Just called PG&E, to see if there was an update on our power outage. The message said it was expected to be an extended outage. What the heck does that mean??
I can deal with a power outage, but the loss of heat is an issue. To make matters worse, we are having record cold weather, too. I miss having a warm, toasty house!
I also miss being able to just hop in my car and zip down to the store for groceries, christmas shopping, etc. We are still snow and ice home bound, but have been digging out a path to hopefully get down the hill later today.
As whiny as I feel right now, I do know that many people have it worse than we do. As the storm moves east, creating a blizzard, I bet this storm is far worse for people who live in the midwest and eastern US.
I am using my time wisely and starting to create a new freeform necklace out of supplies kindly provided by artbeads.com. This keeps my mind occupied, as does reading books, etc. We did lose internet and phone service for the last 12 hours, but now at least internet is back!
Keep you posted!! Carla
Postscript: Successfully got down our steep hill, so were able to get more gas for the generator and some food, too. However, we were not able to get back up the hill and instead slid into the ditch (no one was hurt) Luckily, we have nice neighbors who can pull us out with the tractor.
Trip to the store and back, I couldn’t help noticing the damage caused by the storm. One neighbor down the street had his house crushed by a huge tree. It was incredible to see the amount of trees and branches that fell down everywhere due to the weight load of the snow.
Carla Barrett 
WOW! so glad I am not in your shoes. Where in CA do you live?
I hope you have your power back soon! We don’t get storms quite like that but we compensate with hurricanes and an occasional ice storm.
We had that kind of a mess last year just before Christmas. We had almost 2′ of snow allover the Portland area. It’s pretty at first, but it gets old when you don’t have power and can’t go anywhere. I hope things improve soon.
Sorry to hear that you are still house bound. Your poor neighbor with the tree-crushed home…that certainly sounds horrible. We are expecting the storm to hit us tonite. The kids are excited about sleeping in late and honestly…so am I! The idea of the phone ringing at 5:30 a.m. will be quite welcomed.
Try to stay warm and I hope your power is returned soon.
Ca been insanely cold these last couple of days! Glad you are back online
“sent here on a marvelous surf via http://valerieaharoni.com”
Hope you get some electricity (and heat) soon. It stormed here yesterday. Hey, this is California, no Wisconsin.
It was good that Joe cut down those trees close to the house — glad nothing hit your house. I will think warm thoughts and send them your way — hope it’s resolved soon.
We actually cut down all the trees next to the home for a fire break. Little did we know that it had a secondary benefit, too. Thanks for the warn thoughts!
Turning into something quite dramatic. I feel bad for the guy who lost his house. Goodness.
We do, too. He is a landscape laborer, and over the years we have enjoyed watching his home landscape grow as he created a beautiful garden with leftover plants.
So glad your problems don’t include a tree on your house. What you need right now is a heat wave ….. we will have one soon, so will try to send it your way!
Judy B
Thanks, Judy! Yep, Day 3-no power and still have about 9-12 inches on the ground. Would love your heatwave!!
Stay safe Carla. Last January when we had the ice storm we were out of power for a week but we were lucky as some neighbors were out of power for three weeks. Sending warm thoughts and hugs your way.
Thanks, Freda (and everyone else, too) What I don’t like is the disruption to my usual schedule. I still need to finish Christmas shopping, too.