Can’t Touch This (Oh Yes You Can!)

Friends, I bear good news.

I FIXED THE DOORBELL!!!!!!!!!!!

It is indeed a Glorious Triumph!  Oh the sweet sound of victory (and Jehovah’s witnesses) shall now ring forth throughout the homestead!

(FYI, victory sounds alot like a doorbell.)

Sure, I could have just bought the wireless doorbell, but that doesn’t teach us anything now does it?  Well maybe it teaches you just how stubborn I am.  But that’s not the point.

The point is that I WON!  THE DOORBELL LOST!

Sucker.

Motherly Love

This weekend, Somanna and I tackled our bare dining room walls. They now have color. A color I chose after much deliberation.

Alas, now that the second coat is up and dry, I’m not quite 100% happy with it. I chose Bradstreet Beige by Benjamin Moore, a lovely color. However, this color possesses an ever so slight pinkish undertone that threatens my very sanity.  Is it a bad color? Well, no. Does it look horrible? Not really. It looks quite nice actually. It’s just not…quite what I wanted. It’s that blasted pinkish undertone I tell you!  I find myself staring at the wall until I start to twitch and mutter things under my breath.

Pinkish Undertone! It’ll drive you MAD!

Somanna contends that I am crazy, that there is no alleged “pinkish undertone” and that the color looks fabulous.

But I went ahead and called my mother anyway for back up to lament about the pinkish undertone that threatens my sanity. She in turn, proceeded to recount how I won an art award in sixth grade for “good use of color” and that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt (or an in-the-flesh-husband) that if I say there is a pinkish undertone, then there must be one. Mama also instructed me to never doubt my color judgment skills because clearly this award indicated that I am in fact, a color prodigy.

I hung up feeling vindicated, err better.  Even us crazies love some good ole Mama praise. I mentioned this conversation to Somanna, in passing of course, you know just to rub it in that there is a pinkish undertone and that I am a color GENIOUS, HA!

He just looked at me said, “Yea, well she can’t see what you’re wearing.”

Cheeky.

World Cup Fevah!

Sooo we’ve been watching a lot of soccer football this week. Just like 6 billion other people.

Because we’re original like that.

In fact, we just watched the Ghana v. Australia game on our local Hispanic channel Univision.  It’s muy bueno because as you know I am rather fond of The Spanish, and I’m actually fluent in Spanglish. Which means I understand phrases like “arriba!,” “claro!,” “bueno,” and “Gooooaallllllll!!!”  I often repeat the announcer’s words every chance I can, which means my accent tends to have an overly excited machismo slant.  And that’s just the kind of accent that Somanna has always wanted to hear whisper sweet nothings into his ear. His swatting me away love taps with his hand only confirms it.

It’s Hot as Bizalls

Well friends and loved ones, it is officially my favorite season: SUMMER!! Woo to the Hoo indeed!! Blazing sunshine, rising temps, big bugs and even bigger hair have set upon us. And this Southern gal couldn’t be happier.

Or sweaty-er.

Admittedly, the humidity ’round these parts is a major buzz kill. But ya know, if you just adopt a “It’s just like the spa!” attitude in regards to the outdoor sauna that is Eastern North Carolina, then suddenly it’s like nature’s own free facial every day!

Or not. But I’m a glass half full kind of gal.

Anyhoo, as you may recall, Old Man Winter and I do not get along. But Summer? We go waaayyy back and every time she comes back to town, I am so utterly, deliriously happy to see her again. Sing it with me now, reunited and it feels so goo-oodd!

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby Right Round

I know. I know! It has been far too long since we got our blog on. It’s a travesty really. It isn’t that we don’t have perfectly blogable things to well, blog, about. It’s just that we’ve been kind of busy.

And out of town a lot. That definitely has something to do with it.

But here we are (again) trying to climb back in the proverbial saddle and keep on riding, err blogging.

So without further ado, I give you a tale of victory. A tale of triumph!

Hace Frio

I have tried to lead into this post a thousand different ways and I just can’t seem to find a purty way of doing it, so I’m just gonna give it you straight.

We keep the house cold. On purpose. And it has been cold outside lately. This means we’ve been cold pretty much most of the time except when
a.) we’re in the car with the heat on full blast

or

b.) underneath our pile of blankets, snuggled up in bed.

