That is SOOOOOOOO Not Fair!

I have the good fortune to live only 7 minutes, by car, from my office. On most days, that is an absolutely wonderful thing, especially when you consider that I start work at 7:30 am. It is also particularly lovely thing at 4:30 when I'm walking out of the office knowing that I still have plenty of time to get to my child's 5:00 game. Those are some serious advantages! But not today.

The Great Midwest Thunderstorm rolled through our area between 6:30 & 7:30 this morning. The sky was black as night, making it incredibly difficult to get myself and the children out of bed. SmallBoy even said to me, "Mommy, it's the middle of the night. It's not time to get up." As the sky darkened into a very disturbing shade of grey, almost granite-like, the wind picked up, the shaken sheet metal thunder became crashes and booms and bangs (big thesaurus words this morning, eh?), and the clouds would be split in two as the lightning cut a straight path to some unfortunate point on the ground. The street lamps which had turned off for the day were slowly flickering back on. It was very eerie. I'm not one who is easily scared by thunderstorms, but this one had me worried. PC turned on the television to watch the weather report while I rounded up the children and attempted to get ready for work, all the while praying for a power outage. As we were preparing to walk out the door, the lights flickered and flashed...but only some. For example, my kitchen overhead lamp went out, but my microwave and my light over my sink stayed on. I should have taken this as some kind of a sign.

As I drove down the dark and empty streets towards my office, I sensed that something wasn't as it should be. The traffic lights were all functioning properly, but the apartments and businesses, usually glowing with light at that obscene hour of the morning, seemed dank and dark, almost vacant. I thought it strange, but attributed it to the weirdness of the atmosphere from the storm....until I passed the White Hen. It was dark. No light, no bright coffee signs, the White Hen was out. No power. This gave me a shred of hope that perhaps my office, too, would be powerless. Sadly, that was not the case. I am here at my desk, avoiding work by whining about the weather.

With the morning started, my students, of course, were all coming in late - stuck in traffic, stop lights that were out, people driving slowly, alarms that didn't go off. I expected all of that. I did not expect the phone call at 8:10 from Girl telling me that they were all back at home because there was no power at school! GRRRRRRRRRRR.....Somewhere in the little land area between my house and my office, the town lost power. My children are home. Free morning off! I'm at work with a pounding headache, bronchitis, and something funky going on with my eyes. They're home. The wretches. Ok, I'll take that back. The snots! In theory, the school will re-open at 10, so that makes me feel a bit better, but I'm still going to whine. NO FAIR!!!!