And now, for the rest of the story....

So I left off, despondant in a hotel room, not knowing what Thanksgiving would bring.

MM and awoke Turkey Day morning with a message on his cell from PGE, stating that they would have another "update" for us at 4pm that day. Meaning. No power.

MG was at her friends house, still, but we wanted to go get her, so at least we could spend the holiday together. We reviewed our options, and, both of us wanting some semblance of Turkey and Family, we opted to go grab MG and head for my parents house. I ran to our frozen home on the tundra and grabbed a few items from the ice chest buried in snow, a few clothing items, and WINE, and MM fetched the girl. Problem #1. I looked in a fish tank and depressed myself beyond belief. Problem #2. MM was in a little Toyota. Our driveway was icy as hell. Fast forward squealing tires, cursing, sand and salt, and the little Toyota that could finally made it up the driveway. Off we went. None of us had eaten yet, and it being Thanksgiving, nothing was really open. We stumbled across a Marie Callendars, and in we went. They were ONLY serving Turkey Dinners, or Ham dinners. So, at roughly 1 pm, we ate our first turkey dinner of the day. Why not, right? In the middle of the first round of Turkey, PGE called, and said we had power.

Well Hell. We were almost to Moms. And it was too late to turn around, and, we didn't want to, so on we went.

After that interlude, we got to my Moms house, where it was warm and smelled like Turkey. We made some cauliflower and cheese casserole, showed Mom "Words With Friends" (and now she is kicking my arse regularly on it) visited with Grandma and posted lots of pictures of my Uncle on Facebook while he napped before dinner, after dinner, and before dessert. A fine Turkey dinner was had, wine was consumed and all was good.

Or was it?

My parents live in the middle of essentially nowhere, in a small town. People are comfortable relaxing there. MM and I were relaxed enough to leave my Jeep unlocked.

Someone else was 'relaxed' enough to enter said Jeep, and take everything from my glove box, (including my registration, insurance, maintenance record, and Jeep manual), a jacket, a new, expensive sink faucet a friend had just given us, and, of ALL things, My book of the Kalevala, the epic Finnish poem that my name, Mielikki comes from.

Yes. They TOOK my KALEVALA!

Bastards!

I reported all this to the local Barney Fife's. They are generating the report. Nothing taken had my SSN on it, and the paperwork had 2 different addresses, because we'd moved since I got the Jeep. In my heart, I think it was probably some annoying kids who were out to make trouble for other people on Thanksgiving. None the less, I am exploring steps to try and protect myself from Identity Theft. If any of you have any advice about this, lets hear it...

SO

We finally procrastinate long enough, then came home. To the grim business of the stinky fridge, and sad fish tanks. MM (my hero) did the tanks. To our shock, we actually have a few survivors. Sadly, just one thing in the SW tank, a peppermint shrimp. It was hit hard. The corals even seem to be gone.

The FW tank did a bit better. I have a minnow, the frogs, some cories (bottom feeders), and my 2 weather loaches. Its better than no fish at all. And Ram Loach (the bigger weather loach) is a family favorite fish. I am pretty sure I told his story. Let me go look. Oh. I didn't.

I will have to tell his story on a post that isn't so long. Suffice it to say, RamLoach is a Bad Ass.

His name is officially Rambo Loach. And I wouldn't mess with him. ESPECIALLY after this week...

So, five days of no power didn't kill us. We got a Thanksgiving dinner, and, believe it or not, as I type this, we have our Turkey that we could not bake in the oven. The smelly fridge has been dealt with, and life will return to normal ish.

And Mom is still kicking my arse at Words With Friends.

Bah!~