The heat is on!

Over the past few days, the weather has dipped below freezing...and by dipped, I mean it's well below! This is no Edmonton at -30 where your nose hairs freeze (crazy people!) but a solid -14 warming up to a balmy -11 still requires several layers of clothing dug up from the abyss of a 'winter tote'. It was a beautiful morning and a perfect day for Gladys to get her heat fixed! Have you ever had to drive is sub-zero temperatures INSIDE YOUR VEHICLE??! There's nothing like a touque, gloves, scarf, winter coat AND a quilt wrapped around you just to keep your own blood focussed on warming your vital organs while you drive anywhere. Oh, and it's best to not breathe too hard (or sing too loud) so your vision of the road isn't hampered by seeing your own breath...not because the wiper blades are frozen and can only seem to clear the windshield in those 'why do wipers even wipe there' places. Anywho...Gladys got her thermostat replaced today! Yay! It's all exciting to have heat, let me tell you! It's just too bad that my drive to and from work is only about 7 minutes and it takes about 10 minutes for the ol' girl to pump out some heat! I'm sure proud of her every time she starts up, though!

Now, to change gears and talk about something the same but different...

Living in the basement. Basements have a unique temperature all to their own. In the summer, it is the ideal place to sleep because it can stay quite cool. In the winter, it is not the ideal place to sleep because it can stay quite cool. I think it's about the 8th stair down that you can literally feel the cold creep through your socks. For the past several weeks, I've had to 'pre-heat' my room with a floor heater. If I failed to do this, well, it's achingly cold. Even if I do pre-heat the room, I have about four blankets on my bed and crawl in with a sweater and socks on (and sometimes if I'm lucky, I'll have one of those microwave beanbag thingys). Tonight was just the same. Half way through the Biggest Loser (that show makes me cry...like c-r-y!), I had to pause it and run downstairs to brave the elements to allow at least 2 hours of pre-heat to take place. Phewph. Little did I know that Mom had a little surprise for me! I was the last one off to bed (as usual) and doddled downstairs with my already cold feet so I knew it was going to be a rough start to sleeping. As I'm picking up a few things off my bed, I'm befuddled that they felt warm. I'm thinking, 'this is odd that that measly floor heater has reacted with these clothes to make this one area on my bed really warm'. And then I flip open the covers after recognizing that my top blanket is not there and my quilt is upside down to discover AN ELECTRIC BLANKET!!!!!!!!! I squeeeeealed! Mom had planted the blanket in the afternoon and turned it on this evening so it was (and is while I type this) toasty warm! Mom was wondering what was taking me so long to get in bed but after I squealed I heard the footsteps and a knock on the door. She dove into bed and we had a good laugh and enjoyed the toastyness together!

Oh, what a day! Happiness is in the moments!

(and I want to mention and thank everyone who have shown interest in Lambie Love. I'm still figuring out the cost but am totally willing to take orders if you seriously want one. Small, medium or large...email me! rachel.a.peters@gmail.com)