Blizzarding alone.

**I wrote this last night, but was unable to post**

So my excitement over the blizzard has dimmed a bit. And as have the lights (couldn’t resist that bit o’ pretentious writing). The thrill of the blizzard, for me, was the chance to do some work from home, and enjoy some afternoon television. Which is what I did, until the cable went off… so I watched a movie (well… half of one… as I remembered only when it cut out that I had only recorded the first half of Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and all was well…

Even got to see the finale of Beauty and the Geek finale (guilty pleasure fix!)… but only just. At exactly 8 o’clock… the power went out.

And of course, I was in the washroom at the time. Last time the power went out, I was in the bath. See a pattern anyone?

So the power goes out… the phone rings… I gingerly make my way out of the washroom (because there are puppy training pads EVERYWHERE these days…) Jaime on the phone freaking because her power cut JUST as they went….

And the winner of this season’s beauty and the geek is…..

Gotta love killer timing.

So here I am, writing by candlelight, bored already. It’s only been half an hour. But the puppy is already passed out in my lap (must have found candlelight and clacking of keyboard keys soothing) and I have nothing to do…

Though it is funny to think that my grandparents are sitting across the (many) ponds… likely sitting in the dark as well. A nice big storm hit the island yesterday and today, and they’ve been without power for awhile… but they have a wood stove, so it’s okay.

But I have to wonder what they are doing right now. Maybe they have more candles than I do, and are reading. Or maybe they called it an early night. Or maybe they are just talking. What to people DO when they no power.

Make that, what to people do when they have no power, and live alone.

I feel like my biggest challenge up here, as a single gal in the north, is to just A.) ask for help, and B.) don’t shy away from accepting it.

I just am constantly paranoid that I’m imposing on people, and they just humour me… but it gets old.. even to me… and I’m the one that’s doing it!

It comes down to a conversation I had with co-worker a couple weeks back. She very bluntly told me (but with the best of intentions) that I would be miserable if I was intent on playing “independent woman” … and she’s probably right.

It just goes against … no only my nature… but also…

It takes a very independent, self-reliant… “strong” person to leave their family, friends, climate, culture, language, comfort zone… for the world up here. And so to encourage such a person to drop those “key qualities” once arriving… is very counter-intuitive.

It also just crossed my mind... what the hell would I do if the power went off for more than a couple hours here? Back home its "normal" for people to be without power for a day or more if there was a lot of backup, or the storm was really bad. Tonite I dined on crackers, cheese and some funny processed meat. But I don't keep non-cooking-intensive foods around the house. Mostly because I don't really like canned/dried/cold foods.

So, input time. What non-gross foods should I be purchasing so I don't die if the power goes out for more than 2 hours?????

**Insert Jeopardy theme**