Saturday, February 2
Happiness is a Warm Bed
No offense to the Beatles, but it's true - Happiness is a warm bed (not gun).
We've lived in this apartment for over 4 years now. It's small but in a great location and really liveable. But it has a really weird design that makes winter a little less than fun - the "heating" is by heating coil - which are in the ceiling. Now what moron though of this idea? I think everyone I know - even small kids - know that "heat rises". So if we turn our heat on, the attic gets nice and toasty but we've wasted a lot of money for no benefit. We don't even get the advantage of having our neighbors turn *their* heat on - directly below us are the garages.
I've been known to wander around the apartment all bundled up, trying to stay warm. At night, as long as Kirk is home, it's no problem. However, when he's on travel, I've tried various methods - a space heater (that has since stopped working - from overuse probably), wearing as many clothes as I can bear and putting every blanket in the house on the bed, giving up on the comforts of the bed and sleeping on the office floor (the office is generally a good 5-10 degrees warmer thanks to all the equipment that runs in there). None of these solutions is particularly optimal.
This year, right after Christmas, Kirk went out and got us a new present! He brought home an electric blanket! It's really snazzy - not like the electric blankets I remember from my youth (there was never one in my household, but friends and family sometimes had one); it has 2 sides, and 2 separate controls, a wide range of heat settings (the highest I've gone is 6, but generally it's on somewhere between 2-4), an automatic shut-off function after 10 hours, and a preheat function.
It's been ridiculously cold this last month, but recently Kirk headed out of town for work. One of the things I dread most about these trips is trying to sleep and stay warm. Our new electric blanket has changed this - there's nothing quite like wandering around a cold house, getting ready for sleep and then crawling into a nice warm, preheated bed! What can I say other than "Yay!!"? Well there's always "Thanks babe! You're the greatest!"
We've lived in this apartment for over 4 years now. It's small but in a great location and really liveable. But it has a really weird design that makes winter a little less than fun - the "heating" is by heating coil - which are in the ceiling. Now what moron though of this idea? I think everyone I know - even small kids - know that "heat rises". So if we turn our heat on, the attic gets nice and toasty but we've wasted a lot of money for no benefit. We don't even get the advantage of having our neighbors turn *their* heat on - directly below us are the garages.
I've been known to wander around the apartment all bundled up, trying to stay warm. At night, as long as Kirk is home, it's no problem. However, when he's on travel, I've tried various methods - a space heater (that has since stopped working - from overuse probably), wearing as many clothes as I can bear and putting every blanket in the house on the bed, giving up on the comforts of the bed and sleeping on the office floor (the office is generally a good 5-10 degrees warmer thanks to all the equipment that runs in there). None of these solutions is particularly optimal.
This year, right after Christmas, Kirk went out and got us a new present! He brought home an electric blanket! It's really snazzy - not like the electric blankets I remember from my youth (there was never one in my household, but friends and family sometimes had one); it has 2 sides, and 2 separate controls, a wide range of heat settings (the highest I've gone is 6, but generally it's on somewhere between 2-4), an automatic shut-off function after 10 hours, and a preheat function.
It's been ridiculously cold this last month, but recently Kirk headed out of town for work. One of the things I dread most about these trips is trying to sleep and stay warm. Our new electric blanket has changed this - there's nothing quite like wandering around a cold house, getting ready for sleep and then crawling into a nice warm, preheated bed! What can I say other than "Yay!!"? Well there's always "Thanks babe! You're the greatest!"
Labels: Daily Life, Family
Monday, March 19
Mozul Makes Mirth!
So as we were preparing to sleep, I said (jokingly of course) to Kirk "Remind me not to break my shoulder again." He said "ok". Then, of course, he reminded me not to break my shoulder. Then he said, "Honey, remind me next time you go skiing to put 65 bicycle lights on you first."
I couldn't stop laughing and had to leave the room a bit so he could sleep!
I couldn't stop laughing and had to leave the room a bit so he could sleep!
Labels: Daily Life, Family, Humour, Sports
Sunday, December 12
A month of Sundays - Part 2
December can be a truly exciting month, with all the Christmas decorations, parties, etc., or a truly stressful one. It's all in your attitude. But when your BIRTHDAY is in December on top of everything else, well, that's just fun!
No, my birthday is not in December, but my husband's is -- 6 days before Christmas. And this year, he had a MSD change (as he likes to put it). You know! MSD...most significant digit? Like changing from 20 to 30 or 30 to 40 or 40 to 50! So, last summer, I started plotting. I wanted to surprise him with something that would help him remember this MSD.
