A Ventage Girls' Take on Winter

Photo taken last Sunday in Chicago. 

Temperature = 14ish + Wind (aka cold)

It's easy to think friendly thoughts about winter today because the expected high temperature is 55 degrees. Not -55 degrees - actual 55 degrees. In Wisconsin. In late-January.

It doesn't get better than that, friends.

So, on this day when it's easy to be bright and shiny, I give you a special winter list.

Five Things I Actually Like About Winter

1. Needing lots of blankets on the bed.

There is something I totally love about snuggling into a bed filled with quilts and blankets. It's very peaceful.

2. Hot beverages.

Hot chocolate. Fancy coffee drinks. Tea. They all taste just a little better in cold weather. 

3. Tights.

Winter fashions, in general, are some of my favorites. Boots. Sweaters. Corduroy. Layers. Scarves. Puffy vests.

4. Big snowflakes.

Unlike Em, I'm not a big fan of snow. (Although, a year ago snow days would have made my list of favorite things about winter.) I do love the  giant, fluffy snowflakes that fall slowly. Those are pretty - from inside the warm house.

5. Television.

Cold weather and early dark nights make for great excuses for watching even more television than usual.

Notes from the Dark - Part 2

Note: I actually wrote this sitting on my couch at 8:76 on Sunday evening. The only light in my house was the glow from my laptop screen. I had 75% power. I wrote to keep myself entertained. It is a continuation of an earlier rant. Because I had no power and no (gasp!) Internet, there was be a delay in actually posting it.

At first – late Sunday night – the whole idea of living without electricity, of being off the grid, of being eco-friendly seemed like great fun. I thought it might be a little like camping or maybe an opportunity to embrace my inner pioneer girl or just a chance to live the simple life.

Amazingly enough, though, a girl can still enjoy many of the perks of modern-life without power. For example, you can still flush the toilet. I grew up in a house with a well, so I was accustomed to not being able to flush the toilet when there was no power. I was terrified that we were all (my parents were visiting during this little incident) going to have to use the same toilet and not be able to flush. That turned out fine, though. Apparently, you can flush without power in the city. Who knew?!!??

And, then I realized that our hot water heater is powered by natural gas. We could have no power and still be able to take a hot shower. Again. Not exactly like camping, being Laura Ingalls Wilder, or living the simple life.

Although, showering without electricity doesn’t exactly lead to a glamorous life; my hair needs blow-drying and straightening. And, showering is a lot more pleasant with a towel to use afterwards. I was doing laundry on Sunday while we still had power. All of my towels were – unfortunately – either in the wash machine (if they were light colored) or sitting in a dirty heap on the floor (if they were dark colored).

I digress, though. . . back to why life without power isn’t that bad.

It didn’t take me long to remember that I could stay in touch with people (and read Facebook) on my phone. And, I could charge said phone from the comfort of the front seat of my car. I was really starting to wonder why I pay lots of my hard-earned money to the power company. Who needs power?!!?? Down with electricity!

By Sunday morning (12 hours [most of which I spent sleeping] into life without power) I was bored and missing television just a little bit. So, I thought to myself, “What would Laura Ingalls Wilder do?” I was a big fan of her as a child (the books –not the television show) and decided that she would probably entertain herself by going back to bed. Again, life off the grid just kept getting better and better.

Now, though, it is almost 8PM – nearly five hours after the power company thought we would return to an illuminated existence. We still have no power. And, I am bored.

I miss the Internet. Oh, how I miss the Internet!

And, I really want to watch television. My DVR should be busy filling with shows right now. I should be watching HBO On Demand to catch the episodes of Entourage and True Blood that didn’t record last night. I am missing Intervention right now!

The idea of reading by candlelight or just snuggling up with Memphis to go to bed early is simply not appealing. Yeah. I can flush the toilet or run all the hot water I want, but I’d really just like my power back.

So, with only 73% power remaining on my laptop I am signing off at 8:11.

Random Thoughts from the Dark – Part 1

Note: Although I posted this Tuesday night, I actually wrote this Monday night. I was sitting on my couch at 7:53 on Monday evening. The only light in my house was the glow from my laptop screen. I had 78% power. I was typing this post to keep myself entertained. Because I had no power and no (gasp!) Internet, there was a delay in actually posting it.

There was a storm here on Friday. It wasn’t one of those deals the meteorologists talk about for days ahead of time, getting all excited, and worrying everyone in within the tri-state area. Nope. This weather event came out of nowhere in the middle of the day with 80 mile per hour winds and torrential downpours. It was so fast and furious that the meteorologists didn’t even have time to give it any kind of cute name. Schools let out early on Friday because they had no power. Whole neighborhoods spent three days in the dark. 

Note.  Spell check fixed “meteorologist” for me every. single. time. I used it in this paragraph. I should really learn how to spell that one on my own.

But, you didn’t come here to read about how this storm impacted other people. You came here to read about me and how the storm impacted me. So, let me tell you about the ways the storm impacted my life.

1. Changed dinner plans

Stephanie and I had dinner plans on Friday night – dinner plans that involved eating at a carefully selected restaurant that started with “A” (more about that in another post). We had to change our plans because our “A” restaurant was in a part of town that had no power. Instead, we had a fabulous dinner and great conversation at one of our favorite restaurants.

2. Parking in the street

Our neighbor’s tree fell on the power and cable lines between the pole and our house. Said incident resulted in power lines on the ground but did not cut off the power, cable, or Internet in our house. It just meant that we had to park in the street until the power company (very busy with the people who actually lost power) made it to our house to take care of the tree and the wires. Oh. We also had to make sure Memphis did not pee on said wires.

3. No power

The power company finally made it here Sunday evening (while we were enjoying a shrimp boil at Angie’s – more in another post). They took care of the very unsafe power lines that were hanging on the ground and left us with – wait for it – absolutely no power at night during a holiday weekend.  They also left a little orange note on the door to remind us they had been here.

Apparently, the power lines are only the responsibility of the power company up to the point where said lines reach the house. We own (lucky us!) any lines that are actually on or in our house. The power company discovered that “our” lines were actually ripped from the house because of the accident with the tree. We had to fix “our” lines before the power could be turned back on.

Luckily, Stephanie’s Karl is completely handy. He came over right away on Monday morning (with a ladder attached to the top of his truck and all sorts of special equipment) and had “our” power lines completely fixed up. That was 12 hours ago. I’m still waiting for the power company to make their magical appearance. Note: I didn’t say “patiently” waiting.