JaeByrd’s Nest

I read a lot of magazines. The articles are perfect for short or long waits. Something I can pick up and put down and continue on with my day. Recently I read an article about homeschooling a large family. Ordinarily I would have skipped it as having an only child I glean very little from such articles. I don’t need to know how to keep the baby/toddler/pre-schooler busy while working with the kindergarten/first grader/older children. I have only the one to worry about.

 For whatever reason I started reading it and found it quite good. She talked about finding peace as a homeschooling mother, making things work, and being happy and thankful no matter your family size. Whether that be 1 or 10 children. She went on to acknowledge women she knew who have 1 child and would love to have more, but for whatever reason have not been blessed in that way. I thought wow, this is actually good stuff that applies to all homeschoolers.

She then spent the next page and half after that listing all the blessings and advantages of homeschooling and having a larger than usual family. That wouldn’t have been bad had she also included the other side, but she didn’t. So, here are just a few things that come to mind regarding homeschooling as well as family life with an only:

• Undivided attention 
• More parent child time
• Generally speaking more finances for textbooks, travel, or activities
• As well as more time for activities
• Less chance for burnout when only divided by one
• Only 1 child to worry about when on a field trip
• No sibling rivalry or disagreements
• No comparisons of who did/does it better
• Knowing who broke the vase/ate that/or left that laying there

Those are just a few things off the top of my head. I’m not saying having an only child isn’t without its cons, but it does also have its pros. I wouldn’t have made the choice on my own, but since things are what they are I find what peace I can in it. I make it work. I am thankful for  having an only child and the advantages and blessings that come with that.

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Be smart. Be safe. Be thankful for the simple little things in life.

Mele Kalikimaka!

We had a landscaping company out of Muskogee come by and went ahead and had them do the tree clean up. A lot of the limbs were dangling still connected up near the tops of the trees and they had to climb up there and cut them loose. They spent most of Friday and part of Saturday cleaning up. They did an awesome job.

We won’t be running out of firewood for several years…

Saturday we went ahead and got out of the house. We did get a bit of snow, but just a light layering. Friends were having a potluck lunch so we went and visited with them. Most had power back, but a few still were making do without it. The kids got to play and trade gifts. We all exchanged stories. Nice to talk to someone, face to face, other than my husband and son.

Today we did our food shopping to restock the fridge. Things are heading back to normal for us, but there are still others out there waiting to get power. There are others that got hit by the storm that just barely missed us who are also dealing with storm damage. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Well, this brings my week to a close and what a week it was. I’m beat.

We now return you to your regularly sheduled bloggings… ALOHA!

Power has held! We’re getting things back to normal, while keeping an eye on the weather that may or may not effect us. A lot of houses are still with out power today.  They are working on it as fast as they safely can.  We’re stocked and ready for whatever happens.

Here are some photos of after the ice storm:
http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.staggs/December2007IceStorm

Back to more cleaning!

YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAW!

As I was sitting here getting my entries from my computer uploaded to my blog and edited to my liking all of a sudden the power came on!

We’re being a little cautious and not putting everything away just yet. We’ve heard that the power can be off and on when it first comes back. They are also cautioning everyone that if we do get hit with another storm the limbs already weakened by the last storm might break and power to areas might be lost/lost again. But, for now we have POWER!

72 Hours without power and I still flip the switch on as I walk into a darkened room.

Today started much like the last few.  Only warmer and better rested. Get up. Put more wood on the fire and restock the basket with wood from outside. Today we refill the tank on the generator with more gas. Let the dog out and back in. Clean up and tidy what needs it. Make something to eat. Eat. The basics.

While the rest of the world (and the other half of Oklahoma) is taking finals, Christmas shopping, and going on about their lives like normal it amazes me how our basic needs boil down to: Shelter and warmth from the elements, food and drink, and each other.

As others are getting power back and more shipments are coming in it is easier to get the supplies that have been in high demand the last few days. We get a new/second gas can so we don’t have to make as many trips to keep the generator powered.

With the generator we are now able to have some frills. Lamps instead of candles. Cooking/warming food easier. We are also able to get our business back up and running.  SwordSearcher orders fulfilled and sent out. We’re just going through emails and catching up on forums and newsgroups and such.

There is a possibility of our getting hit with another storm this weekend so we’re keeping an eye on that and as prepared as we can be for whatever happens next.

