Our power went out at four this morning. The second the power went out and my bedroom fan whirred to a stop, my eyes flew open and I knew that something was wrong. I climbed out o bed and peered out the bedroom window to see if the rest of the neighborhood was without power as well. It was hard to tell; either the rest of the neighborhood was without power as well or everybody was simply fast asleep in the dark. I put on my robe, walked around the darkened house for a bit, and resisted the urge to open the refrigerator. You're not supposed to open the refrigerator when the power is out. I know this. And yet I always want to, just to see what the food might be up to in the dark.

I found my cell phone in my purse and brought it back to bed with me. I lay under the covers for over two hours, my cell phone in my hand, unable to fall asleep without the comforting white noise of my fan. At long last it was 6:20, time to get up, and I tried to figure out how I could get myself ready for work without the use of electricity. Like a true pioneer girl, I lit a scented, decorative candle and brought it into the bathroom where I took my shower in a soft candlelit glow. Thankfully, lack of electricity doesn't affect hot water. Thankfully, you can still flush a toilet without electricity. Thankfully, I actually enjoyed showering by candlelight. It was a soothing, strangely romantic-feeling situation, and I think I may make a habit out of it. Bathroom lights are just too harsh first thing in the morning.

Putting my make-up on proved a bit more difficult than showering, but thankfully I got through it without using eyeliner instead of lipliner, or vice versa. Finally, it came time to go to work. And suddenly, I had a huge problem. The garage door opener uses electricity, I realized. My heart started pounding, and I thought to myself, "Am I going to have to call off work? What am I going to do??" I woke Chris up and explained my quandary. Like a good husband, he said, "I'll take care of it." I followed him down to the garage and waited for him to do something fancy and complicated, such as hooking up a battery to the garage door opener, maybe using tools and machines, a series of levers and pulleys. Instead, he walked into the garage, lifted up the garage door (by hand!) and, that was it. I was free!

I am assuming the power will be back on when I get home, the clocks all anxiously flashing 12:00, waiting for me to make things right. If not, I will go into full panic mode. So many things in my life require electricity. First and foremost, sleeping.