We have power

In the words of my neighbor, Billie, who shouted from her front door, "IT'S BACK ON!!! IT'S BACK ON!!!" LG&E and Pike Electric fixed our downed power lines and broken electrical pole on Sunday afternoon. Our power was restored exactly 7 days from the time it was lost (at 2:10 pm Sunday). There are still tens of thousands of people in the area who are without power, but now the Wisener's are not one of them.

Generosity

This is day #6 without power. A neighbor heard from a friend who heard from a friend who's friend works at LG&E that they are going to work on our down power lines today, but you know how unreliable that information can be. We will just have to wait and see if any of the rumors pan out.
I want to give a great big thanks to some of the people who have shown us generosity and kindness so far through this time.
** Our next-door neighbor, Betty, has a gas-powered generator to run her refrigerator and TV. She has allowed us to run an extension cord to her generator which is keeping our fish tanks running and our fish alive. (Right now I am plugged into the wireless router using even more extension cords in order to be on the internet briefly)
** Westport Rd Church of Christ has opened its door and their kitchen to the residents of Woodlawn Park with free hot dinners every night this week. They are planning on continuing to offer meals as long as the power is out and they have food to give away. They also have power strips plugged in to charge your cell phones and free candles for anyone who needs one. I was moved to tears when I experienced first-hand this church reaching out to the neighborhood, many of whom are not members.
** Clint & Ashley Lawrence and Joe Dan & Laura Beavers for inviting us over for dinner and allowing us to use their washer and dryer to do laundry. We have so many generous friends.

Things I didn't know before

Louisville has been turned upside-down (or blown upside-down) by the edge of Hurricane Ike sweeping past the Metro City. Sunday afternoon was exciting and a little frightening with wind gusts up to 70 mph. There were many trees blown over, power lines cut and debris everywhere. Our neighborhood looks like a war zone. Fortunately, our house sustained no damage but we are without power. LG&E estimates 75% of the service area is without power and they say it could be up to 12-14 days or more before it is restored. Until then, we are living as the Amish. You can learn a lot of things when you have to improvise without electricity:
1. We have some very nice neighbors. No one is staying indoors since there is no TV, no air-conditioning, no lights, etc.
2. You can grill almost anything on the gas grill (bacon, frozen pizza, breakfast pastries, soup, cheese sandwiches, etc.)
3. Gas-powered generators take a lot of gas - which is a hot commodity in town since every station is either without power or run out of gas.

Saggy Britches

Nathan has been blessed (or cursed) with his father's waist, or lack there of. In other words, he has no waist to hold up his pants. As the picture above demonstrates, we sometimes have to use a keychain clasp to cinch his pants tighter. We have tried a belt but it seems to weigh down the pants further and we can't find a belt that is small enough. Just to give you an idea, Nathan's swim trunks are a 3-6 month size and his too-big belt is a 6-12 month size. It is all quite funny, especially when he runs around with saggy britches all the time.

Nathan's Latest Obsessions

Fridge Farm by Leap Frog

Nathan is very good at matching the heads and backs of the farm animals
(notice the saggy britches, see other post)

The Garden Hose
Nathan is pretty good at filling the pool with the hose, but as you can tell he seems to get everything wet, including himself.

Belt Buckles
Nathan loves to buckle any seatbelt he comes across. He will buckle himself into the shopping cart seat and his highchair (don't try to help him).

Books
He will sit in the rocking chair in his room and read a "buk" for quite a while. I love that he is so interested in reading and hope this continues as he gets older

Race Cars (Matchbox and Hot Wheels)
This one may have been influenced by Daddy!!

Backyard pool

Nathan's Water Table with water-wheel

Nathan in the Froggy Pool and with Dad in the Fishy Pool

We have been having fun in the sun this summer. Nathan loves to play in the little pool in the backyard. Sometimes he is tentative about getting fully in the pool, but he really likes throwing balls and cars into and out of the water. We have a little froggy pool that only has water about ankle deep, a taller fishy pool that can be filled up to chest deep (on Nathan), and a fun water table with boats and a water-wheel. As one friend said, "You have a waterpark in your backyard!" We have a lot of fun.

Jeff's New Job

Since Jeff is graduating from seminary in December with his Masters of Divinity in Christian Counseling, he was starting the job-search process late this summer. For the past year he interned at Seven Counties Services, Crisis Information Center which is a crisis call-in center. A number of toll-free and local numbers from the 7 surrounding counties filter into this call-in center with problems ranging from financial assistance to suicide. One day Jeff was browsing their job openings and applied for what he thought was a full-time counseling position in the call-in center he was already familiar with. The job ended up being a more behind the scenes position maintaining the computer system and resources the counseling center uses. Because of his prior experience with the company and the computer system, he was offered the position - Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm. Because of budget cuts in the counseling center, he will be working at the call-in center a few hours a day in addition to the requirements for the position he was hired for. I know he is excited to start working. His first day is Monday, Sept 8th. Congratulations Jeff!!