January 31st and February 1st, 2010: Icicle

Hey gang! Sorry for no post yesterday but if we weren’t running around buying space heaters then we were under the blankets trying to stay warm.

Saturday’s dinner ended up being chili from the freezer.

The last of the pumpkin squash chili! Sadface. Multigrain bread and butta on the side.

Sunday, January 31st:

I got up early in the morning and headed out for my long run.  I was dying to run because I hadn’t been out since Wednesday, this makes me cranky.  The difference with yesterday is that Scott was up with me!  He’s never up that early on a Sunday so it was a bit unusual around here in the morning.  Rocky was confused and thought Scott was cramping his style. “This is me and mama time DAD!”  :p  It was cold yesterday but I was going to get my shiz done!  Because there was no wind I was able to bust out 8 miles in 11degrees, not too shabby.

It had been weeks since I’ve run eight miles and I’m happy to say it was not a struggle.  Hooray!  I was able to crank that out no problem.  I also discovered something about my hands and their coldness.  Because it’s cold out, when I first start a run my bod’s main concern is keeping my core warm (which is standard operating procedure anyway) so my hands get major cold.  During my first mile yesterday my hands were so cold they stung and just plain hurt.  Once my body was warm though and it realized we were doing fine, then the blood flow back to my hands started again and they were fine for the next 7 miles.  So I just have to keep in mind to make it through that first mile and I should be peachy.

After a ridiculous shower experience (nice warm shower, frozen over bathroom = not fun) I made a bowl of oats for myself.  We were expecting LG and her man yesterday morning so her man could check out the furnace.  Since I didn’t know how long they would be staying, I wanted something that would last me a while.

Unfortunately he couldn’t fix the furnace so Scott and I headed out to get more space heaters.  I was only going to send Scott but then realized that our car and the store were warmer than my house, so I went too!  We got some wine and more Rogue beer along with the space heaters.  Necessities, you know how it is.

By the time we got home and I made “Sunday Breakfast” it actually turned into Sunday Dinner.  Breakfast for Dinner! Lauren would be so proud. :D

I made a big honkin’ feast too.

Scrambled eggs with green peppers and onions, roasted potatoes, Ezek muffin, and chicken breakfast sausage!  After eating, we got snug on the couch with lots of blankets and Rocky.  We watched a hockey game and several hours later I had a snack plate.  As much as I loved “dinner”, running 8 miles means that isn’t going to cut it and my bod needs some more food.

On this plate of randomness is:

  • Carrots
  • Cucumber
  • Pear
  • Crackers
  • Cheese (cheddar and Parano)

So good!  It was exactly what I needed, something light and delish.  After the game we watched an old movie, I forget the name but it was a Bogey movie where he is an ex-criminal and got plastic surgery that healed in a week.  Amazing what black market doctors can do!

During the movie was snackage:

Red wine and some almost-vegan chocolate chip cookies.  Mmm mmm!  Around 11:30 I crashed out and headed up to bed where the heated mattress pad was set on high and the space heater was singing a lullaby.

Monday, February 1st:

The temp this morning in the house when I got up was 54 degrees which is only one degree lower than yesterday’s morning temp.  Tolerable but cold enough to make the dish soap start to solidify and change colors.  It also causes my geriatric microwave to protest about it’s aching joints and sciatic nerve.  I’m pretty sure it’s lying about the nerve part but I don’t have proof.

My new routine has me lifting and doing shred on Mondays but seeing as how working out means I would then have to shower, that is put on hold for now.  Showering is not fun.  It is ill advised to bring space heaters into the bathroom with you.  Did you know this?  I bet you did.  And since bathrooms are all cold ass tile, that means getting into and out of the shower is unpleasant.  Unpleasant indeed.

I walked through the downstairs flipping on the space heaters, put on a toboggan, and my gloves and started my day.  When Scott got up he put on the fireplace and then he called to have someone come out to look at the furnace.

I sat at my desk with multiple cups of coffee, the space heater, and an electric blanket.  Only breaking free to switch out the loads of laundry.

Interestingly enough Scott and I are pros at the no-heat thing.  But having experience doesn’t mean the situation sucks any less, mind you.

