a word from our igloo.

After a rainy weekend in the 60's, it has plummeted to an ice cold 25*F. If I had a Snuggie, I would defy all fashion sense and wear it everywhere. Instead, I am reduced to wearing multiple layers of clothing, which makes me look a little like the Michelin man. People keep looking at me like I'm crazy. And then they say things like, "But you're from the north! You should be used to it!" Well, clearly, I am not. Also, I come from a family whose medical background includes Reynaud's, which makes the cold weather all the more fun for people like us.

However, I, like most people, am on a strict budget. So while I'd like to turn the heat up to 90*F in my house and walk around in a bathing suit, I cannot do that. Last month, I kept the temp at a modest 67 during the day, and 70 at night. But after getting the bill, I turned it down to 65 during the day and 67 at night -- and I also slept in two layers of clothes while lying under a comforter, two blankets, and an electric blanket. One would think an electric bill would decrease after that, right? Well. It went up.

Someone suggested that I turn it down even more and see if that works. But I've got limits, people. I could always throw on an extra layer of clothing to the two laters I already sleep in, but I worry about Claire. You know that commercial for the ASPCA where the camera captures a lone dog sitting in the middle of the road in the pouring rain, shivering? Kills me every single time. Well that dog has Claire's face when I consider turning the heat down any lower. (Though she isn't a stray, and she wouldn't be sitting in the middle of the road, and it doesn't rain inside my house. So it's really not the same thing at all...)

You may be thinking, "She is just a dog! Dogs have fur! They can handle cold temps!" I hear you. But I also know that if my car is not warmed up in the morning before getting in it, Claire sits in the front seat and shivers violently until the heat comes on full blast. She also went from sleeping at the end of the bed to burrowing under the covers and tucking her nose under the pillow.

So, until it gets a little warmer in Nashville, I'll just have to reconfigure my budget or something in order to keep my heat at a balmy 65*F. Either that, or I'll have to order matching Snuggies for me and Claire.