Omphaloskepsis

No we still don't have power. Yes I'm still pecking this out on my iPhone. The rumor is we may not get power until Monday because they're waiting for waters to recede in our area. But no one really knows.

My crotch has taken to hurting significantly more these days and I'm convinced some stitches have gone away prematurely. But of course no one will be able to help me with that until Monday.

Rich's knee is giving him lots of trouble today in addition to some mystery pain in his arm. So we're all a little cranky here.

But Ian is unphased and his big accomplishment has been to lose his umbilical cord stub this morning. So we've all been doing a bit of navel gazing today.

We have heat, hot water, some lights and a working fridge thanks to a generator. And there's no damage to our property. So we're trying to stay positive. The cute baby helps.

Making the best of the hand we were dealt

Things I've learned today: - how to wire our gas furnace circulator up to a generator using a "pig tail" outlet cord - how to test a generator's cycles using a plug-in clock - the procedures to plug and unplug the fridge from the generator - generator fumes get in everything - the best way to appreciate my Mini Cooper which I've fallen out of love with for its limited space is to loan it to my mother - my mother is many wonderful things, but she is a pretty crappy driver - my husband is pretty good at Rummy but not a good card shuffler

Still no power but we're making the best of it. The baby doesn't seem to care since it doesn't really affect his schedule of sleeping, nursing and pooping. At least Rich and I are getting more sleep now too. I still wake up at each feeding, though, hoping the clock radio will be lit up.

Feeling needed

I want to point out that my commitment to NaBloPoMo is so great, I'm pecking this entry out on my iPhone while lying in the dark because our power went out about 30 minutes ago. I still have half my battery left but I'll type fast. The weather here is awful as we are beaten down by a nor'easter that will run til tomorrow evening or so. We've had to drain the pool many times and several streets around us are flooded. In many ways this is worse than hurricane Isabel back in 2003, because at least that only lasted about 12 hours versus three days!

My big accomplishment today has been to talk to my brother about all his frustrations for an hour or so and to install anti-virus software on my father's ancient and infected computer. Oh and I've showered, brushed my teeth, put on clean clothes and fed the baby.

I told my mother that I took maternity leave thinking it would be a break from so many people needing me, but it seems I've just changed which people need me so badly. But no matter how many computer woes my father and brother have, Ian will always trump them with his whole "I need my mother's milk to survive" routine.

And with no power this evening, I'm particularly grateful to be breastfeeding. If anyone else needs me I'll be lying in the dark with my husband and son.