Holy Cold Batman!

It is so cold outside today and the threat is that it will be worse tomorrow. I don't think our furnace shut off at all last night. Brrr...

As you know we are currently renting what used to be my grandparents house. Up until we moved in there was a constant flux of renters in and out of the house. My grandmother passed away in 1996 and my mother started to rent the house in 1997 and ever since it has seen quite an array of people. We by far are the best tenants because of course the proximity of grandchildren to grandparents but also because of the stuff we actually do to the house. Oh well and for the occasional add on to grocery lists or splitting of super size items that is too much for one family.

Last night I decided (at 6PM I might add) while Gary was at the Celtics game, that I should shrink wrap Aimee's window. There was quite a draft coming in there and since these windows have been in place since 1978 when the place was built they are not the most energy efficient ones out there. But until all parties involved (my parents, brother, us..) know what we are doing for future home occupancy, major updates like siding and windows are on hold. So last year I wrapped Aimee's window and it worked well. This year I held off because I hate to keep the shades in one position and when you wrap the windows this is what happens. But last night I could just FEEL the cold coming in when I was helping her get dressed for bed so I broke out the kit I bought and started taping and cutting. The kit they have this year is ingenious. It is already pre-taped at the top and you just unroll, cut and stick. Works like a charm! So I swabbed with alcohol, taped up the sides of the windows with the double sided stuff and put the wrap along the top edge of the window and pressed it all into place. For those of you who haven't done this before, the next step involves a hair dryer and shrinking this stuff into place.

Luckily I have my two assistants with their own hair dryers to help me out. So with the battery operated and the use your imagination sound dryers we secured that shrink wrap into place no sweat. Who would have thought it was a 3 - woman job? And since the new pink insulated curtains I bought for Aimee's room are currently on order I had to rig up this obscene window covering concoction for the evening so that the weird neighbors next door (not the grandparents, the other side) could not see in. With a few hair clips (think Jennifer Aniston up do), heavy fleece of the couch sitting variety blanket and the curtain rod I put up a lovely temporary curtain for the event. Aimee loved it and even told me when she got into bed that she was nice and toasty. Not sure she even realizes what that means but she sounded so cute saying it.

I finally got the two cherubs to bed and asleep, finish cleaning the kitchen and living room when I could hear a wretched cough coming out of Nicole. My niece was over for Nicole's birthday party this past Sunday and had a wicked cough that we have come to learn turned into pneumonia. So I am keeping my appendages crossed that Nicole only gets a cold and it doesn't turn into pneumonia for her. She was just coincidentally at the DR yesterday for her 2 year annual check up which she passed with flying colors and there was not notice of any fluid in lungs and two ears free of any fluid. As an aside, she has gained just under 3 pounds since her last visit which actually puts her in the 5th percentile for weight, up from the 3rd percentile that she has been in. She is still in the 20th percentile for height which means she is short and thin. But the DR is not too worried so neither am I.

Suffice to say she woke herself up last night from coughing. So I went into her room to try and soothe her but she races up, grabs her blanket and baby and reaches for me saying "your bed." So she slept with us last night and I use the term loosely. You see when either of our children wind up in bed with us at night, they seem to prefer my side of the bed, the part I am actually lying on and pretty much snuggle into me such that each time I move even a little bit to the edge, they continually move that much closer. Cute yes, warm definitely yes, good sleeping position...not so much. Add into it a husband who had a few beers at the Celtics game to make him snore like a Grizzly bear and you have my evening. Today was a joy to get out of bed and my eyes have that slightly stingy feeling that only goes away with closing them. Nicole wasn't all happy to get out of bed either and mumbled continually about not wanting to go to "school" today.

So I think I have had enough of the winter, cold and flu season and sub arctic temperatures. I don't mind snow, so long as it stays above 32 degrees to keep things bearable. But getting a polar headache just walking from the house to the car is too much.