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It had been a whole week and there were no surprise hospital visits, no late calls to doctors in the night and I had made plans to have a day of shopping with Evil Sister in Columbia. I was excited to be picking out an outfit that wasn’t chosen for comfort in a hospital room. No jeans and tees (heard about that one from my Dad who informed me quite bluntly that I was not dressed for the hospital, I had to remind him that I was quite literally living there for the time being and organdy dresses and laces were out of style, anyway).

I carefully chose a nice blouse and suede slacks, picked out the matching shoes and laid everything out on the bed. I had showered and washed my hair earlier and now had my makeup on the dressing table. I was a very happy person and planned to meet sister Toni on the Fort while we’re there.

I still don’t know what happened to the power, one minute we had lights and the next we didn’t. The weather was cloudy with a chance for rain but so far no rain or thunder, no lightening to speak of, so what was going on? I called my neighbor to see if she had power and found that she didn’t. She was trying to find the number for Lynches River, so I stopped looking for the phone book.

Did I tell you it was cloudy? Did I tell you that I had my makeup laid out on the dressing table? Did I tell you that the house was dark as a dungeon? I spent a while trying to find candles then gave that up to look for a flashlight. I found the flashlight but the next twenty minutes were wasted on the battery hunt. Expecting Jacqui (Evil Sister) any time, I finally just gathered up my make up and went into the bathroom and attempted to “put on my face.” I stopped and started, wiped off and reapplied, found the mascara and after a dusting of eye shadow, tried to get the liner straight.

I heard Jacqui’s car pull up and went into the living room to get Mac’s opinion. “So tell me, how closely do I resemble a raccoon?” I asked him quite seriously, “and remember that I just spent a month in a hospital room with you while you consider your answer.”

“You look lovely, ” he said, quite sincerely I thought. Never let it be said that he isn’t smart.

— Sandi McBride is a resident of Jefferson, who blogs regularly and enjoys her garden and her furry and feathered friends. She is a wife and mother of two sons.