There really hasn’t been much going on this week other than the cold. Oh my gracious has it been cold!!! I guess I’m noticing the cold more this year than other years because our heater died last year. We didn’t think it was dead dead and the last cold days we managed by using little oil heaters.

Well when it started getting cold last fall, we had a guy come to fix our heater. Problem was that he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. So, we called another guy. He came out about three or four times and tried different things. The last time he thought he had it but he just brought parts to replace the parts we had replaced in the beginning. Needless to say, it didn’t work. He left dumbfounded. Seriously! He felt horrible that he had to charge us anything at all considering he didn’t get it working but he had to recover the cost of the parts he did use (not the ones he brought that we’d already replaced).

So, since we don’t exactly have several thousands of dollars sitting around, we bought a few ceramic heaters to help the oil heaters. I’m not one to have it really warm, so we are keeping it a little bit on the chilly side in here but that means that I actually get to wear sweatshirts and cover up with blankets. Of course the rest of the family does too. We’re all adults here, so we can handle it.

I have learned through this though, that when I play video games on the tv that I get warmer! Yep, I now have a reason to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey.

We’ve also taken to lighting candles. I don’t buy scented ones anymore, since we have a diffuser. Mom got me this adorable snowman candle holder a couple Christmases ago. I put it out when I put out my Christmas decorations in November but then leave it out through January. I put away my snowmen about the first of February when I pull out Valentine’s Day decorations. I don’t do a lot. Truth be told, it is mostly mugs.

Tiffany and I decided to start reading an epic fantasy series together. However, the first book, which is about 1000 pages, had a long hold list at the library. So we got the audiobook thinking we’d just listen to it together.

We put the first of 30 cds in the xbox 360 on our television. We were thrown into the end of a battle. I was trying to follow and then there was an entirely different fight seen. I was so confused I asked Tiff to pause it. She too was struggling. Then we realized that the xbox was not set on sequential play and thus was jumping around the tracks!

We corrected this and began to listen anew. I still had to have her pause it and asked her if she was getting it because I sure wasn’t. We set about to find it on ebook. Then she found that it was now available for us to pick up at the library. Evidently she’d never cancelled her hold on the book. So we gladly picked it up on errand day.

So since I’m the slower reader, I will set the pace by reading however much I want and then she will read up to my bookmark. Well, I finished the Prelude and asked her to do her speed reading on those three pages so I could be sure I understood it. She did and we conversed. I read the Prologue and we did the same thing again. I then started to read chapter one but it doesn’t have any of the same characters and I’m having to read about a completely new character some years later, again. Ugh. I decided I wasn’t up for that right then.

Then the next day I had the brilliant idea for us to listen to what we’ve read so far, to kind of cement what we’ve read thus far. Wow!!! I caught some things I didn’t before, which is really good. I don’t know if we will continue on with this read and then listen thing but it was good for now.

Tiffany and I decided to read it this way this time because the last couple of books we’ve decided to both read, I’ve read and then it takes her a while to get around to reading it. Then by that time, I no longer have the strong opinions and things to talk about.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you have a good weekend. I sure wish we’d get some snow . . . it’s snowing everywhere else (all the places I used to live) and here I am wanting snow and am not getting it. If it is going to be cold, there should be some beautiful snow on the ground!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº