Cold Night Ahead

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Cold Night Ahead

Almost sunset, very very cold.

Local news said a few days back that we hadn’t seen this kind of cold air since February of 2004. My condo has leaky aluminum windows (already spoke to the property manager) and despite having plugin heaters in each bedroom, the girls complained this morning about the cold. They had both kicked off their comforters somewhere in the middle of the night and I have the heaters set to turn off at 6/6:30am. The windows are so leaky that the thermostat in the living room is set higher than I’d normally go, but if I don’t, the bedrooms are in the upper 50s. One more reason I’m starting to look at home ownership again. And the girls need a yard. And I miss my dogs.

It was 9°F this morning on the drop-off drive. I told Leta that when I was in middle school, I walked to school in 0° weather. Successfully avoiding the grumpy old man tone, I didn’t mention the distance, if it was uphill or whether or not I was wearing shoes. I just shared how cold it was and how I wanted to run to school, but that would only make it colder.

I realized as I was sharing this story with the girls how far coat technology has come. Granted, I’ve spent more on a single coat for the girls than my parents did over several years (not faulting them, just remarking about the changes in winter gear). The best coat I had as a kid was a down vest my mom made for one of my older siblings. Loved that thing. Marlo gets Leta’s old coats, but those coats were not as cheap or as cheaply made as the coats I grew up with and they are pink. I’m happy to have warm kids, is what I’m getting at, regardless of the cost. I always smile when they tell me they are too hot when it’s 25°F out.

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Affirmation: Check some big items off the list today.