girl in greenwood

We had a rather unplanned weekend. Thursday night the Seattle area was hammered by a windstorm the likes of which I'd never seen. When we woke up on Friday, we had no power. At first we thought it was no big deal - we've lost power for a short time before, and then it came back on. So we went out and got breakfast, thinking that our power would be back on in no time. Ha ha. We were wrong. We went home and the house got colder and darker... so R* suggested that we should call around and find a hotel room for the night. Apparently everyone else in the area had the same idea, because we had a horrible time finding a room. We finally got a reservation at Hotel Deca in the U District - I went over and checked in, then we went to Ballard where R*'s band was playing. After the gig, we went back to the hotel and were thrilled to have a warm, lighted room.

In the morning we had a hot shower and a hot bath, respectively, and went home expecting to find our power back on. But no! It was still dark and cold. I went to the library to borrow their electricity and Internet connection (not to mention their heat) and called and called and called trying to find a hotel room. I finally called a bed & breakfast called Chelsea Station and they had one room left. We went and checked in and were very pleased with their hospitality. I would totally recommend the place to visitors. We walked down to Fremont and got some lunch, then went back to the room and took a nap in the warmth. We decided to go back by the house just to see if the power was back on... but it was a rude surprise when we got their and our neighbors on either side had lights on and our house was still dark and cold. We went outside in the dark to look at the line to the house, but we couldn't see anything wrong. It was very disheartening. We went to dinner at Perche' No, only to find that their power was half out and the menu was drastically reduced. We decided to just go with it and had a perfectly nice meal - and the owners were so kind and friendly. It was like going over to a friend's house and having grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner because the fridge is empty, and having fun anyway.

Sunday morning we got up, showered, and went downstairs for breakfast. Just as we were finishing our breakfast, the power went out! Fortunately we were done and just got our things and went home. Which was still cold and dark. In fact, I could see my breath when I opened my closet to get out some clean clothes. That is just wrong! R* suggested that we make a reservation at the Inn at El Gaucho, go have a nice dinner and stay the night. So we did. I'm sure we spent way too much money, but it was so nice. I have never slept in such a comfortable bed, nor worn such a comfortable bathrobe.

Before we went downtown to El Gaucho, we stopped by our friend's house to visit the kitty. We left feeling a little ambivalent because it wasn't love at first sight, but after lots of discussion decided that the cat was well-behaved and polite, and needed a home. So today, we went back to the house and picked up the cat (after making a stop at Petco for supplies) and went directly to the vet to get it checked out. And here's what we discovered: kitty is a girl, between 1 and 2 years old, has been spayed, appears to be in excellent health, and may possibly be a purebed Bombay. Our vet commented that she looks a little like Booshka and that it must have been kismet that brought us together. R* and I looked at each other and I said, "I think you just named our cat for us!" Her new name is Kismet Winifred (what, your cat doesn't have a middle name?). We got her microchipped and wormed, and got the distemper and rabies shots. Since we brought her to the house, she's been quite nervous but has tolerated everything with a great deal of grace (plus a few bad words). She doesn't know it yet but she is going to love living with us. We're going to spoil her rotten!

Our power was back on when we got home from the vet. Thank goodness. It's a relief to be home!

Labels: cats, hotels, power outage