Working on Christmas due to Snow and Outages

So this Christmas was different than any I have ever had. This was the first Christmas that I was ever stuck at work and away from my family. It just didn't feel the same. It sort of felt like just another day.

Andrea and I worked a lot of hours this week due to the Level III Outage (over 50,000 customer without power) that we had. I worked 6:30-6:30 on Sunday, 7am-7pm on Monday, 5am-5pm on Tuesday, 7am-7pm on Wednesday, 5am-5pm on Thursday (I mean Christmas). Being at work and fielding escalated calls from customers who were mad, angry, and frustrated that they didn't have power tends to wear down a person after 60 hours in 5 days. I found myself rolling my eyes, getting defensive, as well as getting utterly annoyed.

However, working on Christmas Day while my wife was at home, was something different - it stunk. Not being able to spend time with my beautiful wife, in our beautiful home, with our great Christmas decorations and our dog Payton, added to my deteriorating mood. Add complaining customers to that and it's a volatile mix of emotion. It was a freakin' pity party for poor ole' Ben.....

...for the first couple of hours.


Then I began thinking. God is awesome and he looks out for His kids. So awesome that He sent His only son to Earth, FOR US! Talking to these people on the phone, I realize that they are talking about their power being out and Christmas being ruined, and no Christmas dinner. Of course, it is inconvenient and a drag - but it could be worse. I started thinking how fortunate I am that I have a beautiful wife to miss, and great house that I wish I was at, and that I HAVE Christmas decorations to miss and a dog that is thrilled to see me whenenver it is that I make it home. I am so thankful for my life and the things that God has provided for me and my family. I am thankful that God sent his son to us to forgive us of our sins by taking them from us and dying for the wrong things that we have done and continue to do. Putting things into that perspective, allowed me to create a more positive attitude while at work, and do my best to empathize with those customers that continue to call in. Don't get me wrong, there were some calls from folks that were very thankful that our crew were out there and that our people at the center were there to talk to them.

I hope that folks were not inconvenienced too much for the last few days while they were stuck in the snow, or stranded at home, or without power. No matter what mindset you're in, it's still kind of a pain. I think it's a great opportunity to reflect on the blessings that we've been given. Things will get back to normal before we know it. I am just so incredibly thankful that the Whitaker's have a "normal" to get back to.

Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope you had a great Holiday Season!

The First Snow at The Whitaker Pines

Well, as everyone is probably aware. It's snowing outside! This is bitter-sweet. The weather is great to look at, and it makes everything look so fresh and clean. However, it is usually coupled with outages - meaning that I'm sitting here just waiting for my phone to ring to head into work. We'll see.

After church, we decided to take some quick pics of the house, and of Payton - with the new covering of snow.

Ben's Blurb - Gospel Christmas

Andrea and I took my parents out to the Gospel Christmas. (If Andrea were posting this, I'm sure she would be able to put a cool link to The Gospel Christmas website or something, but since it's me - you'll unfortunately have to look it up on your own.) It was a good time. We went to The Melting Pot for dinner and then walked to The Arlene Schnitzer.

This is the second year that we've gone to the Gospel Christmas and it is such a great time. It is definitely refreshing to see all types of folks coming to experience such a great Christian program. I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Ben's Blurb - "Can they see us from space yet?"

Christmas season is finally here! This by far is my favorite season. I love the music, the weather, the hustle and bustle, the giving nature of people, and of course being able to celebrate Christ's birth. What a great time of year.

I also love the lights! I've never really been in a neighborhood where the neighbors also like to decorate their houses as well. Now that we are, the competitive side of me is starting to take over. Of course I am more than cordial as I'm telling the neighbors, "Your house looks great". I am, however, secretly hoping they blow a breaker and their house goes dark. Yikes, that's not very nice. It is cool to see everyone celebrate though.

This year, I had the lights up on the house about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. My strategy has always been to wait for the first halfway decent weekend of weather in November and get the lights up. I don't turn them on until after Thanksgiving though. I'm not THAT crazy. It's fun to strategize the light placement, and which breakers I think are on the verge of being overloaded. So far we haven't had any major incidents. (fingers crossed).

Here are some pics of the house. I think next year - I'll be able to fit some more on the house. I mean, look at all of those empty spaces. And there is all kinds of room on the lawn for cryin' out loud!