The Surprise Storm of October 2006 and How We All Lived to Tell the Tale...

Where does it snow in October? I'll give you three guesses! I think I may have to start stocking my boys with boots, hats and gloves in August just to be safe for next year. As it was, Brennan and Aidan embraced the new snow Friday morning with glee and romped with their cousins while outfitted in sneakers, sweatpants and barely fitting winter coats. Snow angels, snow balls and even a little snow snack for Brennan - but that was the fun part.

The not so fun part? The fact that our, along with 200,000+ Buffalonians, electricity went out Thursday night - leaving us with no heat or sump pump, no lights, and no ability to woo my children with a (cough, cough) educational DVD so Mommy can recover from the two hours of sleep she had last night. The city and surrounding environs were clobbered by the abundance of wet, heavy snow clinging to the trees. Phoeby has great pictures at her blog that capture the storm's aftermath.

I packed up the kiddies and set up camp as a "basement dweller" (tm Dr. Dylan) at our gracious friends' home of Dylan and Christine. Chris, as the man of the house, held down the fort by emptying our basement of all items, bailing water and transforming himself into the reincarnation of Macgyver by hooking up our sump pump to his car battery to keep the water at bay. He did all this in an unheated home, in the dark, and caught about an hour of sleep here and there. He is a saint. Truly.

The boys loved the sleepover and the opportunity for unlimited play with their pals Ellie and Casey. We had heat, electricity and television - but (and isn't there always a but?) we lost water around 5 pm. Yes, water. Because the generator that distributes the water for our area apparently also lost power and that means NO RUNNING WATER. It was at this point I felt like we were indeed in the midst of surreal situation.

On Saturday, Chris found a generator by outrunning two hundred desperate shoppers at our local Sears. (All that marathon training really did come in handy, didn't it?) My Macgyver got our sump pump all hooked up and pumping and joined us as a basement dweller. We also got running water back. We all celebrated by having dinner out with the kiddies at the illustrious gourmet bistro that is Wegmans.

Sunday? Yep - still no power. We decided to give our friends' a little break and moved in to my grandparents' home. They were the only ones in my extended family with heat and water. This meant a warm home full of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents.... a very full home indeed. (My grandfather commented that "this is a true test as to how our family really does get along.") But strangely enough - it was fun. My aunt cooked a big dinner. The kids played and had a great time. Aidan and Brennan loved having even more time with their cousins. The adults laughed and chatted while watching the Bills go down in flames. Family is a truly wonderful thing.

And on Sunday afternoon, my own personal Macgyver rigged our heat to our generator, which meant that we could move back home. Home. We had one light, a fridge and heat, but we were home.

Monday afternoon? WE GOT THE POWER! I was never so happy as I loaded that dishwasher and pressed the start button.

Unfortunately, after Monday and even today, there are still people here without power. Still. It is disconcerting to realize how dependent we are on comforts we take for granted every day.

Everyone in Buffalo looks a bit shell shocked and so tired, so very tired. I think we need a group vacation as a city to recover from the ordeal. Oh - and the snow? Gone. Let's hope it stays away until at least November. Although my boys are wishing otherwise...