The great Ottawa tornado and power outage of 2018

Whelp. Power is finally back on. It went out Friday at 6pm and came back on today around 6pm. It was a long time with no electricity, no internet, spotty phone coverage. Nothing much in our house to eat that doesn't require cooking. We are also lacking in good flashlights or lanterns.

Friday was a hot humid day, there were thunderstorm warnings and then around 5pm, while we were eating, there were tornado warnings. We have had a few of those before with nothing to show for it. I kept the curtains open to watch the wind and skies while we ate. After dinner I was cleaning up when Jackson got upset because his game kept "lagging him out". The power flickered and then went out. No problem, it was still daylight so we went and found the flashlights and then decided what to do. We played cards in the kitchen while I tried to get through to hydro to report the outage and then check the status of it. The phone line, twitter and facebook were overwhelmed and I couldn't get through. Around 8pm nothing was back on and I finally saw a message that power was expected to be resorted by 10am. So I suggest an early bedtime since we were in the dark. No problem. We chatted for a bit, I left the flashlight on while he fell asleep. Then went to bed myself.

Saturday morning we got up, still no power, and nothing really to eat. No coffee, couldn't get cold water from the fridge, no ice cubes, I didn't want to open the freezer. So we had some warm tap water, a granola bar, and waited. We played some board games, then around 10am I told him to get dressed. My parent's place still had power and they said Jackson could take his xbox out there. So by 10:30 we were on our way. I packed him a change of clothes, jammies and toothbrush just in case. It took and extra 30 minutes just to get out of the area because all the traffic lights were out. We picked up McDonalds on the way for everyone. My dad hasn't been feeling well, is on a bunch of medications and has been resting a lot. He enjoyed lunch though. After his nap I took my mom up to the grocery store and we picked up a chicken for dinner. I also got some bread, PB, honey and water drops. Also a bag of chips. Since we hadn't brought the dog I knew I had to go home after dinner.

Jackson stayed at my parent's place and I came home to the dark. I couldn't find one of the flashlights, so it was a dark, quiet night for me! I went to bed early. I had bread and PB for breakfast, and checked for updates. They were saying our power would be back on by evening. Around 1 I went back to my mom and dad's. I took a load of laundry, and stopped at Walmart to get a lantern, better flashlight, and taco stuff for dinner. After dinner, while mom and I were cleaning up, my sister called. Power was back on! Phew. I told kiddo we were going home, and there was a chance internet wouldn't be working. I also got the notice that schools were closed Monday, so no work or school. Long weekend!

We got home, hooked the xbox back up, and internet is working. So we have a nice evening at home and tomorrow I have to restock the fridge and freezers. A few things can be salvaged but others need to be tossed. Sad part is I just spent a bunch on groceries Friday... all gone. At least we ate the steaks for dinner that night!

Jackson really enjoyed being at my parents. He wished we lived there. They have a very neat, tidy, uncluttered bungalow. We have a messy, toy filled, very cluttered two story. So he's agreed that tomorrow we will start to put things away and declutter. Toys first. We have a lot of them that he doesn't play with so we'll get rid of them, even if they just get stored in boxes for now. Once stuff is put away perhaps we will be more comfortable here. Who knows.

I did miss some of my shows Friday night, they didn't get recorded and now I will have to watch them streaming and probably with commercials. Oh well. This whole thing has really made me appreciate electricity. The city has suffered greatly, the tornadoes destroyed homes near where we used to live. The electric depot nearby looks like it was attacked by missiles. It's been very frustrating but also pretty cool. So many people have offered so much. People I have never met offered me ice and a place to shower. I didn't accept but it's still very cool to see people so helpful during a crisis. Now that power is coming back on we are trying to be conservative, but man do I like being able to watch tv! and have lights on.

Grade 4!

Jackson has started grade 4. He is doing French Immersion this year, it starts in Grade 4 at his school. He has half the day in English and half in French. He was quite pleased with who his teachers are this year, seems to like them all (so far). He has 4 teachers! Seems like a lot but I think it will be good for him. if there is one he doesn't get along with very well then he only has her for a short block.

He has first block in English - language, religion and family life. Second block is in English as well but with a different teacher, just for math. After lunch he has his Immersion class for science, phys ed, health, music and dance. Then last block is a different French teacher for language, social studies, visual arts and drama. He has friends in his class, as well as his Immersion class which is a different group than the other classes.

He does not like school, doesn't want to go, but hopefully it will go ok this year. He has two weeks of after school daycare and then he will be walking home. I have to sign some forms, but he is very excited for the responsibility. I got a lock box for the front door so he doesn't have to carry a key, just remember the code. It should work ok to start at least. We can see if it is going well or if we need to do something else. He will still have before school daycare because I don't trust him to leave the video games in time to get to school. We will see about next year!

I go back to work tomorrow, so am enjoying a final day off without kiddo, able to watch some something on TV, other than him playing video games. After this, no breaks until the long weekend in October! Ugh. I have enjoyed the time off. I wish it was longer, yet it was quite long. I think the pets are going to be sad tomorrow, especially the dog who spends the day in his crate. Hopefully he'll be able to be out soon, but right now he is just a terror! :-) He gets into stuff, loves to shred tissues and paper, and will do his business when he feels like it, so if I'm not home to let him out he won't hold it. We are working on that! He's good in his crate so I know he can do it, just doesn't like to I guess.

It's back to school and the temperature is hot, heat warnings in effect. At least kiddo's class room is air conditioned, not all of the rooms are. I imagine it will be hot at recess and if he decides he wants to walk home today. I give him the option these few weeks as practice. At least we are doing some walking.