I cannot get warm.
I'm sitting in my living room wrapped in a quilt, next to a heater grate, pretty near to a fireplace...
and I cannot get warm.
I don't think I've been warm all day. I wore my big winter jacket in a staff meeting at work because I had come in on my day off and by the time I got in the building I was frozen. I stood out on the school playground for half an hour while my kids ran around and threw snowballs at each other, and I couldn't feel my fingers the entire time. I had an indoor appointment this morning and I refused to take my fleece muffler off at all. And I blew on my fingers for a solid hour and a half.
I am so frickin' finished with winter I could spit. But I know it would freeze mid-air.
My house never feels as much like an old house as it does in the winter. Even though it has blown in insulation, it has old house windows and doors and it feels like you're standing in a wind tunnel. Until you go upstairs. As you climb the staircase you can feel the temperature changing until you reach the landing - otherwise known as the Bahamas. Every last bit of the heat has risen to the second floor, where it is almost too hot to move. Sleeping at night leads to dreams of sand dunes and scorpions. My house is its own climate zone.
If you believe the weather people, we're supposed to have a warm snap this weekend. I think it's actually supposed to hit 20 degrees. I feel a city wide party coming on.
I wonder which bathing suit would go with my thermal socks.
Friday, January 25, 2008
I know I've got troubles
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31 comments:
I still live in my old Victorian home, and I can NEVER get warm in the winter. Can't wait for the new house and/or summer, whichever comes first.
It's amazing how the air creeps thru the baseboards and walls and windows...my nose is freezing!
I hate cold weather. For me, cold is anything below 50 degrees F. So I'm cold right this minute, even though it's only just freezing here right now. It's going to be cold again tomorrow, but Saturday, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be near 60. Woo hoo!
I'm freezing as well...but I'm too stupid to do anything about it. Ummm...right...I'm going to go get my fuzzy fleece housecoat and put on socks. There...you inspired someone to be warmer!
In Southern California we have a huge cold spell going on. I'm listening, as i write, to hail hitting the window. Rain/hail whatever, our new furnace has been trying to keep up all day. But, my love, I'm sure it's warmer here than Kansas. Big warm sloppy kisses to you!
I can have big fluffy socks under a big fluffy blanket and my feet will still be cold. I can go to bed and an hour later they are still cold. I can put them up against my own personal furnace (aka hubby) and all they do is make his skin cold and they haven't warmed up a bit. Bring on some heat!
I feel the same way at work, where we really only have the heat on in the morning to take the chill out of the air. Granted, it doesn't get so cold here, but you know what they say about heat - it's not the heat, it's the humidity? The same principle applies to damp cold, which I find unbearable in a way that teeth-hurting Chicago cold was not.
The only thing that seems to help me are lots of cups of tea.
I can never get warm while I'm working and it isn't even cold here! My circulation seems to get slower with every year - what a thought!
ok, here goes:
1) get that 3M plastic sheeting to put over your windows. you can't even tell it's there once it's up and it blocks drafts really well. especially when you have old drafty windows. trust me. i know.
2) WEAR A HAT. i'm serious. most of your body heat escapes from your head. so when you go outside, wear a hat.
it's supposed to get to 37 here on sunday. (yesterday morning, by comparison, we woke up to eleven below) but then it's supposed to immediately get cold again.
3)
ps and -ann is right. damp cold is the worst.
I will maintain to my dying day that drizzly and 40 degrees is much colder than sunny and zero. (Now, 20 below, that's another story.) I am looking forward to the weekend's warm snap, in fact, it's supposed to warm up to the teens, today, so that's sounding toasty. Warm enough, at least, to go out and play in the snow instead just scuttle from building to car to building.
I hope you and laptop are sitting up in the second floor Sahara and starting to thaw.
Your mink swimsuit, obviously...
I wonder if they sell flannel lined jeans there. I found some here and they are sooo warm. It's the first time I've felt warm all winter. It's like I'm running around in my jammies, but 32 is cold for around here.
A polka dotted thong? TeeHee
(Single digits here! BRR)
Last night, as I got into bed, my hubby rolled over and said, 'yikes your legs are cold!' I did not even care b/c my feet were warm. If the feet stay warm, the rest of me can be a popsicle and I can still stay warm...the minute my feet are cold, I am not sleeping until they are warm....we are supposed to hit in the 60's this weekend too...we have been the the 30's right above freezing. I picked a good year to move from Kansas!
tiggerlane - when is your new house supposed to be done? You must be getting so excited!
kaycie - I would walk to the supermarket naked if it would hit 60 this weekend.
kimberly - I've been walking around my house fully dressed, including jacket and muffler. Sometimes I put on my clothes, my bathrobe and then my jacket. I'm quite a sight.
altaglow - hail? really?
ped crossing - I'm having sauna fantasies. Lately I've been envying the chicken as I toss it in the oven.
ann - I'm totally with you on the damp. It makes such a difference.
flowerpot - if my circulation gets any slower I'll be dead.
laurie - when we looked at this house the first time that sheeting was everywhere. And like f*****g morons we didn't put two and two together. Wait, it gets worse. It upset my "design aesthetic" when we moved in and I ripped it all down.
How do you spell moron? R-C....
diana - I've been spending most of my free time upstairs, which of course is problematic. But it's warm.
potty mummy - with the white socks do you think, or the green?
kathy - the kids had some flannel lined jeans, now that you mention it. I should look for some for me.
lisa - and have you had enough of the single digits?? I know I have.
marti - rub it in, girlfriend, rub it in!
