**Choose a prompt, write a post and link up!**
I am a highly routine oriented person.
Each day is meticulously mapped out in my planner. Take today for instance:
- 5:15 AM Wake Up / Coffee / News / Email
- 5:40 Shower
- 6:10 Snuggle with Sarah
- 6:45 Morning Chores
- 7:30 Clean House / Pack Emily
- 9:00 Play
- 10:00 Emily to her dad’s
- 11:00 Lunch
- 12:00 Sarah Nap / Blog
- 2:30 Sarah Awake / Play
- 4:30 Dinner Prep
- 5:30 Dinner
- 6:00 Play
- 7:00 Sarah Bed
- TV / Bed / DONE!
This is pretty much my day, every day, give or take a few things.
Last weekend we had a storm and lost power at 7:07 PM on Friday night.
No TV / No Internet / No Phone Chargers
We lit a candle, looked at the stormy sky and played Yahtzee! 3 games to be specific.
There was no TV to fall asleep to, no nightlights, no alarm clock.
I woke up at 5:30 anyway to no power and absolute silence. I tiptoed to the kitchen to attempt my first pot of coffee made on the stove.
Not being able to check email or the news, I took my semi-drinkable coffee to sit outside.
I sat outside with the birds and the silent hum of nearby generators while I drank some, now, pretty good coffee and I threw the ball for Jack…
…For one and a half hours.
It was heaven. It was also my birthday.
Tyler, Emily and Sarah all woke up within minutes of each other, all of them wondering what we were going to do without power.
“We’re going outside to play!” I exclaimed in excitement.
Sarah leaped out of bed so fast she immediately fell right down, scrambling to get dressed.
Emily went with Tyler to the convenience store to get donuts, juice and really good coffee.
We all sat outside and played and ate and talked and laughed.
At 8:00, we could hear my mom wake up from next door. We hollered in our loudest voices to come outside to our Breakfast Buffet.
She was overjoyed.
At 9:00, my dad groggily joined us.
Until 11:00 AM, we were hot and without power.
We were completely disconnected from the world, but we had the most delightful, perfect morning in a very long time.
This wonderful morning was so good, not only did we talk about it all day long; we have decided to “disconnect” for one day every weekend, to sit outside and just “be”.
You should try it too. I guarantee it will make you feel great!
I hope all of you have just the best holiday weekend with your family and friends!!
Stay Safe, Laugh a Lot and Feel Good!
thegirltestblog.wordpress.com 
What a wonderful day. And on your birthday. We do this on rare occasion and I’m inspired to do it more often. We are leaving after swim lessons, Friday morning to go camping all weekend. I’ll be trying my hardest to keep my husband off his phone (it has the internet) and we will all play and hang out together. We are going with my brother and his family. Should be a great weekend!!
I might be able to disconnect from a lot of things, but please, not my power! Not in the summertime, here, in the heat, with no AC. Unthinkable.
Glad you enjoyed your birthday!
We’ve all become so dependant on electricity for so many things, that a lot of us would freak out with no power. I could manage, with reading the day away or playing – but a lot of my family are so used to t.v (my husband does not read – ever), video games, phone, etc that they would just freak. I would too, as soon as I used all the candles for reading – or for cooking, we have electric stove. When we were growing up we had a gas stove and on the rare nights that we had a power outage, we could still cook dinner.
Glad you had a good day – with kids and dogs you can always keep busy playing!
This is the perfect story. We put so much pressure on ourselves and it really isn’t necessary. I would call this a mental health day. I’m not so crazy about the power going out but I love when the phone does. We should all disconnect one day a week just to be.
Have a great weekend!
You are so correct about putting pressure on ourselves. We really got back to basics and nothing else really mattered. It was so refreshing!!!
Last time the power went out it was incredibly hot and not even a whisper of air outside. We don’t have air conditioning, but at least the fan had made a bit of a difference… My boys took their swags outside to sleep, but soon the insects won the battle and they came back in pretty quickly.
I loathe bugs so I would never sleep outside!!!!
Our last power outage impacted the entire street- it was great to come outside and all the neighbors were there! It was in the evening, we hadn’t yet had dinner. So we decided to do a bathtime by candlelight, get on pj’s and go find some food. Then we ate in the van while the sunset.
It was a great evening.
Reading your post… now I want a donut!
The donuts tasted terrible…
Do you know we were the only ones outside in 6 blocks? Isn’t that weird? We pondered that for a long time, actually! What were people doing???
That sounds fantastic… I might need to try this.
Totally!!! It was like we were on vacation!
I hope that was your only birthday disaster. Sounds like it turned out pretty well this year!
That’s marvelous! I’m impressed you didn’t feel compelled to check email on your Iphone:)
Last week when all our teens were away at camp my husband and I spent a couple of hours each evening sitting in the backyard while the Littles played. It was so nice, in a similarly disconnected way. Actually scheduling disconnection is a great idea.
My battery was dead!!! We did charge it in the car, but just enough to email people about possibly canceling our party. We do keep one corded phone that we use in case of no power. One year we lost power 8 times!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Sound like a wonderful day to me. I would read, read, and and then go through withdrawal because I couldn’t blog. lol
Dollycas
Oh, I forgot to tell you, there is a giveaway on my blog today-midnight July 5, and I am on vacation next week. My kids are betting I won’t last Tuesday afternoon – Sunday away from the computer. So I may or may not be here next week. Have a GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
Dollycas
dollycas.blogspot.com
You can do it!!! Stay away and enjoy!!! I plan on taking a blog break before school begins again.
