Its so cold . . .

I wrote this while living in the throes of coldness.  It is inpired by the cold, hard, truth.  (For those of you who don't know - we've lived in an old house for the summer until our new house was finished being built. In our old house,we had no heat.  We removed the source of heat (propane) early in the spring to prepare for building.  So the month of October for us was a little chilly - though we are very grateful for the two weeks in the middle when it was actually a bit balmy!)  Anyhow, though I wrote this a while back, I thought I'd wait till I thawed to share;)

It's So Cold . . .

• the thermometer says it is 5 or 6 degrees celcius INSIDE!

•  you can see your breath inside at any given moment.
• the fruit flies that used to bother you, are long gone.  Too cold.
• bedtime is a much longer affair, b/c you need to heat up so many bean bags (made by my mother and warmed up in the microwave to keep you warm while you sleep) and water bottles to tuck in with all of us.
• speaking of bed - you REALLY, REALLY don't want to get out in the morning.
• the milk freezes in the fridge - not sure why, but it was interesting to see when we poured it onto our cereal and it had all kinds of frozen milk flakes on top.
• the kids ASK for porridge for breakfast. It usually makes them grumpy to see oatmeal being served (they have it three times a week), but now they wanted it every day to warm their bellies!
• we fight over who gets to wash the dishes. (warm hands!)
• that when you straighten your hair, the steam is extremely visible
• that your glasses fog up when you put them on in the morning.
• you wear a minimum of three layers -eg. leggings, jeans, splash pants (and then get VERY hot when you go to town or elsewhere)
• hats and mittens are optional inside

• clumsiness abounds. I can't believe how many things I dropped or spilled in October.
• you might have to go to the van to warm up for a bit
• you dream up very important excuses about why you should probably go to town
• when you get home from town, the thought of leaving the warmth of the van is a bit daunting
• you are very grateful for friends and family who invite you over to their warm homes
• you eat lots of soup
• the laundry on my drying rack is still wet after three days.
• you have to use the dryer (which has a dual purpose - your clothes dry and your house warms up just a bit!)
• if you sit down on the couch and get cozy under a blanket - you probably will accomplish nothing for the rest of the day.  You will not want to get out. 
• that even though you live in a very old house - you probably don't have to worry about mice. Its too cold for them too.
• you tell your kids how lucky they are that they get to go to school and be warm.
• that being a stay at home mom is all of the sudden not the most coveted position - its kind of nice to leave the house and go off to work!
• that if your groceries don't all fit in the fridge - no big deal.
• you don't have to put your kids lunches in the fridge overnight. They can go straight into the backpacks - which also means you can stay in your warm bed for an additional two minutes in the morning.
• you no longer feel the need or desire to ever try winter camping. 
• there is a wind chill factor inside the house too.
• showers/baths are very popular (and LONG).  The kids have never been cleaner.
• you start thinking of your old house (the one we've lived in for the previous 9 winters) as toasty warm! (it was also a hard house to heat - but at least it HAD heat!)
• you start imagining that you may have rheumatism or some other problem with your joints b/c the cold just seems to settle there.
• instead of praying and thanking God for a warm home, your kids pray,"Thanks for a shelter to live under."
• that we've all escaped sickness this year so far.  Too cold for germs too:)

So now we are warm and cozy.  We have a house heated with vents for the first time in ten years.  It is wonderful. We are very thankful.  But, we want to remember those cold days, so that we don't take the heat we are blessed with now, for granted.  Having said that, I don't mind if winter holds off for a few months or so yet . .  though Kylie heard on the radio that there was a possiblity of snow for today and boy was she excited!!