The plans started coming together and I had to figure a way to pay for everything without him figuring things out. With joint bank accounts and a husband who (thankfully) tracks every penny, that wouldn't be easy. So, I told him I wanted to surprise him with something - I wouldn't say where or when and was letting him know that I needed to spend the money. Whew. That worked. But THEN, I found out that if I put the charge on the credit card, the exact thing I had planned would show up on the statement - that's no good! So a friend from work let me put it on his credit card and I turned around and wrote HIM a check. Yay!
Next, I wanted to throw Kirk a surprise party. First, I had to locate a host. Well, generally, the only time we aren't together is when we are at work. That makes it hard to work up an invitation and start mailing them out. There is also the challenge of getting the names and addresses of friends of his - I wanted to invite his family, church friends, work friends AND friends he grew up with. Fortunately, I bumped into Rod (one of the guys he grew up with) a
No, my birthday is not in December, but my husband's is -- 6 days before Christmas. And this year, he had a MSD change (as he likes to put it). You know! MSD...most significant digit? Like changing from 20 to 30 or 30 to 40 or 40 to 50! So, last summer, I started plotting. I wanted to surprise him with something that would help him remember this MSD.
The plans started coming together and I had to figure a way to pay for everything without him figuring things out. With joint bank accounts and a husband who (thankfully) tracks every penny, that wouldn't be easy. So, I told him I wanted to surprise him with something - I wouldn't say where or when and was letting him know that I needed to spend the money. Whew. That worked. But THEN, I found out that if I put the charge on the credit card, the exact thing I had planned would show up on the statement - that's no good! So a friend from work let me put it on his credit card and I turned around and wrote HIM a check. Yay!
Next, I wanted to throw Kirk a surprise party. First, I had to locate a host. Well, generally, the only time we aren't together is when we are at work. That makes it hard to work up an invitation and start mailing them out. There is also the challenge of getting the names and addresses of friends of his - I wanted to invite his family, church friends, work friends AND friends he grew up with. Fortunately, I bumped into Rod (one of the guys he grew up with) a
Labels: Daily Life, Events, Family, Food, Holidays, Offroading, Travel
Monday, August 9
A little relaxation
There's nothing like a summer barbeque to help you relax. Tonight, we tossed some ribs on the barbeque and sat down to a couple of movies with our yummy beef, and a great fresh salad. This week is going to just get busier and busier as we get closer to the weekend, so it was nice to have some down time. A silly little comedy (13 Going on 30) was a nice mindless (but cute) movie to start with. Then, we saw Africa: the Serengeti (an IMAX) movie. Both were enjoyable and just what we needed.
We have a busy weekend coming up with a luau on Friday, a wedding on Saturday, a barbeque and family gathering on Sunday and then, Camp Jeep next week. Oh - we finally got our jeep lifted! It was a mere 2.5 inch lift, but it is amazing how much taller it looks (especially with the same tires on it).
We have a busy weekend coming up with a luau on Friday, a wedding on Saturday, a barbeque and family gathering on Sunday and then, Camp Jeep next week. Oh - we finally got our jeep lifted! It was a mere 2.5 inch lift, but it is amazing how much taller it looks (especially with the same tires on it).
Labels: Daily Life, Movies, Offroading
Sunday, June 6
Summer Sunday Afternoon
Despite the fact that June gloom has arrived just on time, it is not truly summer until you've grilled out. Today, Kirk built a cool little platform so we could grill out without hunching down on the ground or having to go downstairs so we weren't under the eaves. As a result, we declared it "officially summer" in with some grilled burgers (I didn't have enough notice to do anything more complicated than that). (Next, we're going to have to go to church on the beach to make it indisputably summer.)
We watched a bit of the Lakers game (they lost) and then turned on one of our Netflix DVDs. Let me just say, we LOVE Netflix! What a deal! Tonight, we watched "The Company", an interesting film, almost in documentary style, of a ballet company. The cinematography was wonderful! Last night, we saw a really great,hilarious French film with Jean Reno, "Wasabi".
We watched a bit of the Lakers game (they lost) and then turned on one of our Netflix DVDs. Let me just say, we LOVE Netflix! What a deal! Tonight, we watched "The Company", an interesting film, almost in documentary style, of a ballet company. The cinematography was wonderful! Last night, we saw a really great,hilarious French film with Jean Reno, "Wasabi".
Labels: Daily Life, Movies
