Things Can Only Get Better

That's what you say when you're having a bad day, right? "Things can only get better from here."?

I shouldn't say I had a bay day. I'm healthy with a good job and a roof over my head and a family who loves me. However, I had some bad luck yesterday. It really started Wednesday night.

After doing a Jillian Michaels workout dvd and stuffing my face with a healthy dinner of tilapia and steamed vegetables afterward, I jacked the heat up in my room so it would be nice and toasty when I got out of the shower and settled in for the night. Except my heat never kicked on. My dad said there is something wrong with the thermostat, but by that point, it was too late to start pulling out wires or making trips to the hardware store. So I froze. I wore several layers to bed - leggings under sweatpants, a tank top, long-sleeved shirt and a hoodie. I ran my warm mist humidifier on full blast just to get the heat from the steam. And I still woke up several times because I was so cold. I buried Rags under three blankets and eventually he decided he was still too cold and got under the covers with me. I shouldn't be complaining since people along the coast haven't had power for days, but I've also developed Floridian blood after five years of being a resident there, so I haven't reacclimated to the cold yet. Brrr...

Yesterday morning, I started my car using the remote starter like I always do when it's really cold or really hot. However, when I got in 15 minutes later, the radio and lights were the only things that actually turned on. This has happened a few times now. So no big deal, I turned my car on the old-fashioned way and blasted the defroster. I got out so I could clean the snow off my windows. While I'm standing there brushing off the snow, the remote starter decides it's time to lock my doors. With my car running. While I'm standing outside. And my phone and purse are locked in the car. OK, this is manageable. Go back inside and grab the spare key. Except, I locked the house before I left like I always do. Oh wow it's cold. Fortunately I was fully decked out in my heavy tweed coat, boots, gloves, scarf, and hat. I was able to "break in" to the house and get my spare key and get off to work, but it was a scary few minutes.

I get to work, and my office (which is really just a house that was built in the late 1800s) is freezing. I jacked the heat way up, and within a few minutes everyone else's offices are saunas while mine is an icebox. Maintenance came and described a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo, but it took an hour for my office to heat up and even then, it quickly got cold again when we had to turn down the office-wide thermostat because everyone else was sweating. This is the exact opposite from last winter, when I wore tank tops under sweaters and still had to open my window to survive the 110-degree heat the furnace next to my desk pumped out.

During this heat fiasco, I went downstairs to make my oatmeal in the microwave. Except, I was thinking about how cold I was and put about three times too much water into the bowl, thus ruining my oatmeal beyond repair. So I was forced to go to Starbucks (on campus) and get a bagel. Not that I minded the deliciousness of the bagel, but it's not what I'm supposed to be eating for breakfast anymore. I scooped out most of the doughy part and used reduced fat cream cheese, but still felt guilty about it.

When I got home last night, I was chilled to the bone and planned to skip a workout and just get straight into to some warm clothes, have a nice homemade dinner, and get under my covers in my finally warm room. Except the heat still isn't working. I didn't even bother to change out of my work clothes, I just grabbed my keys and decided to go to Panera or somewhere to keep warm and get some food. My brother was walking in as I was walking out, so we ended up going to this Mexican place in Enfield that is just phenomenal. A few tequila shots, a margarita, a nice meal, and some fried ice cream warmed me right up. Well, the ice cream didn't warm me up but the tequila had already taken care of that for the next several hours. In fact, I woke up in what I thought was the middle of the night. Turns out it was actually 11:30 p.m. but I felt like I had been asleep for several hours (really just two-and-a-half). I actually had to remove a layer of clothing in order to go back to sleep comfortably.

Here's to the warm (60+ degree) weather that's supposed to arrive tomorrow and last for a few days, probably just in time for my heat to start working again!