Close One!

We had quite the thunderstorm tonight.  Andrew slept really long today (3.5 hr nap) so we told him he could stay up a little while and play video games (Lego Star Wars) after she went to bed.  We got them in the bath and got her to bed, then the storm hit.  Hannah was trying to sleep and Andrew was preparing to play.  The kid was so excited he was starting to twitch.  All of a sudden....

POP!

I froze.  Oh dear Lord...what just happened?  The XBOX360 starts flashing the "red ring of death" and Chris is freaking out.  See, when Andrew was 6 months old we were napping one day (I was a SAHM back then) and sleeping well because it was raining.  All I know is I suddenly heard what I thought was the house splitting in two, Andrew screaming his little baby head off, and Chris bolting upstairs.  I thought lightning had hit the house and his room was on fire.  Fortunately he was just fine, but lightning did indeed hit the house.  We lost two TV's, a DVD player, two cordless phones, and a DirecTV satellite.  We called our insurance company and discovered that our deductible was ridiculous ($1,000) so even though we kept receipts when replacing everything, we ended up spending around $900, which was CRAY-ZEE, but too low to get any kind of reimbursement.  Awesome.

Wait, where was I?  Oh yeah, red ring of death on the XBOX.  So I am sitting here at the computer frozen for what seems like forever, but is probably only 2.2 seconds.  Chris is freaking out, thinking the XBOX has died. (I mean, seriously...Andrew "video game time" is a sacred part of our day.  It totally keeps the kids from killing each other.) Andrew starts screaming and bawling because he believes his daddy and mimics the panic because he honestly believes his beloved games are gone forever.  I try to calm him down while frantically unplugging everything else electronic (computer first!) and after a bit, I hear the thunder get quieter.  I assume this means the storm is passing over us.  Andrew is so worried and keeps asking if the XBOX will be okay.  I decide to plug it back in just long enough to see if it is working or not.  Miraculously, it comes on.  No red ring of death, no problems.  All the equipment upstairs is just fine, and the desktop computer as well.  Thank you Lord!

Whew, for a minute there, I thought we might have to, you know, actually sit and talk to each other.  I mean, can you imagine?  No TV?  No internet?  No TIVO?  No Netflix?*  No Lego Star Wars????  Weird.

*By the way, we have realized that the VCR/DVD combo machine is what "popped."  Its not coming on.  Our most recent Netflix movie is currently inside.  Anyone know how to get a DVD out of a dead DVD player?