It sounds like a wonderful trip being offered by a travel agent. But, in our case, that's how long our electricity was off - and it was no vacation. We kept warm by the fire, and by using ThermaCare Pain Relief back warmers to warm the bed. And really, it wasn't so bad. Nights got down into the teens and twenties, but the ThermaCare warmers heat for 10 hours. (although the box only claims 8) We have lots of wonderful quilts that my Mom has blessed us with over the years, and they were put to good use. And - looking on the bright side - we got to eat out nightly. I love to eat out! And, going out to dinner when the sun goes down gave us another hour or so of light!
Storms like this are destructive and inconvenient, but they are also quite beautiful! I love the look of the ice glistening on the trees. It was a real photographic opportunity. Here are just a few.
This is what your dish soap looks like when it freezes to a thick
goopey gel. I took a picture of it Sunday when I noticed that it had nearly frozen while sitting on my kitchen counter. I took another picture today for
comparison. We now have power and it's WONDERFUL!!!
The ice on the trees was really beautiful!
Without power there is really not much to do, and since it's warmer in the Jeep than in the house, we went for a scenic drive through the refuge.
These are the Power Lines that feed electricity to our neighborhood! The lineman were eventually able to re-route electricity to get our power on, but Lee Blvd. is still closed.
This couple was one of my favorites this year. I love the look of adoration that Felicia has for her husband. He looks quite comfortable as her sweetheart, also! 
And this couple looks absolutely JOYFUL! I think we have taken their pictures several times over the years and I've always thought they were a gorgeous couple!
We are back from the vet, and my suspicions were right. Abby is overweight. I took her to the vet in July and at that time she weighed 53.06 lbs. It was summer and she normally loses a little weight in the summer because she gets more exercise and at that time she was actually underweight. Today, she weighed 71.09 lbs, which was even more than I had expected. I noticed that she had put on weight when I got back from Japan in mid-December and have been watching it since then. She has been trimming down and is beginning to look a little bit more like her old self, but she is still a whopping 17 lbs. heavier than she was just seven months ago. But, the vet measured her from the floor to her shoulders and from shoulder blade to shoulder blade and calculated her "ideal" weight, which is right at 65 lbs. So, she is really only about 6 lbs. too heavy. And for a 6 year old, the vet thought she looked pretty good and he said she was in excellent health. Our vet is also the owner of a Golden Retriever and very knowledable about the breed and breed standards and he assured me that we really don't have too much to worry about, but a little more exercise won't hurt.
And these pictures are from today. The previous picture was from the fall of 2007 so really, she hasn't changed that much!
I was given this award by Jami from Ain't She Crazy! 
This is what your dish soap looks like when it freezes to a thick goopey gel. I took a picture of it Sunday when I noticed that it had nearly frozen while sitting on my kitchen counter. I took another picture today for comparison. We now have power and it's WONDERFUL!!!
The ice on the trees was really beautiful!
Without power there is really not much to do, and since it's warmer in the Jeep than in the house, we went for a scenic drive through the refuge.
These are the Power Lines that feed electricity to our neighborhood! The lineman were eventually able to re-route electricity to get our power on, but Lee Blvd. is still closed.