tilt-a-whirl
I feel totally weird today. Shaky, dizzy, tired - not an especially good combo with two small kids, but here I am. Maybe this is why:
We left Thursday to go up to Vermont to see my in-laws. It was hot up there as usual this time of the year. Whoever thinks that Vermont is actually colder than the rest of New England during the summer does not understand that although there are many cool mountain peaks, the valleys are damn hot. The major cities are in the valleys. Last summer, when we went up, my in-laws had no air conditioning. This year, they had a couple of window a/c's, but they set them at 80 degrees. Let's face it, when it's over 90 degrees and almost 75% humidity outside, the a/c being on 80 with cathedral ceilings doesn't help that much. Sigh. (I know, shut up, princess.) At least my husband's 93-year-old grandmother has the good sense to keep her a/c on to the point that she doesn't overheat. Too bad we couldn't have squeezed into her tiny apartment :) The rest of the visit went pretty well, apart from sleeping on a lumpy double-sized futon for me and my husband. The kids had fun, we visited with lots of relatives, and we came home Sunday afternoon.
Since we've been home, we've been experiencing what the weather forecasters are gleefully calling "a heat wave," which is three days in a row of 90+ temps. Basically, walking outside the past couple of days has felt like a blast furnace to the face. I took the kids to a park last night after 7pm for about a half an hour, and we were all soaked with sweat by the time I said "let's gp home." It was gross. I was actually able to accomplish much more in the morning - I dropped my son off at him summer program, went to the bank, the post office, registered my son for kindergarten, and went grocery shopping all before noon, without getting too sticky.
Today I stupidly was lazy in the morning and waited until the afternoon to try to venture out. We went to the library to return the videos we took on vacation and pick up new ones (which the kids are watching now). I thought we were all going to melt in the car until the a/c really kicked on. The library, being a big public building, was cooler, but not as cool as I'm sure we all would have liked. The kids got to make a craft windsock, though, which was a nice distraction. Then we left and headed over to the grocery store, where I could have cheerfully hung out in the refrigerated foods section for the rest of the day. They know how to blast the a/c. Quick trip through the pharmacy drive-through, put gas in the car ($45 to fill the tank) and then we were home to the central a/c again. It's truly too hot to risk taking the kids outside, between possible sunstroke and/or sunburn, so we're stuck inside watching "Scooby Doo." But hey, big thunderstorms are supposed to come this afternoon and move this crap out, so at least we've got that going for us.
We left Thursday to go up to Vermont to see my in-laws. It was hot up there as usual this time of the year. Whoever thinks that Vermont is actually colder than the rest of New England during the summer does not understand that although there are many cool mountain peaks, the valleys are damn hot. The major cities are in the valleys. Last summer, when we went up, my in-laws had no air conditioning. This year, they had a couple of window a/c's, but they set them at 80 degrees. Let's face it, when it's over 90 degrees and almost 75% humidity outside, the a/c being on 80 with cathedral ceilings doesn't help that much. Sigh. (I know, shut up, princess.) At least my husband's 93-year-old grandmother has the good sense to keep her a/c on to the point that she doesn't overheat. Too bad we couldn't have squeezed into her tiny apartment :) The rest of the visit went pretty well, apart from sleeping on a lumpy double-sized futon for me and my husband. The kids had fun, we visited with lots of relatives, and we came home Sunday afternoon.
Since we've been home, we've been experiencing what the weather forecasters are gleefully calling "a heat wave," which is three days in a row of 90+ temps. Basically, walking outside the past couple of days has felt like a blast furnace to the face. I took the kids to a park last night after 7pm for about a half an hour, and we were all soaked with sweat by the time I said "let's gp home." It was gross. I was actually able to accomplish much more in the morning - I dropped my son off at him summer program, went to the bank, the post office, registered my son for kindergarten, and went grocery shopping all before noon, without getting too sticky.
Today I stupidly was lazy in the morning and waited until the afternoon to try to venture out. We went to the library to return the videos we took on vacation and pick up new ones (which the kids are watching now). I thought we were all going to melt in the car until the a/c really kicked on. The library, being a big public building, was cooler, but not as cool as I'm sure we all would have liked. The kids got to make a craft windsock, though, which was a nice distraction. Then we left and headed over to the grocery store, where I could have cheerfully hung out in the refrigerated foods section for the rest of the day. They know how to blast the a/c. Quick trip through the pharmacy drive-through, put gas in the car ($45 to fill the tank) and then we were home to the central a/c again. It's truly too hot to risk taking the kids outside, between possible sunstroke and/or sunburn, so we're stuck inside watching "Scooby Doo." But hey, big thunderstorms are supposed to come this afternoon and move this crap out, so at least we've got that going for us.