Black-outs and freeze-outs

One night last week we were watching TV, dinner was in the oven, Kayla was practicing the piano and then, there was darkness. Complete and utter darkness. The power was out. Boy do I take electricity for granted. I learned a few things that night.

1. you should keep matches WITH the candles.
2. we watch a lot of TV.
3. two year olds do not understand why they cannot watch TV
4. dinner by candlelight is fun.
5. there are a whole lot of things you cannot do when you don't have power.
6. washing dishes in the dark is not effective.
7. the novelty of doing things by flashlight gets old fast.
8. it is nice to go to bed early
9. it is not nice when the power comes back on around midnight and all the lights and TV turn on too.

Then there was the COLDNESS. Boy oh boy, do I take having a warm house for granted. On Monday night, our house was really cold. I kept checking the doors and windows to see if one of the kids had opened them. Sometime, in the middle of the night, we figured out that the furnace wasn't working. By morning, the house was 57 degrees, not freezing, I know but way to cold. This is what I learned from not having heat:
1. I don't like to be cold
2. furnaces are expensive
3. tax returns come in handy

So if I have learned anything from this it is that I am grateful for all the modern conveniences and I am so grateful that I am not a pioneer woman and I have a few things I need to do to get prepared for a "real" emergency.