Mean mother

Thursday, 4:24 pm

By Kate

Jan

03

2008

Alright. I’ve been feeling just a tad bit guilty, but not enough to change my mind....

A couple of hours ago, I asked the lad to bring some wood in the house. It is important to keep that wood rack filled so I have a steady supply of dry and room temperature wood to burn. When it’s time to bring wood in the house, it’s time. Not three hours later.

And, since I’m burning about twice as much wood while the lad is home (to keep his room warm) than when he’s away, I feel it is manifestly fair that he share the labor of wood hauling. So, I asked him to bring some wood in. And asked again.

And finally did it myself. As I brought the last piece in, he came downstairs to see if he could help. I was just a little short with him. But rather than get mad, I figured that getting even would be more effective.

I told him that as long as I’m the one hauling the wood in the house, it seems fair that I’m the one who should get the benefit from it. If he isn’t going to help, then I’ll heat the downstairs and save wood. I closed the quilt and the other curtain in the stairwell off. I figured it would take a couple of hours before the upstairs started getting uncomfortably cold. In the meantime, I rearranged the wood and stacked most of what I brought in around the stove to dry it out and warm it up. The other rack was mostly empty again...and waiting to be refilled.

Well, I was wrong about how long it would take for his teeth to start chattering. About an hour later, he and his friend came downstairs looking rather meek and politely asked if they could help me in any way. I said, “Why yes, as a matter of fact. The wood rack needs to be filled again. I’d really appreciate it.”

They trooped out and had that wood rack filled in 5 minutes flat. Not a word of complaint from either of them. I just smiled and said, “Thank you, fellas. There’s a pot of coffee on to warm you up. How about a little heat upstairs now?”

Gosh, that worked like a charm. I didn’t even have to yell or stomp my feet.

It's so cold...

Thursday, 2:15 pm

By Kate

Jan

03

2008

Our polar express arrived a little early. The temps dropped about 30 degrees all of a sudden last evening and, by about 6PM, my thermometer registered a right frigid 5°. And it continued dropping. Today we have only managed to creep up to 9.5°, which is darned cold, with just enough breeze to make it worse.

I called my mechanic this morning to see how things were going. He was having his difficulties. It’s so cold that half of his tests aren’t working properly. He is checking to make sure there are no leaks in the emissions system. But the cold gives false readings...or none at all. He won’t replace anything until he knows if anything actually needs replacing. I can fully support that, but I do need my car before the end of the weekend. I told him that I have jury duty on Monday morning and I am going to need a car. If it comes to that, I can probably borrow my car for a day or two before I take it back. I’d much prefer to have it all fixed before then, though. He sounded just a little frantic. I’m guessing that these frigid temps aren’t making his other jobs any easier, either.

Well, the good news is that tomorrow our temps are supposed to rise to a tropical 32°. That should be warm enough to take care of matters. I hope. I miss my car. It’s the craziest thing. I don’t have to go anywhere, but it’s the idea that I can’t go anywhere that makes me feel fidgety and stranded.

Meanwhile, in the house, the wood dried out enough to build fine crackling fires. The inside has been comfortable, though not warm enough to do without a couple of layers of clothing. Just about normal, I’d say. This morning, the lad came downstairs to whine a little bit about the cold. I told him to put on another shirt. He huddled around the stove for a few minutes to warm up and then pulled on a heavy sweatshirt. I haven’t heard any complaints since. Must have worked. The upstairs was brisk, but I pulled the quilt open a bit to let more warm air through. It’s up to about 65° in his room now, which is warmer than it has been all winter. If he can tolerate that without complaint, I think we’ve made significant progress.