Revolution

Shortly after I finished typing my blog post last night, we lost power. I thought, being in Michigan, we wouldn't feel much effect from the hurricane, but the wind was really strong. The power was going off and on all day, but then at around 7, it didn't come back on.

Normally, once Jerry and I put the kids to bed at 8, we get cozy on the couch and watch "our" shows together. Without power, we were just kind of staring at each other, wondering what to do. It's funny how much we rely on electricity for entertainment! We don't get good cell service at our house, so we couldn't use the internet on our phones. We decided to actually have a real, uninterrupted, distraction-free conversation (with alcohol).

I poured a (large) glass of wine, and Jerry opened a beer. We lit some candles and just sat on our bed chatting. We laughed about the irony of missing the show Revolution because we had no power (if you're not familiar with the show, it's about the entire country losing all power for many years). Chandler, Paolo, and Phoebe were all up on the bed with us. It's rare to have three cats up there! One or two, almost always.

Then a couple of hours later, the power came back on, which was a relief. Usually when our power goes out due to a storm, it's out for at least 24 hours. The wind was still really strong, and I could hear freezing rain hitting the windows all night.

This morning, I immediately turned on the news to see the damage from the hurricane on the east coast. I've been so worried about my trip to NY, and not sure what to do about it. Once I saw that the subways were flooded, and they said it could take many days to get them running again, I started to think that maybe I should call Delta and see if they could refund my flight.

This was from my brother's (pilot) friend's Facebook page

On their website, they were offering refunds for flights up to Nov. 1st--my flight was on Nov. 2nd. So I called and waited on the phone for about 15 minutes until I could speak to someone. I asked about a refund, but they told me no, my flight was non-refundable.

I got a Facebook message from Jennifer, who is still stuck in Florida. She said that her flight was moved again, this time until Saturday. So even if I made it to NY (Newark, actually, is where I'd be flying into), Jennifer wouldn't be there. I decided to try Delta on Twitter--I sent a tweet to the Delta Assist, asking about a refund. They had me message my confirmation number, and then they issued a refund for my ticket! I was so surprised--I thought I'd never see that money again.

I'm sure I could have found a place to stay (a reader even kindly offered for me to stay with her), but with the public transportation being down right now, I was worried about getting around while in NY. I also would have had to get (quickly) from the race Sunday to the airport in Newark, and have my bags with me--a mess.

So anyway, I'm relieved I was able to get a refund on my flight. Now I'm only out the $55 for the 5K race registration (that race is on Saturday). I'm hugely disappointed about missing out on seeing Renee in the marathon, but it seems it just wasn't in the cards for me to go this weekend.

A couple of hours after the freezing rain stopped this morning, I decided to do my three-mile run outside. I thought for sure I would wind up on the treadmill, but I bundled up for the run outside. It was still really windy.

A couple of times during the first mile, I felt a gust of wind at my back that propelled me forward, and I felt like I was flying! But the last mile felt pretty tough, because the wind was blowing right in my face ;)

After lunch, I sent Renee a text telling her the situation with the marathon, and she asked if I wanted to get together for coffee/tea. I met up with her and we talked about the situation. I feel really bad for her! This was her fourth year applying to get into the NYC marathon, and she has been really excited to go. Now, she said she's not even sure if she's going, for a host of reasons that are understandable.

The race is at least letting runners defer their entries until next year, but they will have to pay the HUGE registration fee again ($255). I hope that she's able to go and have a great time, but if not, she said she's going to find another marathon to do so that all of her training doesn't go to waste.

Jerry is off work Friday-Monday (he was going to be here with the kids while I was gone), so now I'm thinking I'd like to plan something fun to do to take my mind off of missing out on NY.

Oh, and speaking of Jerry, he was disappointed that I forgot to post this picture yesterday:

I was standing at the stove, cooking dinner, and I kept complaining that my toes were completely numb from being so cold. So Jerry sat there and massaged my feet while I was cooking. (I think he just wanted me to post this picture so that he can show everyone how good I have it!)