And everything went dark

It's been quite the crazy week for us. I came down with a lovely upper respiratory something last Thursday/Friday. I was really feeling it come Saturday and I sounded it too. :) On Saturday our car started making some interesting noises (not unlike the ones coming from my throat) and Saturday night the alternator light came on. Not good in car land. Sunday Mark was supposed to be heading to IL for a vintage base ball game, but we didn't think the car would make it (wise choice in hindsight). Monday I stayed home from work sick but still had to take the car in to our mechanic half an hour away who said he couldn't fix it and that it looked like the alternator had seized and that the car would only probably drive for an hour or so on just the battery...after Mark had driven it for 10-15 minutes the night before, I'd had the 30 minute drive, and I now have to find a dealership. *grimace* So he tells me the nearest dealer (about 20 minutes away) and I start driving. I made it there without incident. The repairs were anticipated to be covered under our extended warranty, so I went ahead and got a rental car (available at the dealership--that was an unexpected convenience...but I was in West County. Sorry, that joke will only make sense to anyone near St Louis.) even though they weren't going to be able to look at the car until Tuesday. Their schedule cleared and they did get the car in on Monday, and were supposed to overnight the parts and have the car done Tuesday afternoon.

Have you figured out that this was a long week? We're not even to Tuesday yet. ;)

Tuesday I go to work (my apologies to my co-workers--I sounded, according to them, like Tone Loc) and that afternoon I get a call from the dealership--they forgot to order one of the parts. They're overnighting it and the car will be done Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday...still no call by 5pm, so I call. They overnighted the wrong part. *smirk* Stay with me here, we're only on Wednesday.

For those of you unconnected to the internet or possibly in areas of the world with bigger concerns (there are certainly many right now), a rather large storm came through St Louis on Wednesday night shortly after we got home. We lost all power, as did all of our neighbors within a several block radius. Many people say it's scary to live in St Louis city...after the storm, everyone was outside checking on each other. We had neighbors going up and down the street checking on people, passing out candles and matches, helping move tree branches. It is such a wonderful community, and lest you think we happen to live in one of the "nicer" areas in the city, the average household income in our neighborhood is well under $30K. ...Okay, I'm off of my soapbox.

Thursday I stayed home from work sick and finally got a chance to actually rest, although it was a bit warm with no electricity. After Mark got done with work, we went and picked up the car (hooray!). Last night was pretty warm in the house and it was 89F when we went to bed. That was with all of the windows open. Thankfully, another storm blew through today and cooled everything off--it's supposed to be in the 60's tonight. We're not anticipating having power until possibly early next week. It shouldn't be a problem; keep in mind people have been living like this for centuries, and there are people all over the world and even parts of the US that live without electricity. We've already redistributed our perishables and we have enough candles to light half the neighborhood (according to Mark). Plus, we'll have a lower electric bill this month!

I'll do my best to keep all of you posted, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. :) Have a wonderful weekend!