Heroic Tales of Survival

As I’m sure you all know, the east coast has gone through quite a bit over the last week or so.  First an earthquake measuring 5.8 then Hurricane Irene.  The east coast is all abuzz about the great Hurriquake of 2011.   It’s been a series of natural disasters we never thought we’d actually have to face, let alone have to face both in a single week.  So how did we do it?  How did we ever survive?  Here’s our nail-biting, jaw dropping, bowel releasing recount of how we managed to come out alive.

First there was The Great Earthquake.  It began like any other day.  I went off to work while Thesha stayed home with the kids.  As the afternoon approached, I sat at my desk conjuring up ways to look busy while Thesha sat at the computer at home gathering ideas from her food blogs on how to make me even fatter.  Then out of the blue I swear someone started pounding on the wall next to me.  “Who’s the idiot shaking the air conditioning ducts?”  I thought to myself.  Then I heard it again.  “What in the world is that moron doing?”  But then a bunch of people started leaving our building.  As I looked out the window there were people leaving buildings all around.  “Hmmm, I wonder if that was an earthquake?” I thought.  “I guess I’ll casually follow the masses all wandering towards the exits.”  Moments later, as Thesha found another recipe with the words “fabulous” in the title, she started to feel a rumble as well.  Then the TV started to move as if someone had bumped the TV stand.  It was all she could do to stay calm through the movement that while quite common when the kids were awake was unusual for nap time.  She held the TV for a moment and then, as quickly as it started it was over.  The only casualty was that Tyler was just about to fall asleep and now he was crying because “someone shook his bed” right as he was falling asleep.

Ok, that’s about as exciting as I can make it sound.  Yes, it was an earthquake, but really aside from a little shaking there wasn’t that much to talk about.  I can honestly say that I think I’ve felt Dad’s house shake more when a really big train has gone by.   So, yes, we survived The Great Wobble… The Great Shimmy… The Great “uhhh, what was that?”  of 2011.  Please... hold your applause.  The story is just beginning.

Yes, as if the frightening lack of events from Tuesday weren’t enough, next we had to face the terrible thought of Hurricane Irene ripping through our little town.  Uncertain of just how devastating the storm would be, Thesha wisely went out on Friday morning to gather a few extra supplies – some water, batteries, a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts… just some essentials.  To her dismay, Wal-Mart was already out of batteries and water was scarce.  Somehow the Krispy Kreme’s had been spared so she quickly grabbed a box.  Obviously the locals who’ve been through hurricanes like this know better than we do what the appropriate level of panic is and we had clearly underestimated things.  So with cell service finally restored after The Great Head Bob of 2011, Thesha called me at work to advise me to leave early, search everywhere for some batteries and some propane for our camp stove.  As I walked up and down the camping isle at Target I realized two things.  One, we really were in trouble since all the camping supplies had been cleaned out, and two, I’ve sunk to a new low when I think that Target would be a suitable place to look for camping gear.  In my defense, there’s not a Sportsman’s Warehouse or Cabela’s in the entire state of Maryland and there’s only one Bass Pro Shop and it’s apparently all the way downtown in Baltimore.  If Wal-Mart’s sold out, Target’s about the only other choice you’ve got around here.  But I digress… back to the saga. 

So there we were, panic stricken but apparently not panicked enough.  We finally found a grocery store where we could grab a few cases of bottled water.  We made it to Home Depot just in time to grab the last propane stove converter so we could buy a propane tank for our stove.  We still couldn’t find any D batteries so we drowned our sorrows in the box of doughnuts (which were delicious, by the way).  Then, late Saturday night as the clouds and wind started to move in we got word via email that church had been cancelled.  Surely this was a sign that we were in for oppression of unfathomable proportions.  The rain began late Saturday night and between 2:00 and 4:00 AM the noise was enough to actually wake me up.  Considering I slept through the burglars breaking into our house in Albuquerque, I guess you could say that it was a substantial noise (but I’d rather not relive that experience in Albuquerque).  About that same time the inevitable finally struck as the lights flickered and then the house went dark.  At least we were all snug in bed and it wasn’t too cold or too hot.  Although it was kind of difficult to sleep with all the noise, it was actually kind of nice to be able to sleep in a little. 

