel for lunch and shopping for desert. And you guessed it, Cracker
Barrel was closed for no power. Thankfully Chick-Fil-A was open. And everybody
else in the city new it! My mom had yet to call me and tell me Happy Birthday and I was eating my grand birthday lunch at a Chick-fil-a. I almost broke down but I refused to let all the bad
get to me. Plus I knew it would break Doug’s heart knowing I was not happy on
my birthday and there was nothing he could do to make it better. The outlets
and mall had full power so we headed to the AC! I spent half my birthday money
(Everybody gave me money so I got to splurge!! It was great!!) and a slice of
cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. We got home hoping the power was back on
but it wasn’t. So we fed the pooch and headed out for dinner at G&M (yeah
the yummy crab cake place)!
On our way home I checked the automated phone system with the power company for an update. They did a great job of keeping it and their website updated. When we called earlier it said the power was estimated to be on by 5. Then they changed it to 8:30. When I called this time, they gave no time... Umm...? The recording started talking about how it would be even the end of the next week before everyone's power would be restored and how they had hundreds of trucks coming from out of state to help. Umm...? I was fearing for the worst at this point.
The second
night of no AC was miserable. There was no breeze and Auburn was barking at
everything. I slept for a few hours on the couch. And at 5 am (two days in a
row my birthday weekend? Really?) I awoke to a beep, a click, and then another
beep. IT WAS ELECTRICITY!!! I jumped up, ran into the bedroom, and turned the
fan on. I shut the windows, cranked the air (it was 85 in house!), and woke up
Doug to share the good news. Neither of us could go back to sleep (we were like kids on Christmas morning) so we got up
and got to work. The laundry was backed up, the dishes needed to be run, and I
wanted to clean the fridge before we put the food back in it (we stashed what
we could at his parents since their fridge was hooked up to the generator and had to throw the rest out). Now Doug is off to
work, I am finishing laundry, watching Sex & the City (cable & internet
is out), pre-typing my blog, and planning my cheesecake desert and nap.
So the
weekend was not a total bust, but nothing like I had imagined. I made Doug
promise for an extra good 30th. You know, MD to Bermuda is a 2 hour
flight… J
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