Sounds like a perfectly wonderful morning! That is exactly the reason I love to camp – mornings and family time like that, completely disconnected from the rest of reality. 🙂 Have a great 4th!
I’d like to camp if it weren’t for the bugs!
That does sound heavenly! See, your birthday was wonderful after all!!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
Thanks Tami!! You too!
What a divine day! I am so jealous!!
Happy birthday! It sounds like it was an amazing day:) I love being outside and being able to play hooky from my normal routine.
Routines are nice but they can kind of suck you in. Playing hooky is great!
what a great birthday!!
You’re so right. Everyone ought do this more often.
Except here in the South, I’d prefer tp
You’re so right. Everyone ought do this more often.
Except here in the South, I’d prefer to be powerless in the fall!
Gosh danged iPad and my bad eyesight made me re-submit my comment!
Happy Fourth of July, Laura!!
You too Katie!!!
I hate the heat too, but luckily I keep the house like an icebox so I just kept the windows shut and curtains closed and the coolness stayed without the A/C!!!
A day without the daily planner sounds fantabulous to me. What a fun way to enjoy what turned out to be an unexpected blessing for you and your family, the chance to spontaneously live a day together without electronic interference. You are right Laura, everyone should try this if possible at least once a week. The simpler things in life are always such a nice change of pace.
jackie b
Thanks Jackie!!!! We don’t take vacations so we must keep doing this. It was just so peaceful!!!!
How neat that this inconvenience to some turned out to be such a blessing for you and your family! Sometimes I think we are too “connected” and probably need to be a little more “disconnected” from time to time! 🙂 Have a great 4th!
How lovely! Happy 4th!!
That’s kind of like having a “staycation” for one day every week! Very cool. Great post!
Thank you! It was fun and very restful. Once the power came back on you should have seen us race to charge up everything!
Love days like that — sometimes I think we are sooo powered by electronics that we forget about the simple things in life!!!!
Glad you made the most of your day.
We are too connected. It is nice, but also nice to just get away and turn it off.
Have a happy 4th!!!
Enjoy your holiday!
Those are the types of mornings to cherish.
Totally!!! Plus now that I wrote about it I won’t forget!!!
What a great day/morning! My girls and I have been sick all week and haven’t left the house since we went to the Dr on Wednesday. We’ve been playing games (Skip Bo) and making cookies and popcorn. I tell you, it’s been the most fun I’ve ever had being sick. I taught my almost 7 year old to play solitaire with real cards. She won her first game!!
I am sorry you are sick, but happy you are having fun!!
Emily and I were sick once on thanksgiving and we had so much fun. We played games, watched the parade and then made a big bed in the living room to read and snuggle. She was 4 and still remembers it!
I hope you all are better!!!
I love your unplugged morning! Have fun with your disconnected days!
I’ll make my post later as I still have a lot of homework to catch up on and turn in today. PLUS! It’s my honey’s birthday today!!! But… I wanted to share that I planted a garden (in planters) yesterday. It was fun and they are pretty. I did it wrong, had a small spat with DH about him telling me how to do it correctly, and got all sweaty… but it was still fun and I now have pretty flowers to look at for a few months before the winter kills them. It was so nice getting my hands dirty and touching the soft petals as I planted them in their new homes.
Yay!!! Isn’t gardening relaxing? I love it to. I love digging and planting and the dirt, but only if I wear gloves otherwise I am a total girl and am all… “ick”!!!
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!!
That sounds wonderful. I think I might take you up on that unplugged morning. Have a great holiday weekend!
I’m just in awe that you get up at 5 every morning. Wow. And you have a clean house by 7:30? Very impressive and your morning sounds wonderful!
Well.. On Fridays I clean, but yes I clean early before I get busy and procrastinate!!!!! I like to do all of my major chores super early because if I leave them, I just would not do it. It comes from when I used to work. I always worked 6am-2pm so it is in me to work early.
That is just plain awesome!! I wanna try that. Only, I think I would sleep in. NO, wait, that’s right. It is my kids that wake me up at 6am…everyday. Still, a day without tv would be a great day indeed! Thanks for the reminder!
My oldest is 10 and she is FINALLY sleeping in until 7:00!!!!!! I am overjoyed!!!
How grand! I’ve had some forced disconnection lately with all my new mom-of-2 duties, and it’s been refreshing at times, or maybe I’ve just been too tired to even think about anything else. 🙂
My husband and I often take a “technology sabbath” as he calls it, which is sometimes hard, but very worth it! Enjoy your disconnected mornings–what a gift to give to your children!
I think it is great about the technology Sabbath you do. It is kind of sad when you think about it that people can never truly be disconnected with all of the methods of communication, so it is smart to just turn it all off.
Ah…the calm AFTer a storm. That does sound heavenly. Sometimes on Sunday mornings I like to just take a cup of hot chocolate and sit out on my front porch in the early morning. It’s so quiet!
It is the best, I agree!
We deffinitely need to do this more often!!
That is why I love going camping…..no phones, no internet, no electronics.
I need that week once a year to disconnect and connect,lol.
heehee. It’s like an electronic diet. I like it. Except the heat would sure put a damper on things.
Thanks for the linky and I really love your blog and I’m a new follower from the GFC Followers Group on the MBC. I look forward to us connecting. Visit my blog at http://www.diaryofachicmommy.com
It is so interesting to me to see your daily schedule.
Our power went out Sat. night and I thought of you.
My husband told me to look at the sky without all the streetlights on. It was magnificent. I’m so glad I saw it.
Then I went to bed.
Great Post! I love life’s moments like these. And maybe the birthday curse is broken?