Summer Nights at Grandma's

I'm at Grandma's house mostly only for sleeping these days.

But, let me tell you about summer sleeping in the basement at Grandma's.

It requires more clothing and blankets, not less.

Last night I wore my pajamas, and my polar fleece robe, and a pair of socks to bed.

I haven't taken any blankets for winter off of my bed.

My theory is this.

Basements are always cold, because heat rises.

In the winter, this is compensated for by the reality of a furnace.

So here's the problem in summer.

My room gets absolutely no natural light, really, meaning it doesn't naturally warm up.

The heat sensor for the furnace in the house, the thermostat, is upstairs. 

Upstairs, which, on hot summer days, doesn't require a furnace.

My room is cold.

The furnace generally kicks in sometime in the middle of the night, when the upstairs temperature finally drops a little.

In the meantime, sleep in summer at Grandma's requires layers.

Monday Thoughts

It's Monday morning, and I am sitting in my office, wearing two of the three extra "outer" layers that I wear for the train and bus commute to and from the office.  It's freezing in here.

It's always cold in the morning, because the thermostat for my office is in the office next door, and he turns the heat off overnight.  Monday mornings are the worst, because the heat has been off for a few days in a row.

I'd turn it on, but there is a meeting in that office, and I can't interrupt at the moment.  And anyway, one of the people in the meeting next door overheats at the drop of a hat.  He's the bane of my coworker's existence, since she shares a thermostat with him, and when she turns the heat on, instead of coming to her when he gets to warm, goes and complains to our boss.

So I'll wait for an opportune moment to slide next door and turn up the heat.  And in the meantime I'll wear several layers.  Would it look unprofessional for me to put my toque back on?  Because really, it's my head that's the coldest part of me, and we lose the most heat through our heads, so maybe if I put my toque on, I'd be warm?

I listened to the end of one sermon and the beginning of another on the bus and train this morning.  The second sermon had a portion that made me giggle aloud.  I was thankful that the giggling portion came while I was making the solitary hike across a mall parking lot, empty at that time of day, and not while I was still on the bus or train.

We're having Chinook weather again.  That means that it will be warm, but in the meantime the winds are high, and not so warm yet.

And somehow in my head, the time change over the weekend had seemed to me to mean that it would be daylight instead of dawn when I left the house to catch the bus this morning.  Boy did I miscalculate that one.  It was dark.  All the streetlights still on, having a hard time negotiating across the blackness of the basement to the stairs and door dark.  I know, I know, it'll be light later into the evening now.  But I live in a basement, where natural light doesn't penetrate, so I was kind of hoping for that earlier morning light, for the light during that long first hour of the day that I'm outside.  Because light can make even the coldest and most exhausted mornings seem somehow just a little bit cheerier.  Instead, the last few streetlights just clicked off outside my office window, nearly a full two hours after I left the house.

So, I'm going to wrap my hands around a mug of hot tea, and remember to be grateful.  For daylight that is coming, and spring that is hinting.  For God working in changes, even the ones I really don't like.  And for indoor heating, even when I can't get to the thermostat to make it useful.

Daily 5 - Day 124

Today's Daily "5":

1. Surviving a bit of a crazy and odd Monday.
   
2. A new "last minute lasagna" recipe experiment for supper (uses ravioli stuffed with cheese instead of lasagna noodles) that was really tasty.
3. Weather that warmed up a bit, making the train ride and walk home a lot less painful than the ride and walk this morning.
4. Unexpectedly getting my least favorite household "chore" (grocery shopping) of the week out of the way tonight because I realized I needed to drive my car for a little while, just to warm it up in this cold.
5. A grocery shopping trip that was really quick and smooth, and almost enjoyable.
6. Knowing that grocery shopping unexpectedly tonight means that I have an entire, unscheduled free evening tomorrow night.
   
7. Driving an old car that may have it's quirks, but starts like a charm in these ridiculous temperatures, without being plugged in at night.
8. wrapping a simple birthday gift and card for a friend, as well as a Christmas card for her and her husband in preparation for mailing tomorrow.
9. finding several more recipes that all look delicious and can be made with the same base sugar cookie dough.
10. enjoying a few games on facebook for bits and pieces of the evening.
    

Cold Monday Thoughts

I'm wearing at least two layers of clothing over my entire body. Three and four layers in some cases.

The walk this morning was brutal. You know it's cold when the idea that it will warm up to -22C today makes me cheerful. It means the walk home will be slightly less painful. Or at least that's the hope.

I'm having a Monday.

I have my hair down today, which is fine, except that I wore a toque and a face wrap to get here without dying of cold this morning. Which would both also be fine, if I'd remembered to throw a hairbrush into my purse. As it is, I'll just have to live with somewhat unruly hair today.

I also forgot to bring business appropriate shoes. Ah well, tromping around the office in my boots won't hurt anything, and at least my feet are fairly warm. It's not like I have any business meetings today that I need to be really professionally dressed for.

And with that, there are a myriad of little things waiting for my attention. More thoughts to come later.

You know it's cold when...

...Everyone's facebook status starts to discuss nothing but the cold...

Some from various friends that I saw this morning:

ok...-28 today, REALLY!!...no one should inhabit this land...let's give it back and head south...

