Black Out

Our neighborhood had a black out last night. Which really isn't surprising considering we've been having 100+ degree days. So why wasn't I asleep and blissfully unaware?

--Well, it all has to do with the hubster's UPS on his computer--it chirps--every three seconds.
And the black out didn't just happen. We had about six power surge brown outs prior to the 'black out', and each and every time, the darn UPS started chirping.

I should have known it would be one of those nights. Around midnight--I went to bed between ten and ten-thirty--I woke to this strange clicking sound.
--geriatric dog was 'running' on the wood floor in our open office loft area. She'd been running/twitching a lot recently while asleep, but this time she was close enough to the stairs that her nails ticked the wood constantly. I don't even want to see the damage.
--at 2:00 AM, brown outs and subsequent chirping started--six separate times.
--2:25 total black out. Peeked out the window and everyone was dark (and probably blissfully unaware)
**PSO called with updated info this afternoon: Black out due to fire about a mile away. 756 customers without electricity. All were back up by 6 AM** Can't complain about them, they took care of the problem and then alerted all affected customers to the situation. Three Cheers for PSO!

This is when my peanut brain started working overtime. I had a fridge and two freezers full of food having just stocked up at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart. Hubster is throwing a work party for his employees and he wanted a cake, so I made him a 'Lemon Curd Layer Cake', a three layer cake that must be refrigerated. This is a Bon Appetit recipe that involves numerous processes, one of which was making about eight cups of lemon curd (it was terribly good!). The curd was used in the cake AND the frosting, plus in-between the layers of cake and on top. The frosting was whipping cream and lemon curd. So it gets warm--frosting becomes liquefied. The lemon curd is made with egg yolk, and though cooked, it needs to be kept refrigerated.

Why worry about something I had no control over? I finally decided that I needed to defrost the freezer anyway, so I'd get a fresh, clean start. What else can you do? Nothing except toss the food and get over it.

Aside from the fridge/freezer issues, I began to think about the critters and what I'd have to do if we didn't get some air conditioning. I'd have to bring the guinea pig downstairs. I have a geriatric cat (19) and dog (11), neither of them go outdoors, so they couldn't tolerate the heat. Plus the fish--the koi in the pond would eventually die, but our beta, Bubbles, would survive. I have family in town, but two already have pets and the other two have allergies.
My MIL would take the dog--I think she has a soft spot for Katie. She might even take the Rocky (the pig), but the cat was a toughie.

--3 AM the electricity turns back on. YAY! And I blissfully fall asleep only to wake up at my 'normal' time of 6 AM.

I'm beat. Katie trots out to get the morning paper--Thank God for that little blessing. I feed the aforementioned critters and brew some coffee. I have another tough decision to make.
--Which coffee cup? Goofy, Tigger, Eeyore, Micky, Minny, or the Tower of Terror one. I definitely am feeling very Eeyore at the moment, but. . .
Tower of Terror won! It's a BIG mug. Plus it fit my mood. I feel like someone snapped my elevator wires and I'm plummeting to my death.

--Maybe another cuppa joe will help.

Write on!