How I Spent My Christmas...

For those of you who did not complete the Evelyn Woodhead Speed Reading Course...

1. After the 2007 experience in which 7YO - then 6YO - woke us up at 1:30 and we finally got up around 3:30, he was told not to wake us until 6. I heard him at 5:09 when he came to "see if we were awake." At 5:19 he came back to ask what time it was (he knows how to read the clock). I said, "It doesn't count if you wake us up to ask the time," but we got up.

2. Lo' and behold, Santa had come. From us, 7YO received Pokemon figures, a Star Wars-Transformers thing (that about put me in the nuthouse last night), Mouse Trap, a game for his DS, and a game for the Wii. The Wii, you may recall, had been purchased as "the big gift," a family gift. Santa brought a car that you can drive on the wall, on the ceiling...

3. We had a quiet morning, a nice breakfast, and P started cooking around 11.

4. Although it was fairly mild, we had a nice fire going in the wood stove. This is a "thank goodness" because, well, see #5 below.

5. At 3:15, when we were about 20 minutes from sitting down to dinner... THE POWER WENT OUT. At first I thought perhaps a circuit had flipped, though I knew this was unlikely. Nope. Power was out in the neighbourhood, and I don't know how far beyond.

6. P made gravy on the woodstove, got the brussel sprouts and stuffing hotter on the woodstove. Everything else had been ready and waiting to be served.

7. I went and found the trusty battery-operated Coleman lantern, cleaned it off, and put the batteries in. P put candles on the table.

8. Things to know - we rely on an electric well pump for water, everything in the house is electric, it gets dark around 4:30.

9. We ate. It was delicious. We put the pie on the woodstove to stay warm.

10. We couldn't do the dishes. We couldn't flush the toilets.

11. 7YO whined about all the things he could not do without power. A good learning experience.

12. We played Mouse Trap by lantern.

13. We went to bed around 8. The house was still warm. ICF + woodstove = fabulous.

14. The lights flickered on around 8:30... and then went off again.

15. The lights came on around 1:30 this morning.

16. We have power. I'm posting this in real time.

17. There's nothing magical about 16 so I'm adding 17 just to avoid a pattern.

18. I like even numbers.

There you have it! I would never have imagined that, after all we've been through, we'd sit down to our first Christmas dinner in the house, in Canada, together and have no power. But, we knew there would be power issues in the area and one of the reasons we wanted this particular kind of wood stove was because we could cook on it. I consider this a victory of sorts.

And now, on to Boxing Day!