Snow Week

The sun is out, the temps will be above freezing this afternoon and I have seen the Feral Fam stirring...oh happy morning. Happy morning even though the heater upstairs is acting like the hardest working heater in the business. Running but not doing a good job of heating. Thankfully, it is maintaining the temp around 62. My concerns are with the pipes not us keeping warm while sleeping. So more faucets dripping and with the sun beaming brightly, we maintain. Once getting upstairs for the night, the situation of the heater became apparent. Woke up around 2:00 and what I had suspected was playing out. So you calmly think of the things that can be done like turning up the heat downstairs and then seeing that our heating and a/c service has a twenty four hour service, I called them at 3:00 am. I did that more so I would fall asleep knowing I had done all that I knew to do and then I turned over and went back to sleep. When I woke up this morning I was thrilleCloudd and praising God that the temp was still 62. And because we live with a slower pace of life the repairman will be here tomorrow. It will be above freezing and a little easier on him while he works.

"Abandonment fear can lead to controlling behavior, anger or moving away. All of which can increase the likelihood of being abandoned. Own the fear, act differently, and change the outcome." Dr. Henry Cloud  Saw this on Twitter Tuesday. Great quote and truth. Love a good quote and love the truth.

Here's another good quote from Wilma Dykeman:
"Boredom is a sort of arthritis of the imagination, a paralysis of the spirit."
Ennui, means boredom. After hearing the pronunciation, the word is of French origin which mean annoyance. These snow days of last month and of late has not produced a bit of ennui for me. I don't really feel guilty or anything when I take a day to just read or write or think. So essential to life and well being. Of course you can't spend too many days doing this or you just become weird. I am already weird and don't need to be weirder. I mean there is so much to observe and understand when forced to slow down or God forbid, stop. I'm learning about the sky and what the colors mean to the weather. I love listening now to the snow begin to release its grip on the roof and the sound of snow and ice tumbling to the ground fascinates me. At first it scared me cause I didn't know what the sound was.
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And we are into Saturday morning. The Feral Fam has been fed and I have enjoyed watching their battle roy-al up on the gravel road. They are running and playing and fighting with one another. They have to be thrilled that the temps are above freezing, the snow is melting and there is a lot of extra energy to burn off. They returned for a snack and now are probably enjoying their first nap of the morning. Buddy is eating after having several treats already. She is due for her first nap of the morning too. I slept in a bit so I won't be napping this morning.

I did a shortened version of working out with Taylor yesterday and then came home to wait for the heater guy. At first he thought it was a back up heating element problem...which I didn't think it was because until Tuesday, the heater had been able to keep up with the work of heating upstairs. Oh, we have heat pumps here...most do. Long story short, outside the unit had a hardcore lock on the board. He rebooted the system and it began heating once again. He thinks it could have happened due to a power surge or an unknown issue. If it happens again, they'll come out and do a more detailed analysis. So far so good heat wise. We were roasty toasty all night long. In fact, its kind of strange not hearing the heater run this morning but it is a nice non-sound of not spending $.

After the heating guy left I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I didn't have cabin fever which is usually expected after a forced stay home week. Bought the last of the Topo Chicos and hope they order more. I've kind of gotten hooked like Roy has.

With this being our first official winter here, no January or February stays in the past few years, I am enjoying this season. Experiencing the short days and cold temps and snow has been insightful and rather enjoyable. Avoiding colds and flu, is like a competition. The cardinal's colors seem brighter and even more magnificent against the backdrop of snow or the muted browns of winter.