My husband Brandon gets up early and heads out to see if we can get a generator. Six hours and 3 stops/waiting lines later, in a city with still over 180,000 units without power, he comes home with a nice generator and an alternate heating source!

We get things settled and working and drive into to town for a hot meal and some more supplies.  Food never tasted so good.With the generator in place we’re able to call family and friends and catch up on everything. Recharge all the various items that have died or are close to it.

Tonight we fall asleep to the hum of our new generator with warm food in our bellies. Toasty warm we get our first good night’s sleep since the storm started on Sunday.

24 Hours later and still no power. With convoys of power trucks and workers coming in from Georgia, Louisiana and other states they say it will be as long as 7-10 days to get full power restored. Numbers are slowly coming down as they work on getting power back to high priority areas: Hospitals, shelters, fire stations, etc.

Knowing we might be in this for the long haul we go about settling in. Switching furniture around we get the couch into the family room around the fireplace. We then set about getting a good supply of firewood stocked up.

We have some big chunks of trunk and fire wood that is seasoned, but too large to burn well as it was. (Not to mention coated with ice) So we spend the next several hours bringing wheel barrels of wet chunks of wood up to the house and then splitting it with an axe.

Yes, it is still hovering around the freezing point. However, transporting all that wood and splitting it keeps us nice and warm. We get enough wood to add a few more days to the supply.

We make do and manage the best we can. Thankful for what we do have: Shelter, warmth, a stocked pantry, hot running water, a way to cook some food, a supply of batteries, a radio, flashlights, and each other.

Morning finally dawns. I look out the window and practically every tree on our street looks like it has been carelessly pruned. The branches ripped off of the trees and littering the yards and streets. Some houses have branches sitting on or leaning against their roof.   At least one house has a huge limb sticking out of the roof. The rest of the branches buried in one of the rooms of the house itself.

Power is out all over the state from tree limbs taking out the power lines and poles. The radio says we made national news and over 100,000 units are without power. With the numbers continuing to rise.  I am thankful that we still have power, our home is undamaged,  and we’re warm.

I call our local friends and family and check on them and let them know how we’re doing. Some have power and others don’t. All are safe and doing fine. I write up an email to the rest of our family (Most of our family is several hours behind us.) letting them know we made it through the storm safe and sound and at least we still had power.  Just as I’m about to hit send the power goes out.

With no central heating the house quickly starts to cool. We use the dry firewood from the patio to get a fire going and keep at least part of the house warm.  We get the rest of the rick of wood from the backyard (There is about a 1/2″ thick layer of ice over the top of the wood and the wood is soaked from the icy rain.) to under the patio so it can dry off and be readily available.

The numbers by now are in the mid to high 200,000  range for those without power. Generators are coming in and going out just as fast. We spend the night  in the family room around the fireplace.  Alternating sleeping and keeping the fire going in the fireplace.

It all started while shopping for a game. We realized our car got keyed. This time on the driver side passenger door and rear panel across the gas tank door. ( It got keyed last year on the passenger side, both doors and the rear panel.) It must of happened at the first store we stopped at. We didn’t realize it until we got to the mall and got out of the car. Lovely. Oh well, at least both sides match now…

We check the mall. No game. While eating lunch at the mall’s food court my son’s tooth finally decided to pop out mid-bite. A little excitement and worry, but there is the tooth in a piece of honey chicken. Later that night he worked his other tooth out. (Yes, all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth.) I think he was worried it would come out while eating again or worse yet while sleeping!

I also decide that even though it is a bit earlier than usual that I would go ahead and make my hair donation now. Even though it will be a few inches shorter than it has been after my other donations. It grows long enough to donate every 2-3 years or so. So I cut off 10″ to send to Locks of Love. My hair is still middle of my back in length.

Sunday night.

As night falls an ice storm rolls in. Icy rain while it is just below freezing outside. We’ve had several ice storms since we moved here and it hasn’t been that big of a deal for us. We’ve lost power once or twice, but only for a few hours at most. We drift in and out of sleep to the sounds of thunder and pouring rain.  

Only to be jarred awake by the crack and crashing of tree limbs splitting off of the trees in the front yard. The trees became so coated with ice that the limbs couldn’t support the weight anymore.  All night a sound like the tinkle of breaking glass, followed by a crack, and then a crash as the limbs snap off and take other branches with it as it falls to the ground. We have a few brown outs and a short black out, but the power holds.