Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thawing Out


My cyberspace absence is due much in part to the artic temperatures we’ve endured the past couple of days. It has been so cold here that I’ve been daydreaming about the life of a bear…umm a nice fur coat and able to hibernate through the winter. I actually should change my blog backdrop to a wintry one as fall seemed to come and go with record speed. They say it is only a cold snap but I am telling you it’s about done me in. I am a wimp in cold weather in fact I decided hell for me would be cold.

With no central heat….why you ask? For the life of me I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT and it tends to drive me a bit crazy so stop asking (hee)! We walk around the house in multiple layers and winter garb, to include but not limited to a winter coat, gloves, and a scarf.

These were recent must haves to keep things semi-bearable.....

We have multiple heaters but can only use a few simultaneously or we trip the circuit and it ends up not only cold but dark. So we flip coins to see who gets to have the heater on in their room at night. Okay so I am kidding actually we substitute with the layers mentioned above, warm bedding and hot water bottles. My kid’s love the water bottles as do I. Tori just got a little one with a cute elephant covering as seen in the photo. Fun to cuddle with and they do keep the bed toasty at night.

So while you are drinking ice tea in your shorts and slathering on the SPF say a prayer for the frozen Franzens! I’ll try to keep blogging but it becomes a bit difficult to do with gloves on.

14 comments:

Heidi Jo Comes said...

oh my lord that is so hard to imagine...no fireplace either i'm assuming? :-) sorry michelle. but hey, it's the life of a missionary right? and it gives you great material for your Everyday Woman writing:-)

Anonymous said...

I remember winter in SA. The worst to me was how cold the toilet seet got and getting out of the shower- YIKES! But there was nothing like a morning cup of Five Roses Lemon to help warm me up!

Unknown said...

Brrrr... I do not envy you. It's spring here and snowed a little last night, but at least it's sunny again in the morning!

Susan said...

Oh I have to be cold. The hot water bottle in the beds sounds like a good idea. The girls look adorable all bundled up though :o)

Anonymous said...

Goodness! I take so much for granted! So would it be completely ridiculous (not to mention noisy) to get a generator to run some extra heaters during the night?

Gayla said...

Oh, for the love of pete, my heart goes out to you! Hell would be cold for me too, Michelle, so I truly can feel your pain. Mick is heading to SA next friday, and I am taking the boys to Australia a few weeks from now, so we all get to have an extra winter in the southern hemisphere this year. Yipee. (note heavy sarcasm on that last word.)

Shanygne said...

I, for one (and maybe the only one?) would rather be cold, but not having the option to warm it up a bit doesn't sound like fun... those hot water bottle covers are sooo cool! I have never seen those.

What does Skyler want for her birthday?? It just hit me that I still haven't shown Emily that email from her, since she wasn't here when I got it. I will have to have her reply when she gets home today (she is out with Dad, at the ATF end-of-the-season party. As before, we will send it with the South Africa team.. I think Gus Kruse is leading it...

Love you guys! Stay warm!

Just Mom said...

Brrrrrrr....

That brings back memories of sub-zero temperatures here just a few months back. I sympathize, Michelle.

Jane said...

Sister, I pray that God never calls me to SA... or Alaska for that matter! I have arthritis and really don't do well in the cold. I even try to avoid my parent's home in ne Ohio during the winter months... SC can be cold for me. The hotter the better for this gal!

I am praying for you... is there anything we can send to you to help?
Thank you for reminding us that are stateside how fortunate we are. Yes, there are people in our own back yards without heat and electricity, but we typically don't talk to them on a daily basis.

michelle said...

Rachel your comment made me laugh outloud but hey better deaf and warm eh? :-)

Yes, I've been quite convicted about my complaining as there are millions scattered throughout this country living in shacks made with tin and cardboard. Think how cold their nights must be!

Karenkool said...

Flippin coins for the heaters??hahah. Hilarious! Well, the tables are turned now aren't they, Michelle? You were posting pictures of your kids in bathing suits at the pool while we were suffering with snow snow and more snow--well not us on Long Island--but in OK and SD and all the other places that blogger friends live. (Although I enjoyed thinking about summer as you wrote about it).

In our house we flip coins for fans during the summer. I should say "they" flip coins, because Terry and I automatically get the AC window unit in our bedroom. I'm so out of the mindset of leaving without the comforts... God help me! ;-)

~ Amy ~ said...

So, I'm just wondering...how cold is it? What's the temp?

Lori said...

BURRR!

Cute photo!

michelle said...

Amy we have had freezing and below freezing temps most evernight this week....there has actually been many fatalities due to the cold weather this week. Quite a few days never rose out of the 40's. We are starting to warm up though and normal temps for this time are 40's at night and 60's during the day.