It's Good to be Back!

How did people live before tv and the internet? I've been lost – completely cut off from the civilized world for days. I felt like Caroline Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie." OK, so I didn't have to churn my own butter, sweep the dirt floor, wash my clothes in the stream, mend socks by candlelight or get water from the well, but still, I felt like a pioneer. Or is that prisoner? It's only a few letters different so I guess it's the same. Sure felt that way at times.

My kids have been home from school all week. They are finally going back tomorrow! They haven't driven me as crazy as I thought they would. Luckily, we were only without power here at home for about 7 hours on Sunday. But the cable/internet just came back on last night.

We didn't have as much damage as many of our neighbors either. Our tree is in tact minus a few leaves. Our house is still standing minus one shingle. Other than some debris and the mangled canopy on the deck, you might never know a quasi-hurricane came through the middle of Kentucky.

Let's see, what happened while I was cut off from the world...

I attended a 4 day childbirth conference that was very fun and energizing. Being around 400 other women who are as passionate about birth as I am was inspiring! Plus I scored all kinds of really cool birthy stuff and free loot for my students!

The remnants of hurricane Ike whipped through the area on Sunday and left 300,000 people without power. We are very fortunate that our outage only lasted 7 hours! We packed up all our food Sunday night and took it to my parents' house because we thought it may be days before our power was restored. The kids and I spent the night there too, preparing to live there for the time being. But when Michael went home that night around 10:00, he called and said we were back up and running. It could have been so much worse. There are still over 150,000 people without power and likely will be for several more days.

Jonah turned 9 yesterday!!! I can't even believe I have a nine year old child. Holy cow, where did those years go? I swear he grew 3 inches overnight. When he woke up yesterday, he really did look older and bigger. By next year, I believe he will be looking me eye to eye. That will be scary! We gave him a green iPod shuffle, a watch and U of L bed sheets. He was thrilled! Today, I loaded him up with songs. We are having a party for him on Saturday. The theme is 'football' so we are tailgating in the backyard!

Friday is 'Talk Like a Pirate Day' and I have some fun surprises in store for me hearties. Check back later in the week for more details! Should be a jolly good time. Arrr!