I, too, am freezing. I'm not sure why I can't see to get warm this winter.
Putting in new windows and doors was the trick in this old barn. I use to feel my hair blowing in the wind while I was doing the dishes - didn't matter what time of the year...but now - oh - it is lovely and toasty - except for the third floor where there are only 2 vents. For some reason - heat doesn't rise in a barn. I don't get it.
I hear you......brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....but it is only in the 20's here which is rare. I am soooooooooo not used to it.
hope it warms up soon.
we have the same problem. try shutting some of your vents upstairs. with the inevitable drift from downstairs anyway, you should force a little more air to come out downstairs and leave you feeling a bit less like you're in the sahara upstairs... freezing in iowa.. lil mouse
Yes, I do feel sorry for you people who live in regions of the world where winter really means winter. Here in the Netherlands we don't have real winters anymore.
Eduard and I are snug in our little apartment with our double glazing and never feel cold at all. It must be a punishment to pay your energy bill every month when you live in a large Victorian house in the Mid West.
I hope you wear lots of layers of clothing and extra socks and sweaters. Too bad that all the warm air is ending up upstairs. I suppose there is no way of preventing that from happening?
I think I would not survive well in a really cold climate. I would swear a lot and use other unladylike language. How long does your winter last anyway?
I hate winter too but I have to say it's deliciously warm indoors. We have great heating and double glazing so no probs. Sorry to rub it in. :(
silly willy.
you take the sheeting down in the spring, put it up new again in the late fall.
so go get yourself some. made by 3M here in Minnesota. you run sticky tape around the edge of the window, slap on the plastic, and then shrink-wrap it into place with a hair dryer.
you can't see it.
and your aesthetic can take over again when it warms up.
I've been feeling the same way. The only time I warm up is if I take a hot hot bath. It's not as cold here, in the teens at night, and high 20's during the day, but our heating is not efficient, and so it never really warms up in our house. I hate winter.
Well, I'm not walking to the supermarket naked. Ever. Don't even ask! ;)
If you'd like to think about something more permanent than 3M plastic (you really can't see it if it's done right), hubby has used that foam stuff before to fill cracks around windows and doors. It's a bit of work. I remember him removing and replacing trim, but it made my bedroom in the other house cozy, even when I sat in my recliner right beside north facing windows.
And I think it was pretty cheap. He got it at Lowe's or Home Depot.
I'm pretty sure Lands End sells flannel lined pants. And you can shop online and have them delivered to your door. Put them immediately in the dryer and then put them on all toasty hot.
And then you might feel a little better.
flannel lined pants are great.
also, cuddle duds. they're very silky thin longjohns that really keep you warm and don't add bulk.
better than film, better than caulk: new windows.
after 12 years of living in this drafty house, we finally got some. wow. what a difference. riley thanks us because the windows no longer rattle when trains go by. (rattling windows: Fear No. 273 on riley's fear list.)
1) I second the idea of flannel lined jeans, which are available at L.L. Bean. I think Lands End used to sell them too, but I'm sure about L.L. Bean, because I was going to order a pair.
2) I have used the 3M stuff at the old house and it works like a charm. Easy to put up and take down, and it works.
3) Laurie's tips are all good. Keeping your head covered helps. Sometimes I'll just tie a scarf around like the Orthodox Jewess I am not, and I feel warmer. Sometimes I just wear my little flannel rollbrim. I also wear a shawl sometimes.
4) Best solution on earth: New windows. If you are refurbing your house to make money, don't get the vinyl ones, spend the money on wood. If you're just living there because you're in Kansas, Dorothy, do the vinyl window thing.
5) L.L. Bean sells these down slip on floofy foot things with knit cuffs that are so warm I usually have to take them off. But I wear 2 pairs of socks on a regular basis.
6)The spring equinox is March 20. Less than 2 months to go. You can make it.
Today we got as high as 28 and now its dropping with a chance of sleet. By Sunday or Monday back to the 60 & 70's. I can't till SUMMER!, Even thou I would like to get some snow just once. But down here?
Hope you can get warm soon.
Hail, yes, twice yesterday! I have been loving the rain, and all the flowers I planted over the weekend have, too. If it stops raining this weekend, I may get more! Yes, you can hate me now. That was mean.
I love my regular jeans from L.L. Bean becuase they are designed to fit women like us, you know, who have settled around the middle. I would only caution you to order one size bigger than you think you need because I think they run a little bit small. They probably have long underwear too. Keeping warm is all about the layers. In HS we learned that you lose 40% of your body heat through your head. They could have been trying to scare us, but I think it may really be true.
Know just what you mean RC. Our house is about 110 years old, with original windows and doors, which are all warped. You can stand in our hall and still watch TV in the sitting room even when the door's closed, that's how good it fits.
We could have them replaced with nice new doors that actually close properly, but where's the fun in that? When the kids were little they were always spooked when I used to shout "STOP THAT IMMEDIATELY, I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING", even though the doors were shut.
There's always a howling gale running between the front door and the chimney, but we've got used to wearing multiple pairs of socks all winter, getting them surgically removed in March.
Just read Laurie's good advice on wearing a hat to keep in the heat. This reminded me of a dear old friend of ours who lived in a thatched farmhouse in Somerset which was so cold in winter she used to wear one of those tie-under-the-chin peaked caps, worn back to front so that the peak covered the nape of her neck in an effort to keep her warm in bed. I expect she got even less sex than me.
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