we had a power outage that lasted an hour tonight.  it was the closest I ever came to a 'survival situation'.  as silly it might sound, its quite a possibility during the winter here in fairbanks.  several things I wanted to make a note of and blog! 

so the lights go off and I am freaking out... then I realize I have a flashlight app on my phone.
I am so glad that my sister told me about it.  at the time I thought it was the most ridiculous thing.  who would need something like that ever?  well.  it came in handy today!  I have the flashlight XT for windows phone.  P has DLed as well for his iPhone.  it makes your camera flash in to a flashlight!  of course you should have real flashlights with batteries but for that moment, it does a great job. 

don't panic.

sure its easy for anyone to say that, but when its -20 outside and you don't have power you might just panic.  it was really hard for me to not break down and cry.  I kept asking zilla if he was cold, if he was scared, if he was panicked.  truth was I was scared.  I was slowly getting cold, and I was on the verge of panic.  I wanted to pack the car and drive off somewhere warm.  at least we have heat in the car. we have a full tank. GET OUT OF HERE!!! is the only thing I could think of but I've watched a lot of survivorman to know that that could be the worst think you can do.  stay calm.  take your time and asses the situation so you know where to take your kids and the pets if the power doesn't come back on.

OMG.  the PETS.

in my panic, I had complete forgotten about them.  I would have left them or put them in to the car and realized that I had to stay in the car with them instead of going to a store or something where it would be warmer.  after realizing this, I went upstairs since it was getting colder downstairs to calm down and rethink things.  I sat there and kept zilla occupied (bean was asleep through the whole thing) then I felt the temperature upstairs equalize for a moment and it wasn't getting cold as quickly as I thought it was going to get. 

by the time I was done thinking and assessing 45 minutes had passed.  15 minutes later as I was nagging zilla to put some socks on because he was getting restless, the power came back on.

the most important thing I have left for last though.  I am thankful for my friends who voiced concern on facebook when I announced that the power was out.  Honestly I don't know what I was thinking when I posted that.  I feel bad to worry people but I felt instinctively to do it.  It does feel lonely and it feels good to have friends rooting for you and letting you know that they are sending positive vibes.  I think that's what was able to calm me the most.