Day 4

 Good morning, everyone! We just drove into town to get a little cell service so Gary can send a few work emails. We’re trying to get ahead of the gas rush while we’re out, grabbing some breakfast and picking up a few things.

We still don’t have power or internet at home, and we heard yesterday that it may be Wednesday before everything is restored. That’s a little longer than we expected, but after seeing the damage around here, I’m really not surprised. The crews are working hard, though. Tree services and power company trucks were everywhere yesterday, and we’re so thankful for all they’re doing.

Yesterday was a long day of cleanup, but we got a lot accomplished. Two of Gary’s friends, Taylor and Corey, came by to pick up our spare generator and ended up helping us get so much done. Those boys worked their asses off, and we were so grateful! Gage really stepped up yesterday, too. He worked hard, and I was proud to see him acting like a young man instead of a kid.

We finally got our water back yesterday afternoon, so everyone was able to take a shower. Cold showers, unfortunately, but I honestly didn’t even care. I was just so happy to wash my hair!

We’re all pretty exhausted, but we’re waking up this morning feeling incredibly fortunate. Seeing so much devastation around us yesterday really put everything into perspective. We got lucky, and we know it. There’s still plenty to do, and being without electricity isn’t exactly fun, but we’ve got each other, we’ve got good friends, and we’re doing just fine.

It’s been kind of nice in some ways. I’ve been painting a lot. I was able to post some of it on IG but I haven’t uploaded everything. It makes it a bit harder bc it’s darker but it’s still been a time killer. I guess I deleted the Inktober prompts in my photos  the last one I had was Mystical. I have it now so that’ll give me something to do. I mean, I know it’s pretty shocking I can do art without AI. 🙄😆 That’s what my stalker/personal super fan says anyway. It’s so flattering I can’t even be mad! I’ll try to upload it here, but if it doesn’t show up it’s on my jenniferalcinaart IG

I don’t know why, but things upload faster there.

Anyway, yeah, we’ve been making time for fun and and nights have been so perfect! The mosquitos are gone by dark, so we have been outside a lot. Lots of bike rides! My butt literally hurt from riding yesterday lol 

We’re still pretty disconnected from the outside world, so if we’re slow to respond to messages, that’s why! Hopefully, it’ll be another productive day and be one day closer to getting back to normal.

We’re trying not to burn anything bc everyone is using window units and have windows open but we’re sure gonna have some awesome bonfires with all this wood!!!

Life is good, even when it’s hard. Please pray for our little town and its recovery. 🙏🏼