I’m even cold at work. But that is a year-round condition of my employment apparently. Ironically, I am “warmer” (using the term lightly) at work in the winter than the summer. In the summer the AC only has full blast mode and it is really very miserable. I really should invest in some fingertip-less gloves so that I can work in comfort and 80’s Madonna style.

But back to the house. We keep it cold. On purpose. Why? Well partly out of environmental guilt, err stewardship. You know the climate change thing (it’s not just warming up), trying to consume less energy all of which is very true and I fully support. But I would be lying if I said that was my main motivation.

The main motivation is do-la-res amigos. Cold hard cash. It’s a big house. And we have gas heat, ouch.

Last year, we took a beating with our heating bills.

And it sucked.

Like, A LOT.

So this winter, we set out to conquer our bourgeois ways, lower the thermostat and acclimate ourselves to cooler, and hopefully cheaper, temps.

Amigos, it has made a HUGE difference. Like $100 per bill difference. Multiple that by 5 months that the heat is on (we are also strict about having no heat or air for at least 2 months in the spring and 2 months in the fall) and that is $500 in savings. Maybe that is chump change to some, but alas, we do not fall in that category, so it’s like a mini-lottery to us.

And we’ve cut down our energy usage by something crazy like 80 %. So yay for Planet Earth! Captain Planet, (S)He’s our Hero! Gonna take Pollution down to Zero!

During the day while we’re at work, we keep the thermostat at 60 degrees, mostly for the kittehs. At night while we’re home and awake, we keep the thermostat at 62, 63 if we’re feeling indulgent (ooh la la!). While we sleep we take it down to 58 degrees.

We’ve also learned a few…Hot? tricks (hahaha) along the way to make things a bit more comfortable during the dark, cold months. So I went ahead and compiled a list for you and my inner dork.

Beth’s Guide on How to Stay Warm When You are a Cheap B*stard:
1.) Get thee a WOOL blanket on yer bed. Layer it between your sheets and comforter and any other additional blankets. HUGE difference. We routinely wake up sweating at night. And it ain’t because we’re fornicating neither.

2.) Space heaters are your friends. Just turn them off when you are not in the room. Why waste the electricity if you aren’t in the room? And remember, SAFETY FIRST!

3.) Hang out upstairs more. Heat rises!

4.) Turn the heat down at night while you are snuggling underneath your wool blanket.

5.) Acclimate yourself in increments. Take the temp down two degrees one week. Then a couple more the next until you reach your goal temperature (65 is a nice rookie beginning point.) Remember to turn down the temperature at least 3-5 degrees at night while you sleep. You’ll be amazed at how fast you’ll acclimate!

6.) Bundle up! It’s winter! No you shouldn’t be running around your house in shorts and bare feet in January unless you live in Southern Florida. That’s just plain silly! Socks, slippers a thick sweater/sweatshirt make 60 degrees surprisingly comfortable.

7.) Close the vents for vacant rooms. Why heat a guest room when you don’t have guests? Better to re-direct that heat to the rooms you actually use. Just remember to open them if you have company over!

8.) A fireplace or a wood stove are also great supplemental sources of heat. I secretly dream of having a wood stove.

9.)  Kittehs are heat whores. And pretty good feet warmers. Just be sure to get them a comfy bed to snuggle in so that they can stay warm to when you’re not around.

10.) Eat lots of hot sauce!! Ok, so I don’t really have a tenth point but my OCD ways will not let me end on an odd number.  It is a sickness I tell you!

This may all sound extreme at first, but we have truly been amazed at how easy a transition this has been. Trust me if I, the girl who is always, always cold can acclimate to 60 degrees, then miracles really are possible Tiny Tim!

Thus concludes our post on heat, dollar dollar bills yall and conservation. Hopefully we will still have friends and family that will want to visit after reading this. Highly unlikely. Or else we’ll have to spend our new found cash going to your house. Which will feel like summer compared to ours.

Happy Savings 🙂

**I thought of an additional heat saving tip for my list! Open your blinds and let the Sun Shine In just like in Hair. Whew. Now my OCD can rest!**

**Tip #11: Somanna reminded me that having your fan circulate air in a low speed, clockwise direction (he is very specific about that) helps move the warm air back down. I don’t know how. Science and I have never really got on all that well. But it does make the room warmer. So I chalk it up to magic. Tip # 12: Keep doors closed. It entraps the heat in the room. And now my list is officially screwed unless I make it to 15 which is a reassuring mid-point. Oh OCD how you plague me!**