Three Days In A Time Capsule

     I'm sure most people over the age of 30 have seen the movie "Back To The Future" with Michael J. Fox, which is about a nutty professor that builds a time capsule and brings both of them back to a time before Michael J. Fox's character was even born. It's an interesting concept and a funny movie. I have just had three days of what I would describe as being in a time capsule that took me back to the 1960's (the attached photo is me around Halloween of 1966)
     It's amazing how much we all take for granted the conveniences of cable TV, the computer with Internet, telephones, and not to mention the most important...electricity! Considering my complex is on a river, I am one of the lucky ones in New Jersey to have not suffered damage to my property during Hurricane Sandy, although my daughter's car has puddles in the back seat, wont start, and has been declared "totaled" by S & S Auto in my town. That is nothing compared to so many others around me. The video shows the bottom of the block where her car was parked behind my complex.
     I tend to be so caught up in my own world all of the time, worrying about things I need to do (or THINK I need to do) every day that I am often oblivious to all of the chaos that is going on around me. Why is it that my mother, who lives in Florida, calls me up in her own panicked way to inform me of what is going on around me? Maybe because the only news I see is from the TV at the gym which has no volume and I can't see the captions from the elliptical, or from a post someone puts on Facebook. Other than that, I'm so busy running from one job to another that I only find out about the important things going on when someone calls me or sends me a text or email.
    I was one of those people still shopping at the stores while they were being boarded up or already closed a few hours before the worst of the hurricane hit the area.  I managed to buy a Dora The Explorer flashlight at CVS, a Power Inverter for my car at Walmart, and a hibachi grill and charcoal (not realizing I have gas burners) at Home Depot, all just "in case" I lost power...which of course I did.
     After getting home from shopping for "emergency supplies" (and receiving 3 more calls from my mom telling me to be worried) I realized that my refrigerator hasn't been this packed in a long time, which is always the way! I decided to become Betty Crocker and start baking and cooking as much as I could so at least the food would be edible the next day and not get wasted. Although I am Vegan and don't eat animals, I do have to still cook for my kids, so I made a meatloaf, barbecue drumsticks, baked potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and muffins, plus there was Baked Ziti from the day before. The lights flickered off and on about 8 times before they finally went off for good around 7pm, luckily after I finished using the oven.  My kids didn't mind reading with small flashlight or to candle light, but that didn't seem appealing to me since my one eye started bothering me, so I just cleaned some messes and went to lay down early.
     I woke up Tuesday shocked to see my alarm clock blinking...let there be light! We are one of the few fortunate families in my town to have restored power. Although I didn't feel well, I figured I'd take advantage of having no cable TV/Internet service although I almost never watch TV, but I do get caught up on that computer for too long. I decided to finish painting something I started 6 months ago, which went to painting my hallway, and eventually I bought more paint and started my kitchen. It's been a while since I was home for 3 days with my kids and had the opportunity to cook for them and actually sit and talk to each other, as well as catch up on so many household chores that I never get to do when I'm on the computer, out running errands or working out.
     I am one of those people that cannot miss a workout for more than two days (or at least, I WASN'T!) without getting totally irritable and gaining weight. I decided last Saturday morning that I would take the weekend off from the gym, since I had not missed a day in almost 3 weeks. Little did I know that this so called "Hurricane" we were supposed to be getting hit with was going to be a REAL Hurricane this time and knock the hell out of this area! So here it is almost one whole week since I've worked out because the gyms I teach at or work out at were all closed due to power outages and water damage. I won't dare get on a scale or put on my bikini right now, but as long as I stay busy and productive I will keep my sanity. Actually, I forgot how much I liked being a "stay-home" mom and being domesticated when my kids were young and I was living a different life.

     Last night I was very calmly painting my kitchen when my son very excitedly informed me that we have Internet again. For some reason my Verizon Droid 4 was not allowing me access to the Internet on my cell while I was home for the last 3 days. It was like my Time Capsule instantly propelled me from the 1960's right back to 2012. My cell started vibrating all over my counter every time a message came in from Facebook, Hotmail, Yahoo and every other social network I am involved in on top of the text messages I was already getting. It has taken me hours to get through this blog today since all of the interruptions I wasn't getting yesterday are now affecting me today. I guess that's why we all need to be proactive instead of "reactive" when it comes to time management and know when it's time to "SHUT DOWN" the power.