New Year, New Me

Ok so not really going to have a new me, the old me is pretty damn awesome, just needs a bit more tweaking ;) Things have been ok so far in the new year. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's already the middle of the month. Whoa! 2014 started off on a bit of a rough note. We had been getting walloped with some weather that, while we have seen it before, it hasn't happened in awhile and certainly not with the frequency with which it came. We were literally having storms every other day. The temp was dipping into the negatives. Now, we are used to the cold here in Newfoundland but not quite as low as it was getting. To top it off, the power went. Now normally, this isn't an issue. The power goes for a few hours and it comes back on, no big deal. Not this time.

The local power company started urging us to conserve on Friday. Apparently, the generating station wasn't running at full capacity. This hadn't been an issue up until that point because the weather wasn't quite so wild. But, once the temps hit -35/40, that's when the problems started. People started cranking their heat, like you would. This was threatening to cause overloads and shut the entire system down. A couple of hours after we were told to start conserving, the companies implemented rolling blackouts in an effort to keep on top of things. This failed miserably. The power went out at 9am Saturday morning. It was fine until the sun went down. The temps dropped considerably and it got cold. Really, really cold. Thankfully the girls didn't seem to mind. I, however, am not quite built for the cold the way I used to be. Socks, slippers, a sweater and a huge comforter still couldn't quite keep me warm. We went to bed early because what else is there to do when you can't watch tv. Since we didn't know when things would be up and running again, I decided to turn off my phone in an effort to conserve the battery. Fortunately, the power came back on again around 5am Sunday morning, so roughly 20 hours after it was lost.

Not everyone was as fortunate. There were some that were still in the dark until Tuesday. School was supposed to start up again Monday past, but because of all the issues, it was decided to hold the openings off. This also included MUN and all colleges. Things got back to normal on Thursday, save for the short rolling blackouts that were still being carried out. Around supper time Friday evening, we were all informed that the system was back up and running and no more blackouts were needed. I'm not holding my breath though and I'm happy to say, I'm a little more prepared in case it happens again. I stocked up on candles, lighters and matches. My aunt and uncle brought me a little propane burner (no worries folks, safety first) and mom and dad brought up a carbon monoxide detector. The only thing I need to get now is some type of alternate heat source. Oil and wood are out of the question. Just a little heater to stick in the living room is really more what I'm thinking.

I've kind of given up on the eating plan that I had been following last month. While I love the idea of it, it's not really practical for my family. Sadly, eating that healthy is expensive but I'm still following the principle of the plan, less bad carbs and more good carbs. Lots and lots of water. I do have days where I feel like I'm floating but whatever. Worth it?! I've also got a dress that I love but it's a little more snug than I anticipated so I'm using it as my goal dress. While I'm not looking for perfection, I do want to be a little more comfortable in it. I'll keep you posted :)