No Electricity Day

This past Saturday SCE(our electric co)worked on the lines in our area for the entire day, so from 8AM to 8:30 PM they shut off our electricity-they did warn us via US Postal about a month beforehand so we would be prepared. I told the kids(the hubby had to work,lucky him)that we would take that day as a test for when something,like an EARTHQUAKE, were to happen we would know what we needed to get by,BE PREPARED.
The girls and I went to the store the day before and bought things we thought we would need to get us through the day:water, chips, bread, snacks things like that,not thinking of anything else like LIGHT for when it gets dark.LOL
ANYWAYS,now don't laugh, but sometimes I get those derr moments that can't be helped, but that day I planned on getting up extra early to shower BEFORE the electricity was turned off,instead I woke up late and jumped in the shower and hurried up because I THOUGHT the water wasn't all that hot and oh my, how are the kids going to shower if there isn't any hot water for them, so I rushed through my shower with lukewarm water, got dressed and went and told the girls that when they took showers not to take too long because the water wasn't that hot.HAHAHA.After both my girls took showers they said "mom there was plenty of HOT water,what were you talking about?Me"well the electricity was off" them"MOM doesn't the water run on GAS? Me oh yeah,humm maybe I didn't let the water warm up before jumping in DUHHHH!
After a couple of hours of being home and getting irritated that every time I walked into a room I flicked on the light switch and nothing happened, we decided to head to Walmart,you know we had to be bored to go there, especially on a Saturday, in the afternoon, we walk in and the girls and I are noticing that it's kind of dark in Walmart,and yes its packed, come to find out they were running on generators because their electricity was shut off and they didn't know why(apparently SCE forget to tell the local shopping center)and after we where there for a couple of minutes they ended up closing the store because their generators turned off,the whole shopping area was eventually closed due to no electricity, thank god we didn't really need anything-or so I thought!
We went back home, decided it was time for a late lunch and made sandwiches for me and my daughter,my other daughter wanted beans warmed with cheese,the microwave would have been our first choice,but you know,so we decided to use the stove,which is gas(that I did know) but that little flicker thing isn't, and would take matches to light it(at least we had those handy),and me being the mom HAD TO DO IT, lighting that thing was scary, pOoFf ! But FIRST we had to open the can of beans, so we pulled out our ELECTRIC can opener,yeah, looked at each other and said now what?LUCKY for us we camp and our camping stuff was still here and not packed in our pop up like it normally is, so guess what we had,yup a manual can opener,yay!! We ate, played cards,read, talked and the girls even did my hair using sponge rollers, we hung out with each other as much as we could handle,there is only so much to do before you or they get bored. I have to say that NOW I really understand the meaning to the saying" before TV people were having lots of babies"!LOL
As evening approached my sister saved us by taking us out to dinner,first I called to make sure they had electricity,they did. As we came home we noticed how dark it was getting, and blasphemy, ANOTHER thing we hadn't prepared for, came into the house and went on a mad scramble to find items to make light : candles, matches, flashlights, batteries,camping lanterns-even with all that NOTHING compares to light from a 100watt light bulb-all we could do was watch a movie on my tiny battery operated dvd player,which ran out after about 1/2hr because I FORGOT to charge it, played more cards,read, which I couldn't because my eyes suck and need good light, and wait for the electricity to turn back on.
We learned quite a few things from our 13 hours sans electricity:
GAS and Electricity are not the same.
In a real emergency heading to your local stores probably isn't a good idea,if you don't have electricity they most likely wont either.
Manual can opener, candles, matches,flashlights,BATTERIES,lanterns are great to have handy,in a EASY to find place.
Candles are a good source of light BUT they can't be placed just anywhere-flames start fires and the wax is HOT!
Keep electronic devices FULLY charged at all times!
The Refrigerator/Freezer will keep everything cold if you DON'T open it.
I prefer the man to be home when an emergency were to every happen BUT I know in his line of work it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY : (
Make sure your neighbors know whats going on;my neighbors called me after about 5hrs of no electricity to ask if mine was out cause their was??HELLO did you not get the NOTICE??apparently they didnt get it,but I filled them in.
Lastly SPONGE ROLLERS are so out of date, POUFFY hair is so out of style-i forget i had them on and when my sis called to say she was here to pick us up we had to hurry and take them out, the girls were laughing but I still went to dinner with my hair all crazy!