We woke up around 7:00 and got the kids up.  With no power and overcast skies, it was a little bit darker than usual in the apartment, but with the blinds open it wasn’t that bad.  It was funny to see Tyler’s reaction as he flipped one switch and nothing happened so then he flipped the next switch, then the next, all to get the same reaction – nothing.  We explained to him that the power was out and we were going to have to struggle through it for a while.  Thankfully a bowl of cereal didn’t require any cooking, so breakfast was pretty easy.  As the morning went on, we tried to find ways to entertain ourselves without the internet, cable TV, or the DVD player.   “What kind of world are we living in,” I thought to myself “when we have to live like it’s freakin’ 1982 or something.”  Just as I was about to start looking through my old things to find a bandana and some parachute pants, I heard it.  There it was… the faint buzz of electrons zipping through wires… of fans blowing to cool electronic circuits… of water automatically refilling an ice tray in the freezer.  Yes! Yes! Yes! It was about 10:00 AM and we had survived long enough to see our precious conveniences returned to lull us back into a cathartic state of laziness.   I gave Tyler a hug and reassured him that he could flip any switch he wanted and he would now get the expected result – light, precious light.

Ok, theatrics aside, we basically had a few hours awake without any power and for all our panic we had to endure a dimly lit breakfast table.   That’s pretty much it.

I know.  You’re sitting there wondering why I even bothered to blog about this – and to make such a long blog of it – when basically nothing happened.  Well I’m sitting here wondering why you’re still reading.  BOOOM, I just blew your mind.

Actually, the events of this last week were a bit of a blessing in disguise for us.  There are lots of people around us who were not nearly as lucky.  Some are still without power and others are still wondering when the water will subside so they can return to what’s left of their homes.  We have been truly blessed.  Plus it gave us an opportunity to discuss our emergency preparedness and to help us restore some of our food and supply levels that had been depleted with our move a couple years ago.  So tonight for Family Night we took time to talk about giving thanks to Heavenly Father for all our blessings, and we thank all our friends and family for your prayers on our behalf.  We’re doing just fine and have some more life experiences that help us appreciate what we have.  I mean really, 1982 is so three decades ago.

I know, I know… Get with the program

I know…. I’ve been slacking.  It’s not like there hasn’t been stuff to write about – an anniversary, a birthday, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa… What can I say.  Since no excuse will do, I’ll just get writing.

So, let’s start back in May.  It was 10 years ago that I popped out of the sunroof of a limousine from under Thesha’s wedding dress and we began our crazy adventures as a married couple.  It’s funny how things both change and stay the same over the years.  May 17th, 2001 started with a lot of frantic activity to get everything ready, then a drive down to the temple, and finishing up the day with the family.  Ten years later and there is still a flurry of activity trying to get everything ready to leave the houase, but this time it was about getting diapers changed, snacks together, pony tails in Reagan’s hair, strollers in the car, etc.  Then it was off to the temple, but instead of the SLC temple it was the DC temple.  It was a completely different experience then it was at the SLC temple 10 years ago, but as you can imagine the spirit we felt was the same.  Then instead of a nice lunch in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, it was a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s.  I guess lunch is lunch, right.   Last but not least, it was time for an afternoon with the family, but this time instead of dozens of family members it was our little family.   Of course this time we didn’t come home to a bunch of housewarming gifts like toasters, hand towels, and waffle makers. 

Here are some pictures of our trip to the D.C. temple.

When we were at the temple, we went to the visitor’s center and watched some of the church videos they had as part of the information displays.  All Tyler would ask about for weeks after was when we were going to go to the movie center again.

Ok, next line for catching up is Reagan’s birthday.  It’s hard to believe that when we first moved out to Maryland Reagan was just a little peanut in Thesha’s belly.  Now our little Maryland (actually Delaware) baby is a year old.  To celebrate, Thesha made her an awesome cake using the techniques she’s been picking up from the Cake Boss.  

