Glad You Could Make It

The near-record cold temperatures provoked a delayed opening for us this morning, but our pleasure at sleeping in was nearly dashed when we awoke at seven to the realization that our power was out. Having no contingency for showers, hot coffee, or even juice, we lay abed strategizing.

Fortunately a neighbor soon texted to confirm that she was not the only one without electricity, and she advised us to report our outage to the power company right away, which we did. It was impossible, or at least impractical to stay in bed forever, and once downstairs, we were alarmed at how cold it had already become. I put in for a substitute, planning to build a fire and hunker down with the cat and the dog until our power was restored. 

That happened at 8:30 AM with no fanfare whatsoever, and so I scrambled to cancel the sub and proceed with a speed version of my usual morning routine. Thirty minutes later, I was showered and dressed (warmly, of course), lunches were packed, the recycling was at the curb, AND the dog had pooped, but my sub job was still active, since no one was answering the phone at school. I figured I would just have to take care of that when I got to work.

My first stop on arrival was the main office where they were busy strategizing, too, trying to use the limited substitutes they had to cover all the open periods. The secretary looked up as I entered, and her face brightened considerably. "You're here!" she cried gratefully.

"Yep," I said, "and I like your enthusiasm! Can I get this greeting every day?"