Dear Wilson

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Dear Wilson,

What a week! To think that the 15+ inches of record rain and snow storm of November was the big weather story! The kids had already had 3 snow days with sledding in the yard and a great time with their friends in the snow and out of school. We certainly thought that would be it. We are currently on Day 6 without power (I'm writing this from the warmth of Omie and Bobby's house - they got power on Sunday!) We are all fine, but here's a rundown of all that has occurred:

Tuesday Dec 12 - We had a minor windstorm - knocked out power to our house for 11 hours or so. We all slept in the family room in front of the fire. Fun, cozy, old-fashioned good times - like camping!

Wednesday Dec 13 - Kids off to school. Shannon still working with Amy at blueclickers.com and doing some contract work for 4Js gets some work done with power restored and heads over to help out in Emi's classroom. John off to work, too. Nothing unusual!

Thursday Dec 14 - Warnings begin of a high windstorm. The usual discussions in line at the grocery store of people "stocking up" and preparing for another power outage. Around 5 the power went off and then flipped back on. I was frankly yawning at the notion of the storm - I mean, how bad could it be? The kids would be in school Friday and I'd be finishing up my Christmas list of to-dos. Around 8 (Jack could tell you what time as it interrupted the Seahawks game) the power went out. With darkness and a blazing fire, we all snuggled back in the family room to sleep. I had powered up the aero bed thinking that I might as well be comfy if I have to sleep downstairs again. We were all asleep with just a whistle of a wind outside the house. We did have a battery radio turned to the news and were hearing of some high winds headed our way. About 1am I woke up, as did the kids, and WOW what a storm. We could hear every howl and crackle of the trees bracing with each gust. It was definitely spooky and I found myself hunching over the kids heads! At 1:45 or so we heard a horrible crash and boom and we knew a tree had hit the house. The question was where and how bad was it? For some reason that finally happening relieved me of anymore anxiety. It never occurred to me that another tree could hit and thankfully we just had one. It spliced the chimney on the living room side and didn't come through the house. It was scary, but I thought it was somewhat isolated and when the kids asked if I thought they'd go to school the next day I said, "Yes, probably!"

Friday Dec 15 - After not much sleep, morning dawned and we surveyed the damage. Schools closed across the region. We were so thankful to all be okay and to see that our neighbors were okay too. We cleaned up a bit in the yard and surveyed the damage. We cranked up the generator to make coffee, check the news, and have a little bit of light to clean up a bit. We delivered hot coffee to Omie and Bobby who were cold and not finding this power outage funny at all! We called our insurance company as well as a tree service and got in line to have the tree removed.

Saturday Dec 16 - Power restored to pockets of the region. We were happy to see the grocery store not too far with power as well as some restaurants. We started to share our generator with Mike and use some of his gas to keep it running. Emi had a soccer game in Redmond which had power and that town seemed generally unaffected by the storm! When we returned we heard and saw the tales from John and Jack on the huge crane used to remove the tree. Saturday night our friends who had gone to a hotel invited us to dine with them. Before going we made sure Omie and Bobby had their gas fireplace going, some hot chinese food, extra hot cider, and their flashlights and radio. We also equipped them with the Northwest essential ski hats!

Sunday Dec 17 - Omie calls to say she has power! Hooray! I don't think they could have managed another night. I had them on a couple of hotel waiting lists, but they would have ended up at a shelter for sure. What a relief! We all went there and warmed up and basically moved in!

Monday Dec 18 - Still no power at our house. Kids get to play with friends. Jack has sleepover. All is good as we are warm!

Tuesday Dec 19 - Still without power. Sending out my Christmas cards as is with no note this year. Will let people know to read my blog for family updates this year! I can get the cards out, but can't print the Christmas letter. We'll add a special posting of the Wallners Year in Review... Can't imagine what Christmas will be like this year. Will we even be back in our home??

Thanks for listening, Wilson. You always do.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Dear Wilson,

Amy and I are heading out tomorrow for Baltimore. We'll meet up in Minneapolis, fly to Baltimore and then take public transit to Washington DC. At the hotel we'll plan our Sunday in DC to see as much as we can and want to. I'm so looking forward to being in DC this time of year. It's been about 18 years since I spent the summer there. Such good memories of a great adventure. We'll teach a class on Monday and return home late Monday night.

Kids have sports on Saturday and not a thing that they have to be at on Sunday. Should be a fairly easy weekend for John!

Will post about our trip as we have time and internet access!

Monday, December 04, 2006

Dear Wilson,

Just returned from the dentist and was scolded for not wearing my night guard. Not really scolded, but I know I need to wear it, so here I am putting my goal IN PRINT. They say the act of writing it down can make it happen so here it goes:

1. I will wear my nightguard nightly and improve my gums' health and limit recession!
2. I will earn enough money in 2007 to comfortably buy season ski passes/gear/clothing and new everyday/work clothes for all family members!
3. I will focus when I'm working and focus when I'm playing.
4. I will walk or exercise every day possible.
5. I will not be mistaken for an albino whale in Maui Jan 27-Feb 3!
6. I will treat my husband as a I would a beloved co-worker more often.
7. I will show interest when my husband says "Want to go browse Radio Shack!?"

:)

Friday, December 01, 2006

Dear Wilson,

Okay, sing along with me to the tune of Jingle Bells!

OH!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, the kids are back to school!
They had 3 days to enjoy the snow,
and now the house again I get to rule!

Hooray!

So after a fun, but long, wintry 3 days of icy roads, snow capped trees, and sledding around here, school is back in session. Fun for them, but do they realize they won't be out of school now until nearly the end of June? I was amazed at how long the snow stayed on the ground. So beautiful and so fun, but, thanks, now back to everyone's regular daily events!

Why is it as humans that schedules are so important to us? Some more than others, but I know that I have a much better attitude when I know what's happening next. On Tuesday afternoon we already were informed that there would be no school Wednesday and we celebrated and enjoyed it. Thursday's decision didn't come until the early morning, so it made Wednesday night a toss and turn and juggling sort of day.

Now we have rain again -- record all time 15+ inches in Nov! -- and some sun breaks. Good all around. Oh ... except now it's Friday and time for the kids home for the weekend! :)