...is cheering on global warming... (this one had the following comment by another friend, which was also quite amusing to me: "I think I may go idle my car for a while in support of your stand. Stay strong brother.")

...did not realize she had signed up for " -28 C but feels like -42 C". Where do I unsubscribe from this?

Baby it's cold outside...

I was all set to complain loudly about the cold (it's -28 C with a windchill of -33C), until I read Hope's post. She lives in regions even further north, and it sounds like it is WAY worse there.

But seriously, have you heard the term "cradle of civilization"? As I was getting ready to go out into the cold last night I was reflecting on the fact that the birthplace of the human race was in the middle east. Do they have snow or cold there? Not so much. Human beings are just not designed for this kind of weather as far as I'm concerned.

And it won't stop snowing here. Days and days without seeing the sun now. I miss the sun, even though here, in the winter, if the sun is out, it is often colder, because cloud cover holds in some warmth.

Since I'm needing to lay low today (at least until the event on my schedule for tonight) I did one quick errand this morning, and now I'm going to do a bit of baking (and fill my house with yummy smells), find something to eat for lunch, and then spend the afternoon wrapped in a blanket, reading and thinking and praying. With lots of candles lit in my bedroom to warm up the air. And a big mug of rooibos tea.

And if I'm feeling really creative, I'll make a birthday card or two, and several Christmas cards.

Or I might just take a nap.

I mostly slept last night, the last two nights actually, but even the brief trip out this morning has sapped my somewhat limited energy and right now a bit of baking, some lunch, and a nap is sounding pretty good to me.

Untitled (Because I'm Lacking Creativity This Morning)

I'm still pondering the things I was pondering yesterday, though thankfully the weightiness of yesterday seems to have receeded a bit.

The quote for the day on the calendar on my desk yesterday read, "Give me a heart as big as the universe!" (Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini) Which in the space I was in yesterday made me cringe just a little. I think my exact thoughts as I read were something along the lines of, "Shoot, I just prayed that as I read it. I don't want that. Especially not today when I'm finding just the little space around me overwhelming!" I'm vascillating today between wanting to pray for an ever expanding heart, and wanting desperately to avoid that very idea.

It's definitely autumn now. The weather is dry, and chilly.

I lack the ability to heat my body thoroughly on good days, but the last few days have been brutal. As I sit here writing I have two magic bags wrapped around me and a cup of passion tea at the ready. I caved to the changing weather (and the being tired of being an ice cube all day) and wore knee socks this morning too.

The last two hours of work yesterday were brutal, and produced a long list of extremely ridiculous demands on my time for today. Nothing like completing a project for a clueless manager who sucks up well, knowing that you'll have to redo the entire project sometime within the next two weeks because the requirements for it are being modified again. And I have two or three of those little numbers sitting on my desk today. Hooray! (Can you picture my eyes rolling?)

But, with all that on my plate I'd better get at it I guess... See ya later...

Monday Morning

So far, I've got to tell you, I'm having a Monday.

Even if today weren't the official first day of autumn, I'd have been convinced that autumn was here when I went outside this morning. What has, for the last several weeks, been simply a thick and heavy dew on my windshield, was frost this morning, requiring scraping so that I could see enouch to safely drive. I've been looking forward to fall, and I'm loving it, but I really could live without the scraping of the windshield for a few more months.

I forgot to bring my journal with me to work this morning, which isn't really a problem, other than that it throws off my usual routine of spending the fifteen or twenty minutes before the work day begins reflecting on the day before, and the night of dreams. I like routine. (It also means that I need to find time tonight to write instead.)

I wore capri pants to work, thinking that I would probably be okay for warmth. I'm still wearing my jacket, sitting cross legged so as to have as much skin covered for warmth as possible, and, when I'm not typing, I'm clutching a mug of tea. I'm absolutely freezing!

And I woke from weird dreams about water and family, and being inadequate and unable. Funny how those feelings come after a day yesterday that assured me of things in the opposite spirit.

So, it's Monday, and I'm diving into the new week. Our bookkeeper is on vacation, which, in the past, would have meant that I basically didn't get a lunch hour for that week, but, thanks to our newest hire, I have the freedom to still have a lunch hour this week, and that, in my mind is worth celebrating.

Cold

Just how cold is it you ask?

Well, the temperature of the sewers is higher than the temperature of the outside air, and steam is rising from the storm grates.

It's that cold.

High on the Dislike List

Okay, I actually probably hate this, more than just simply disliking it, but either way, it's high on my list of NOT happy things. What is it you ask? Well, let me tell you. It's waking up cold. Or waking up semi-warm, and knowing that if you move half an inch in any direction in your bed, you'll be cold. And, it's the dreaded moment when you have to pull those covers off your body, and step out onto the cold floor (I generally keep my slippers handy) and start getting ready for the day.

And why, you ask, do I so passionately dislike waking up cold?? Well, it's because if I'm cold in the morning, I generally have a very difficult time getting warm at any point that day. So, waking up cold leads to another one of my great dislikes - being cold in general.

And why am I mentioning this today?? Because I'm laying here in bed, shivering slightly, knowing that the blankets are like ice if I move half an inch in any direction, and that, in about a minute, I need to throw those blankets off, and start another work week. Ick. What a way to start a week.