Delays
Whew!! It has been a very action-packed few weeks...
If you haven't heard, a little something called snowpocalypse hit Austin, and the whole city (ahem, STATE) shut down.
We were originally scheduled for Elliott to get his first cast put on on February 15. He was going to have a physical therapy appointment that morning to see how much of a difference the Botox had made, get stretched, and then be casted that afternoon.
We woke up at 2 AM the night of the 15th to no power, and thus began a week we will never forget....
We are leasing a house that was originally built in 1925, with a back addition from the 90's. It's an adorable house in the heart of the city, but it turns out to have no insulation. In the few days leading up to the power outage, our heat had been struggling to keep up with the increasingly cold temperatures outside. When the electricity went out, Elliott's room dropped 30 degrees in an hour. He woke up screaming and shivering in a 50-degree room.
Luckily, our master is on the newer side of the house and was holding heat pretty well, so we bundled him up, brought him to bed with us, and had a very sleepless snuggle session, baby included.
As the sun came up, we lit candles, turned on our gas burners (yes, we were careful with the CO2), gathered all the blankets from around the house, and got the kids dressed as warm as we could so they didn't get too cold.
Coming from Colorado, this day was no different than a very average Colorado winter day. It was beautiful and sunny outside — although cold, with a low of 3 degrees and 5 inches of snow on the ground, which is unheard of for Austin.
It was fun to see the city in a different light. We were a bit too optimistic that this power outage wouldn't last very long, so we decided to get out of our freezing house and walk to the river trail, curious to see it covered in a blanket of white.
We have officially become a Texas family with no winter gear. We left our house in rain boots, layers upon layers of clothes, and socks on our hands for mittens. After our 20-minute walk, we saw cars struggling to climb a small hill on the road and people making very poor, very dangerous driving decisions. There were guys skiing down some of the hilly streets in our neighborhood, kids and families were out, and dogs were going nuts, romping around all over yards and driveways. It was fun, but less than ideal to go back to a cold house.
After 10 hours without power, I started to feel we needed a plan B. The idea of keeping these kids warm, safe, fed, and rested started to feel like an impossible task — especially after the attempted, but hugely failed, family nap in our makeshift living-room fort.
As the day warmed up outside, the house temperature continued to drop inside. I used my own body temperature as a gauge for keeping the kids dressed and warm. My nose and body grew colder and colder, even beneath all my layers. If I were this cold, how were the kids?? I was getting very stressed about what the night would hold for us. Nathan and I looked at each other, and panic set in. We had to figure something out.
After turning my phone off to conserve battery, I turned it back on and started searching for hotels. Absolutely nothing was available within a 50-mile radius, and driving conditions were less than optimal.
I checked my text messages, and one of my best girlfriends had reached out to see how we were doing. I told her we were looking for hotels.
Without hesitation, she said they had power, told me to pack the kids, get in the car, and drive to them as fast as we could... and to bring coffee beans... and Nathan's massive Costco haul from right before the storm...
Done, done, and done.
They live two miles away on a straight shot, non-highway road. That drive felt doable on these iced-over and dangerous roads.
Thank God for them, honestly.
We were warm, fed, and with great company for the rest of the week. Not one minute went by that I didn't count my blessings that they took us under their roof and loved us so well. All our kids are the same age, have grown up together, and the boys got a week's worth of sleepovers. The dream!
As the city around us continued to shut down and struggle with the freezing temperatures that took hold, we were extremely lucky. I am forever grateful for these friends who have become our family.
Our house didn't have power for 4 days, and it took a full 24 hours to warm back up. We were very fortunate that none of our pipes burst, and we had water! Heat and water were among the things we took for granted only a week before.
On Monday, the city reopened on Feb 22, and I had a multitude of doctors' appointments to reschedule. Lucky for us — casting got rescheduled for the same day... No time to panic, just time to act and get it done.
Here we go.
