New Year's Eve

My mom is working tonight but when she gets home we will watch "New Year's Rockin' Eve". I don't know what the big deal is about New Year's Eve. My mom says I will understand when I am older and can go to New Year's Eve parties. I sure hope so!

The Nor'wester, Fourth Day

Guess what, the lights are back on! We are so lucky because we live so close to the hospital that when the hospital got their power back, we did too. Most everyone else in the county still has no lights. My friend Lhatie still doesn't.

The Nor'wester, Third Night

Tonight we got all settled in with our candles and books. My mom found her battery radio so at least we have a little noise. It's very quiet outside tonight; the wind and rain have stopped. I still can't get out the back door without swimming and my mom doesn't want me to do that, so she is still carrying me outside and back in. She said someday things will be back to normal. Does that mean we won't cuddle on the couch by candlelight? I will miss that.

The Nor'wester, Third Day

This morning it was really cold when we woke up and it's still raining and the wind is still blowing. I think my mom is getting a little worried about the flooding because the Chehalis River is rising very fast and it's close to our house. She said she is going to leave my life jacket on while she is at work so I can float up to the ceiling. I think she was kidding but I don't know. My cat brothers Carlos and Kato don't seem to care about any of this but I can tell my mom is nervous. She went to the grocery store this morning to try to get some water and canned food but it was closed and there were electric lines and trees down in the streets. She said everything in town is closed, even Wal-Mart!

It's funny to think 50 miles away in Olympia, life is normal. We were going to go there and stay at a motel on her days off tomorrow and Thursday but we don't have enough gas and there is no gas in town at all. Even gas stations as far away as Olympia are running out. So I guess we are stuck here. I am getting use to it though, but it is quiet without the radio.

The Nor'wester, Second Day

When we woke up it was daylight but there were still no lights. The wind was even worse than last night and the rain was even harder. The streets are flooded and so is the yard. My mom says she can't take a shower or anything. She found a flashlight and got candles ready for tonight but then we went to Home Depot to see if we could find a lantern of some kind and some batteries for the flashlight. Even though Home Depot is very close to our house it was hard to get there because streets are flooded and there are trees across the road everywhere. There is even a tree lying across the railroad track. This is scary for a little person like me. My mom said not to worry though, we will be fine. But it is hard for me to go outside because the water outside the back door is getting very deep. My mom is about to leave for work so i hope I don't get too scared while she is gone.

The Nor'wester, Second Night

I was a little scared after my mom left to go to work today because it was still really noisy outside with the wind and the rain. I kept hearing crashes and I was afraid maybe it was trees and things. To make it worse, she couldn't leave the radio on like she usually does. But I went to sleep with all my loofa toys and my big otter beside me.

When my mom came home for dinner at 8 pm, she had to carry me out into the yard because the water outside the back door was too deep for me. She went out there with a flashlight so we could make sure I wouldn't drown. She told me she was going to put my life jacket on me next time! I think she was serious. After running around in the hurricane though, I was sleepy and I didn't wake up until she got home at 11:30. She works at the hospital and she said it was crazy there because they had generators running and lots of people couldn't get to work.

It was fun tonight though because we had candles everywhere and we sat on the couch with the quilt on us and she read a book and I played with my toys and chewed on rawhide. I will feel better when the wind and rain stop though.

The Nor'wester, First Night

Wow. It's been scary here. Tonight the wind started blowing and I was so scared I hid behind my mom on the couch. I sure was glad it didn't start still after midnight when she was home from work. Then the lights went out.

It was cold so my mom and I slept on the couch with a big quilt over us. That part was fun because I usually sleep in my little bed in my crate. My mom said she hoped the lights would come on by morning. It was raining so hard my mom kept getting up to see if it was hail but it was just rain. She said she had never seen it rain and blow so hard since she went through a hurricane when she was a kid. I don't think they had electricity back then though.

My First Snow

When I went outside this morning there was snow! (I didn't know that was what it was called because I have never seen it before). It was so pretty but it made my feet tickle. I stayed outside as long as I could, and since I was wearing my coat, I didn't even get cold. It was really fun.