stormy weather

Currently the temperature has dropped into the sixties and we're getting some steady rain, but the brunt of the storm is still several hours away from Arlington. The trees outside the condo are relatively still at this point, with only occasional mild gusting disturbing them.

Jeff stayed over last night, and today we're both still here at my place; the federal government, my employer, made the decision to close last night, and Jeff's employer made the same decision sometime between midnight and 7 am. At the moment, the rain isn't even heavy enough to disrupt my satellite television service, and as long as the power holds out we've got TiVo, popcorn, Hint-of-Lime Tostitos, Diet Vanilla Pepsi and dozens and dozens of DVDs for entertainment. I must confess to some excitement about the approaching storm; I'm also looking forward to hunkering under the covers and making love as the rain lashes the windows and the winds howl around us when the worst of the storm hits here this evening.

At least we don't have to worry about the possibility of some little Thom or Jeff arriving nine months from now.

Fortunately, Mom got into an apartment just next to the hospital this morning, so she was settling into it before the storm reached Richmond. She'll be there during the rest of Dad's hospitalization and recuperation, which takes a load off my mind. She's much more comfortable and self-confident once she's in one of those apartments, where she can save money by cooking for herself and where she has easy pedestrian access to the hospital rather than having to drive back and forth from the hotel in a much larger and relatively unfamiliar setting (though not so unfamiliar as once, given that she's spent several months living in Richmond over the past two years, while Dad has been hospitalized there off and on).

[Update] I only just posted this, and within a couple of minutes we had a very brief power outage and accompanying sound of thunder outside. It was so quick that only some equipment was affected: the TV shut off briefly, for example, but the TiVo and DVD player continued to stay lit. The UPS for the computer beeped indicating it had lost power, but the two digital clocks in the house are still showing the correct time, without having reset to the flashing 12:00.