Storm Riley hit us hard this past weekend. Torrential rain, 75mph winds. It was rough. On Friday the 2nd, we were without electricity. Normally the lights will flicker and be back. We decided to wait it out and sleep in the dark. If it was Nigeria, we would have a generator to the rescue (up NEPA).

Electricity was not restored. By morning, the temperature in the house had dropped from 70F to 59F. We needed to seek shelter fast! It was freezing. The nearest available hotel was 2 towns away. We could not check in until 3pm. We finally settled for the Comfort Inn in Randolph.We rolled out of bed, thinking we could grab a quick bite at IHOP. It was shut down. The nearest Dunkin Donuts was closed, the nearest Mac Donald’s had a queue so long we had to wait 40 minutes. Folks were hungry, angry and testy.

I had visited The Cheesecake Factory on Friday and ordered a very juicy burger. I did not finish it. So, I ate the remaining half for breakfast. That held me quite a bit while we waited in line at Mikkie-Dees. We finally grabbed our order and headed to church.  There was electricity, it was warm.Electricity will not be restored until Monday afternoon. There was no electricity at TamBo’s Kitchen either. The basement had flooded. I had a catering order that Saturday.

Life was really giving me lemons in basket loads. Rather than watch the lemons rot, I made lemonade, lemon tarts and sherbets from them :).This past weekend was a special one. I was getting ready for chemo this time last year. The restaurant was also being launched.  This year I wanted to thank God for how far He had brought me and nothing was going to stop it. Absolutely  nothing!!

Rather than call the client and give her the bad report, I finished the prepping and catering at the reception location.  Sunday morning, I woke up early with two flash lights and catered for my Thanksgiving reception (don’t ask me how:)).

Moral of the story, life continued despite Storm Riley. Power was restored Monday afternoon. It was so nice to be back home, in the comfort of our warm house, able to use hot water, cook with the stove and continue the circle of life.