A NEW, CREEPIER LOOK

I make it all the way through the thick of the storm without losing power for longer than thirty seconds.  The winds are screeching, the rain is pounding, trees are crashing down, and I am smugly enjoying no interruption to my life whatsoever (again, except for thirty seconds).

Of course, it's Halloween, so things are never exactly how they appear.

Silly me invites my daughter to come over after her shift at the hospital (which is running on generator power).  I set her up in the living room on a futon, and she is happy there from about 11:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.  Yes, two hours into her stay, my electricity goes out, and she heads home.  I don't blame her.  If it's going to be dark here and dark at home, might as well sleep in her own bed.

The lights are still out when my cell phone alarm goes off at 5:05.  I fire up some candles and search for more batteries for the other flashlights that are running low on energy.  No such luck.  I wash my hair with the reserve of hot water, then pull it all back with a headband since I cannot dry my bangs.  This would be innocuous except that I have a severe widow's peak hairline that rivals Count Dracula's.  My forehead is completed exposed under the sharp point of my pulled-back bangs.

I take some candles into the bathroom with me and set up the flashlight of my cell phone to shine onto my face so I can put on eyeliner.  Thank goodness it's Halloween because I am totally mauling this simple task.  I figure if I can't beat the eyeliner disaster, I might as well join in and put smoky gray shadow on my eyelids then top it all off with thick, black mascara.

Finally, around 6:20 a.m., I snap a few photos of my candlelight morning. I mean, this whole fiasco will probably make a great -- Oh, hang on!  The lights just snapped back on, but it's ruining the ambiance of my struggle, so I shut off the light and take one last photo -- blog.  Yup, probably a decent blog.  Except that I'm not struggling any longer.

Whatever.  It's Halloween.  My slicked-back bangs and smeared black eyeliner and bruised-looking eyelids and I are late for work.  I'll dry my unruly bangs tomorrow morning.  Today, I'll channel my inner Dracula and sport a new, creepier look.