never thought id' say thank goodness for the head lamp

I woke up around 6:30 last Sunday morning to complete and total silence.  I immediately knew something was amiss because normally our bedroom sounds like an airplane hangar, since we sleep with two or three fans, a humidifier, and a sound machine.

I know the words you're looking for.

Low maintenance.

Anyway, Matt wasn't in bed so I walked downstairs to find him and my suspicions were confirmed.  Our power was out.  It was a windy morning and our neighbor's tree had blown over onto a power line.  The worst part of it all was that Matt had made a pot of coffee just before the electricity went out, but he'd forgotten to put the lid on the pot so the grounds went everywhere and we couldn't drink it.

Sad trombone.

It was also dark in the house, since the sun doesn't rise until about 7:00 now, and Matt had his headlamp at the ready.  That headlamp is a frequently worn accessory in the wintertime when the sun sets early and rises late.  He wears it to do chores at the chicken coop and take the trash out and all manner of things that require a hands free light after sunset.

One of my dad's hobbies is to make fishing rods, which is extremely intricate work and requires the use of diopters.

I always used to laugh when he would wear them.

And then, I married a man who wears a headlamp on a regular basis.

Life is funny.

Matt lit a fire in the fireplace because it was chilly with no heat, and looked at me totally seriously and said, "If the power isn't restored by 3:00, I'm going to have to start collecting evening rations."

Well, that escalated quickly.

The power didn't come back on until about 5 pm but I was already gone because my dad had an invitation to an after hours event at Cabela's, World's Foremost Outfitter, and I wasn't going about to miss that.

There were mocktails, sales, and snacks galore.  My parents shopped and Emily and I visited the aquarium, enjoyed a popcorn bar, a sophisticated cranberry beverage, root beer floats, cotton candy, and even got our photo taken with Santa Claus himself. 

I took a vacation day on Monday, and Emily and I went to visit my niece and nephew in New Jersey.  Emily was staying overnight to babysit so I made the drive home solo.  Before I left, Matt texted me and said, "I placed an order at Tractor Supply, could you stop and pick it up on your way home?"

And that's how I found myself in the Tractor Supply parking lot on Monday night, picking up 100 pounds of chicken feed. 

I listened to Dan Fogelberg and the Eagles on the rest of my drive home and sung my little heart out.  I didn't get home until well after dinner, so while I ate, Matt unloaded the various chicken supplies from my trunk.

The headlamp comes in handy yet again.