Reagan loved it so much she went ahead and reached for it while the candle was still lit.  The good news is that it was easy to get her to stop crying by giving her a giant slice of cake. 

In addition to the cake, Reagan got lots of cute stuff to start filling out her room with toys and Mom and Dad got a bunch of new crap to pick up at the end of the day. 

The most exciting gift for us was to get a chair for Reagan like Tyler’s so that they would finally stop fighting over who got to sit in the little chair.  Of course, we apparently underestimate the power of the Little Tikes farm animals.  So on the one hand we solved the chair problem, on the other hand we created the farmer problem – as illustrated below.

Ahh, how cute.  He’s ripping the toy from her with one hand and using the other one to snap her wrist.  I love birthdays. 

Yes, Reagan is really growing up fast.  Her favorite words are “tak ooh” for “thank you”, “Hi, Dahh” for “Hi, Dad”, and “whaaaaaaah” for “Tyler, you big jerk, stop pushing me.”  She’s also learning some animal noises, a couple songs, and she even knows her alphabet…well, she knows one letter of the alphabet.  Watch below and you’ll see what I mean.

Reagan’s Learning the Alphabet

 

Reagan’s learning what animals say

 

Reagan loves to play Ring Around the Rosie

 

Ashes…Ashes…we all fall…. Z

It’s really fun to see both kids growing up and developing such fun personalities.   Reagan obviously gives us plenty to laugh and have fun with, but she has a good example from Tyler on how to make us laugh.  Tyler always wakes up early and Reagan likes to sleep in.  During the time Tyler is awake and Reagan is asleep, we’re constantly having to remind him to keep his voice down.  “Shhhh, use your quiet voice.”  we usually say.  Of course, one morning I changed it up just a little.  “Shhhh.  Tyler, where’s your quiet voice?”  Was totally caught off guard by the response…  “Playing soccer,” he said.  Now I’m the one cracking up and making too much noise.

The only other thing that’s been going on since the last post was that I went with the local Boy Scout troop to Scout Camp.  We went to a camp in Eastern Ohio called the Muskingham Valley Scout Camp.  We went there because of the cost and because they have an LDS week so they incorporate Duty to God requirements throughout the week as well as merit badges.  The best part was that since I just went along as a second advisor, I really didn’t have to do any planning or organizing.  Just show up and have fun.  While I was there, I got a fly fishing lesson from the Scoutmaster.  He helped me get set up, gave me a couple pointers, then believe it or not, before he could even get himself set up I had already caught a fish.  Granted, I probably could have caught a fish about the same size by casting a line in Dad’s fish tank, but a fish is a fish.  Over the course of the week I probably caught a couple dozen fish. 

Since I was able to pick it up pretty quickly, the Scoutmaster was able to wander further and further away from me and I realized that fishing is a bit of a solitary activity.  As it turns out, that’s a good thing.  I lost track of how many times I found myself trying to get my line untangled when a huge bug started flying around me.  As I quickly jerked away or swatted at the bug, I realized it was actually the fly at the end of the very line I was trying to untangle.  Nothing garners the respect of a teenager like seeing one of his Scout leaders swat at his own fishing line, suddenly stop, then start looking around trying to act cool and seeing if anyone saw him make a jackass of himself. 

While I was away at Scout camp, Grandma and Grandpa Checketts came out to keep Thesha and the kids company.  It was a relief for me to know that there was some family around while I was away, and I know that Thesha and the kids loved having Grandma and Grandpa around.  They were able to go to the Delaware Children’s Museum, the lighthouse, and a local dairy/petting zoo called Kilby Cream for some ice cream. 

Here are some pictures from this summer – including pictures of the visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

Alright, I guess that’s probably enough catching up for one blog.   We’ve got Tyler’s birthday coming up in about a month, so I’m sure I’ll have another blog post by around Christmas or so.