On the Thursday before last I went to the town X-mas party and was having a great time, but knew that I had to get on the road to do a deposit (tax time, of course!) before it got any worse outside. The prediction was for an ice storm. It had been freezing rain all day. The road agents said I would be fine, but I stopped at home to see if Art could take me. He could. We headed back up and had a great turkey dinner (turkey was on sale after Thanksgiving). I had also gotten a lovely bottle of wine at the Yankee Swap that day. We had dinner at about 7:00 and settled in to tube. The brownouts started immediately, so we downshifted to reading and knitting after getting out flashlights- just in case... The first fire call for a branch on a wire came in a little after that. By 11:00 pm the power was out all over town. By three am Art could not get to the fire station because of downed trees. 
The next day I lit the wood (pellet) cook stove for coffee and breakfast then kept it going all day for heat. I am getting pretty good at cooking on it and regulating the temperature. I even baked in it for the first time! Delish!It wasn't that terribly cold out- maybe 25 or thirty. Art was gone all day clearing trees with his Bobcat, and responding to calls. Later that day he headed down the hill in the 4x4 to get gas for our generator and extras for the FD. 
He had to go all the way to Nashua and waited in line about three hours. The next day Art's sis and her family showed up with their lizards as they had no power at home. We had fun playing risk, and drinking hot cocoa. My nephew S loved playing with Blizzie, Polar, and the chickens. He memorized all of the chicken's names, even! Very fun :-)
We had our generator wired up so that we would have power in the basement for the pellet boiler and water pump, four outlets in the garage, the fridge, kitchen outlet, and kitchen lights (which we didn't remember until Sunday night!LOL!. That with the wood cook stove kept us in a simple but comfortable lifestyle. The next days were a blur of fire and rescue calls, volunteering at the warming shelter, keeping our house going...
Blizzie found a new comfy place! Under the cook stove. Must be toasty warm- and no one would reach under the hot stove to get her!
Art got a line on some generators midweek and headed off to New York just as it began to snow. I did a double shift at the school the first night he was gone after having the midnight to four am shift the night before. Some friends stopped by at about midnight and because I was so excited about the MP hummers riding around town they asked if we could get inside to see it. They were great! Big kudos to the help the National Guard is giving our town first of all! Then to let us take pictures and poke our head through the roof to get the gunner's view :) Happy happy! 
Then after two hours of sleep had to hitch a ride with one of our guys to do end of the year inventory, as well as keep the generator going for our house. Luckily it was only about three or four inches so I didn't even bother shoveling. 
Thursday a second snow storm rolled in dropping about six inches overnight, then about eight more on Friday. This added Bobcat duties to Art's roster. Here we are on Sunday with another snowstorm, a Nor'Easter, that will drop another foot to foot and a half of snow. We got our power and internet back last night. We still have about 30% of our town without power. 
We just keep plugging away! Our town budget is blown to you know where, and the fire department has been operating on fumes and donations! It has been a challenge for sure. I am impressed with how well people pulled together to help each other out, to clear the roads, and take care of those who needed it. 
I do recall wishing for a white christmas!! LOL! Be careful what you wish for!
