Today is Lisa's birthday and, as anticipated, we had to alter our plans. To back up a bit, on Wednesday we had rain all morning and through the afternoon. We needed the rain and neither one of us complained. In fact, we enjoyed a lazy, rainy day. Yesterday, or plans were to head to Olive Garden to enjoy a nice lunch and a few hours away from home. Had we been able to follow through with our plans, it would have marked the second time in a year and a half that we've eaten out at a restaurant. However, despite our plans to leave early and get to the restaurant by 11, that didn't exactly happen.
At around 9 a.m. the lights flickered. I noticed the flickering the day before, but didn't think much of it. By 10 a.m., the power almost went out. Not completely, but enough to make the smoke alarms beep and the internet modem to reset. It happened again. And again. And again. Lisa and I just looked at each other. We knew. We weren't going anywhere. For supper, we ordered takeout, played cards and spent lots of time with the kids.
Storms began hitting surrounding areas. Our lights flickered and dimmed through most of the afternoon. In the early evening hours, we were hit with a severe storm and we kept losing power. It would go out for 15-30 seconds and then restore. It was a horrible storm. Areas about 10 minutes north of us got the brunt of the storm and they lost power for hours. Even after the storm passed, the heat lightening continued and so did the flickering and dimming.
For Lisa's birthday today, I was going to take her to Mohegan Sun for lunch, to play the vintage "penny slots" and to walk around. I'm not a fan of casinos, however, once a year, on Lisa's birthday, we go for a bit o' leisurely fun. We didn't end up going, but it had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with her surprise birthday present from the kids and me.
A. New. TV.
Yes, a new TV. This gift was kind of a big deal because our existing TV was a big ol' ancient clunker. It was a hand-me-down from my mother back in 2012. Although it still worked, and we've used it since, the past few months, it's been showing signs of fading out. Plus, Lisa has been talking about Netflix a lot. Our old TV wasn't equipped for Netflix and other forms of streaming.
I was trying to figure out how to surprise her with a new TV. Late Thursday night, I sat her down and told her that I had purchased a TV and we'd need to pick it up at some point today.
She was shocked. I don't think she knew what to say. Maybe she thought I was joking. Lisa just sat there, on the living room chair, with her mouth to the floor.
Once the initial shock wore off, the excitement surfaced. She sported a smile from ear to ear. It's not often Lisa is rendered speechless, but at that moment, she was. That's when Lisa totally changed the plans for her birthday.
"Let's get up early, grab coffee and doughnuts, go pick up the TV, come home, rearrange the living room, get the new TV set up, we'll order takeout, get a movie, and have family movie night with my new TV."
"Well, what about Mohegan?"
"I don't want to go now."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Okay."
That's exactly what we did. She was like a little kid in a candy store. I loved seeing her excitement and the smile on her face as we watched the first movie on her new TV.
And, of course, during the evening hours, we got another storm and the lights flickered and the power dimmed.
That didn't stop us from celebrating Lisa's birthday and having an incredible evening.
Happy Birthday, Lisa!
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