When we lived in North Carolina a few years back, we bought a house.  And our first winter in that house we got hit with a huge ice storm (I will refrain from ranting on now NC refuses to believe they actually experience “winter”).  In fact most of the entire state got hit with this ice storm and leaving it paralyzed because no one had any power.  Power trucks were brought in from several neighboring states to help out and get power back to people.  No power means no heat.  All we had was a wood-burning fireplace with no wood.  We did have some duralogs and those were the only things that kept us warm along with several blankets, jackets, gloves and so forth.

Our water was part of a community well, with no power there was no way for us to draw water from it.  That meant we had no water.  Couldn’t flush the toilets, couldn’t get water to drink.  It was cold and us and our two animals spent most of our time either reading or sleeping.  The only upside was that since it was cold, we didn’t lose any food because everything stayed cold.  We were without power and heat for five days. Yes, five days.  We cooked on the grill outside and also heated things up over the duralog.

Scott said that someday we would laugh about that situation and I’m still waiting for that day to arrive.

Then a few years ago for Scott’s 30th b-day, I surprised him with a trip to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.  Ohio just happened to get hit with a really bad storm the day we left for the cabin.  The cabin was nice but poorly constructed with a very poor heater.  It was dang cold! With frost forming on the window sills inside the cabin you know it was cold.  We sucked it up and had a nice time but it was flipping cold.  Thank goodness we had the forethought to bring extra blankets and electric blankets!

So yeah, we can handle the no heat thing but that doesn’t mean we want to.

It also makes me wonder why people do this willingly to themselves.  You know those people who refuse no matter how cold it gets to turn the thermostat up?  I don’t understand being cold by choice in your own housewhen you can afford heat.

Despite being cold, I still made us smoothies for lunch:

  • 1C Carrot juice
  • 1C Unsweetened Cranberry juice
  • 1C Soymilk
  • Spinach
  • Banana
  • Frozen blueberries

Crazy good!

I also had some Amy’s veggie lentil soup on the side to help keep me warm and toasty.  I didn’t eat all of that though because I was too busy inhaling my smoothie and salad.

The update is that we now currently have heat!  Apparently the circuit board to the furnace blew and we needed a new one.  We got that replaced and signed up for a service agreement for the next year.  We are looking at a possible furnace replacement in the near future since our current one is pushing 20years old.  Original to the house.  I love living in a home but do hate how expensive things can be when you need to replace stuff.  Oh well, goes with the territory!

Now I’m off to celebrate having heat with my loves!  We are staying home tonight to keep any eye on things and make sure it continues to work.  Wouldn’t want to come back home to cold house again!  I’m making a lovely dinner and drinking some wine.  Hooray!  I’ll show you dinner tomorrow gang!

P.S. And also showering because it’s not such a risky behavior anymore.

7 thoughts on “January 31st and February 1st, 2010: Icicle

  1. I H A T E being cold. When the heat stops working for some reason, I get very dysregulated! Over the weekend I stayed with friends who heated their whole (albeit small) house with a woodburning stove. Not only did it smell nice, and NOT make the air incredibly dry, you can imagine how low their heating bills are.
    BODA weight loss

  2. Five days with no power and water?! Ugh! That is awful. I am happy I have not been stuck in an ice storm. We have had to keep our heat down, but that is because we only have one income coming in!

  3. Okay, first up….

    WHOOT WHOOT for BFD!!!!! You make this girl proud! :)

    Second,

    Can I just tell you how incredibly heroic I think you are. Okay, living without heat in the dead of winter is one thing, but living without heat, taking cold showers, and then downing icy smoothies….now that is extreme! You need your own reality show!

    I remember when we lost heat for 2 days a few years ago. It was during the worst ice storm PA has ever seen, and I really thought I was going to die. I started convulsing because I just couldn’t take the cold anymore. I HATE BEING COLD more than anything else on this earth, so reading this sad story of yours just made me want to snuggle under my snuggie and never think about it again.

    You poor thing, I am so sorry you had to go through this. But THANK JESUS the heat is back!!! :)

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