Hot Days Gone By

This really hot week never fails to make me think of two things:

1. Central air was the best purchase I ever made as a homeowner. It's not my best purchase of all time though. That would be Hooch who cost a mere $95 at the humane society. Central air would definitely be second on that list.
   
2. Remembering my youth which was spent in a air condition-less house. We did have a window unit one summer and we lived with the pocket door closed between kitchen and the living area. As a result, I wasn't all the keen on going into the kitchen which, now that I think of it, is a great diet plan. I'm not sure why that window unit never made another appearance.
   

The other thing I remember about living sans air conditioning was coming home from school to find the shades pulled down on the westside of the house (sun = bad) and seeing my mom in attire that only came out when it was hot and she was inside - shorts and just her Playtex "Cross Your Heart" bra. I knew it was hot when she broke out the shorts and the retired neighbor across the street broke out his one navy blue tank top.

Another fond memory was calling my dad at work (in air conditioning) and see if he wanted to meet us for dinner on his way home so that we could enjoy a little respite from the heat. The restaurant of choice during that era was usually Bill Knapp's with maybe Big Boy as a lesser alternative. As you can see, we weren't too 'out there' with our meal preferences. While most of the meals on the Bill Knapp's menu are just fond memories, the local grocery stores do still carry their great chocolate 2 layer 'celebration' cake. It's still great but there is something missing it when you aren't eating it in a restaurant that looks like your grandmother decorated it surrounded by people your grandmother's age (Bill Knapp's was quite the place with the silver foxes).

One of my favorite things during my A/C-less stint was taking a warmish shower right before bedtime and falling to sleep with the fan on and a wet head, leaving a damp pillow that always felt cool when you turned your head. I still do that sometimes if it's warm but not as hot as it has been and we leave the A/C off. This week, if I got it, I'm using it and being thankful to use it....and maybe a tiny bit less thankful when next month's bill arrives.

Stay cool!

What is that strange feeling? Could it be...optimism?!?

After being laid off 4 years ago and after about 2 years of no unemployment benefits which made me the sole breadwinner, a second pay check is now coming in! While Big A searches for that ever elusive graphic design job, he did find a job working for one of the 'Big 3' as a test driver. This job is considered a temporary job and could end at some time (during which he could then always be called back), but in the meantime, it's a lovely feeling to have the funds to get caught back up on things and perhaps get us back on level ground.

This past Friday, his first full 2 week pay check was direct deposited and after checking the bank account online that morning, I skipped off to work with a lighter weight on my shoulders. Today, Big A even went along with me to my weekly free cooking class at Williams-Sonoma (granted, the topic was 'Homemade Ice Cream') and we did a little mall shopping for the first time in what feels like forever. To keep the strange and wondrous feeling alive, we paid cash for the external hard drive that we purchased at the Apple store.

There is one drawback - we are still living with one car which we have made work since he is working 3rd shift and I was able to move my start time at work back a little bit. When he gets home, I 'tag' him, climb into the car and head into work as he heads to bed.

While I have a job application floating out there for which I have interviewed for and he keeps applying to graphic design jobs, hopefully one day very soon we will be back to 'normal'. That light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.