Bug,  Slow News Day

We Have Heat!

February 21, 2006 /

I’m starting to feel silly writing about staying home every day. If it weren’t for the incredible cuteness of the baby and all my family members who need to get a peek, I’d wonder why anybody read any more. I just don’t have that many crazy adventures. (Not that I ever did, really, but that’s beside the point.)

So what’s the big news for today? Our heater got fixed yesterday!!! Hallelujah! It’s a miracle!

The saga of the heater is a long long story involving two different landlords and it’s mostly boring, so I’ll skip it. It’s been broken for about ten years. We usually just suffer when it gets cold because it only gets cold for about two weeks a year anyway. We bundle up in sweats and knitted caps and shuffle around the house from the glow of one space heater to the next. We can’t turn on too many space heaters because that blows a fuse and half of our house loses power.

Of course it’s always the half of the house that has Toby’s super computers in it that loses power. I have notes posted on the microwave saying “check with Toby first before using” because a power outage means hours and hours of frustration for Toby. It also means we’ve spent many many dollars on back up batteries for the super computers. And then the back up batteries messed with our wi-fi and that’s a long boring story too. You get the point. It’s all an ass pain. Winter sucks.

So yesterday when a repairman (who happened to be named “Roman” and he sounded a bit like Dracula when he spoke) came and fixed our heater, it was glorious. Heat! We have heat! Never mind the fact that the heater is about a million years old and they don’t even make parts for it anymore. It works! Roman installed some shiny new copper wires in it and advised me to call a gas man as soon as possible to check and make sure it’s not spewing carbon monoxide. I will do that today.

I’m hoping the fact that our windows don’t seal will save us from carbon monoxide poisoning. There is always a huge draft coming in from the two inch gap between the glass panels. So far we made it through the night. And boy, was it a cozy night! Wooo Hooo!

I forgot what it’s like to walk from room to room and not ache from being cold! Usually we have this complicated system where we only heat one room at a time. We have to prop the doors three inches from being completely closed with a slipper or a shoe to keep the cats from busting the door wide open and letting all the warm air out. We can’t close doors all the way because that would result in clawing and pawing and yowling at the door all night long and keeping us awake. You can imagine how complicated this system gets at three in the morning when I have a crying baby in one arm, boobs that leak and hurt, it’s dark and I have about fifty layers of bulky clothing on.

Last night was wonderful. I fell asleep in front of the television! This morning, even more wonderful. I could actually take the baby into the kitchen with me while I made my morning cup of Ovaltine (my new healthy alternative to hot chocolate)! My feet weren’t freezing. It wasn’t torture to lift my shirt up to nurse and hold all fifty layers of clothing up out of baby’s face with my chin. I could actually just wear one shirt. But the best part? I could choose what room to nurse her in. I didn’t have to stick to my nursing chair huddled in front of the space heater. I could actually watch tv and nurse at the same time! Life is good.

15 Comments

  • Mary

    February 21, 2006 at 10:03 am

    Whoo-hoo. Hurray for the heat. I was going to suggest that you might want to go ahead and get a basic ($10, I think) carbon monoxide detector from your local hardware store–they plug right in to a wall socket. It’d let you know anytime there was carbon monoxide and keep you all safe. (Plus it’s probably cheaper than a visit from the gas man.)

    And as a stay at home mum myself, I think your blog is lovely as is. Keep on with all the day to day and beautiful photos, I revel in it.

  • JennB

    February 21, 2006 at 1:48 pm

    First of all? Love the silly picture of Toby. Love that he is silly – he sounds so SERIOUS!
    Secondly? Yay for heat. We haven’t gotten winter here yet this year, aside from some cold nights. When it’s 40 degrees here, we’re all running around with t-shirts on.
    And third – I’m glad you got out (in your previous post). It’s good for all of you. And hopefully you’ve made a new friend!!!

  • Leah

    February 21, 2006 at 8:46 pm

    Now I have one more thing to be jealous of you for–you have HEAT! We’re dying here with the cold, and I can’t imagine having to deal with a baby on top of all that. There will be a new space heater in our future, I think.

  • Nila

    February 21, 2006 at 10:21 pm

    I’d say you are having some crazy adventues. What Mom doesn’t?
    I Love the picture of Toby. Wow, all that and brains too. You are a lucky girl!

  • Anna

    February 22, 2006 at 3:05 am

    YAY for heat!!! Although our winter lasts a lot longer than two weeks, and I am “Beachmama”, we cannot survive without heat! Up here, most people turn their heat down at night as not to waste, but we turn it up :) I can’t sleep when I am cold, I get all tense and toss and turn all night long. When our little guy was born, the house we lived in was freezing, especially in his room, that was rough. Now we are pretty good, lots of heat, people come to my place and feel like it is summer! That is what keeps me going through the winter months (which are almost over).

  • the other josephine

    February 22, 2006 at 5:41 am

    i forgot to write this yesterday ..

    love the pic of toby, that’s so great.. and you and baby bug are adorable! she looks like she is turning into a real live baby-girl… she’s not looking like a newborn anymore.

  • alfredsmom

    February 22, 2006 at 10:54 am

    Ah! I just found your blog again. I knew you were having site problems, but for the past couple weeks your old blog address wasnt working. I did a google search today and thankfully found a good link on like, page 5. yeah!