The S word

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The local NPR weather dude has been using the S word the last few days. Eight inches of the stuff has already fallen in the mountains north of here knocking out power in some places. We could have some of the S word this week in the city.

I'm not ready for the S word. With home heating costs expected to go through the roof this winter (literally and figuratively) they (the ones who spend their time figuring these kinds of things out) are predicting a really cold winter this year. I told Sis 2 this and she wanted to know how it could be worse than last winter.

We haven't turned the heat on yet (except for that one time that hubby went down stairs in the morning and just flipped the switch but it was only on for a few minutes before I turned it back off.) That delay ought to save us a few bucks on our energy bill. I'm compensating by dressing myself and the kids in several layers of clothing. There are at least three blankets on every bed. And I'm baking a lot.

I'm hoping to hire someone from church to help winterize the house so that when I finally do turn the heat on it won't all leak out of the downstairs windows. The windows on the first floor are as old as the house (built in 1890) and it shows come winter time. The basement windows are basically holes in the walls. Our basement gets so cold that the laundry detergent occasionally freezes. For me doing laundry becomes a winter sport come January.

We usually get some of that white stuff that I won't mention by Halloween 'round these parts but I'm hoping that the real winter weather holds off for a while. I don't think I'm ready for the real cold or the winter energy bill.

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