We've Got (the) Power!

It's been a week since my last post. So much has happened. Where to begin?

I went to New York last weekend with 3 friends. We had a blast - we shopped, we dined, we pampered. Then we attended a wedding in Lakewood.

Thursday night was Sheva Brochos in my house. Then came the clean up and the mad rush to get ready for Shabbos (nothing done ahead of time last week).

Then came the snow. And the snow. And some more snow. Almost 30 inches!!! In my life, I have never seen so much snow.

This scenario is something I have dreamt about - tons of snow so I am stuck in my house and, therefore, be able to accomplish so many items on my "list".

I had quite the list. I was going to finish spring/winter cleaning in the last bedroom. I was going to continue to work on typing my Pesach recipes and saving them on my computer. I was going to bake 3 batches of challah which would take me until Pesach. That was just the first day.

Der mensch trakht un Gott lahkht.

Better known as - Man plans, and God laughs.

We lost power.

No lights, no heat, no mixer for challah, no vacuum for cleaning, no computer for recipes.

Nothing.

Instead of productivity, I got dishwashers full of dirty dishes that couldn't be run. I had a sink piled high of dirty dishes. I had a house with piles of blankets needed in order to keep warm. I had mess all over the place - who wanted to pick anything up off the floor, we were too cold to care.

BUT...

Instead of productivity, we got to spend the first evening of no power playing family games at the kitchen table with a lantern shining the light. I got to snuggle with my kids instead of rushing to put them to bed so I can clean up the house. We got to spend the day in warmth with our close friends while all the kids played happily. At night we crashed with our dearest friends as they so graciously prepared 9 beds for each one of us to sleep in.

The power came on today. It took the entire day and evening to get back to "normal" as far as the house goes. I am so grateful to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight, with heat and electricity.

Lessons learned:

1. We are in galus. It's okay to be reminded of that and feel displaced once in a while.
(Thank you, Chana B., for that mussar.)

2. Don't set all your hopes on accomplishing the "list".

3. The "list" will still be waiting for you when the lights come back on.

4. Even in busy season, you have to stop to play games and laugh with your kids.

5. Tremendous feelings of gratitude for our amazing friends who all offered places for us to sleep.

6. Ice cream is a wonderful breakfast 12 hours after the power goes out and the freezer is just starting to thaw.


As I type, it is snowing again. I probably won't leave my house tomorrow. And yes, I have a list of things to do.

Tomorrow I will post all of the laundry questions I received via e-mail...if the power is on.