We are still alive!

Despite what you might think, we are still here. The poor blog has been woefully neglected. Which of you still subscribe, I wonder? We will hopefully start posting more posts in the new year. It's a bit silly to wait until the new year to do so, but that's the plan.

We have been busy with life, mostly Pearl related. For anyone who reads here but is not Facebook friends, Pearl is a thriving 18 month old toddler. She still does not eat very much except for momma's milk, but her weight is acceptable to the doctor, I think. Her vocabulary grows every day, along with her wits.

The events that prompted me to write this post are as follow: we had been visiting my parents in Florida. They, of course, were overjoyed to have the opportunity to spoil their granddaughter. Before we left, I turned off the heat completely, under the guise of saving money. Readers from cold climates will realize that this was a very foolish decision. Compounding the foolish decision was the fact that there were several warnings that we curiously ignored. Here is a list:

• While we were pulling out of the driveway, I realized that I had forgotten to turn the heat off. I should have ignored this and left it forgotten, but I didn't.


• At this point, Harmony remarked that it would be cooooold when we got back, but for some reason, this didn't register as anything but a statement of fact (not a warning).


• Then, as I was driving my ladies to the airport, we heard the weather guy on the radio say that due to the cold weather, thermostats should be left at least at 55. At this point, I should have went back to the house and turned the heat on. But I didn't.


• I also had the thought that we should have given a spare key to someone. But we didn't.

It was decided this morning that we really needed to do something about the lack of heat in the house. I was still in Florida this morning, and I am now in Georgia, so obviously we decided that I needed to come home early. I came home to a house that was 42 degrees. Not quite as bad as I thought. Best of all though, I came back to a house that was mercifully spared from burst frozen pipes.

Lessons learned:

• If there is the slightest possibility of a deep freeze, leave the thermostat on!


• Leave spare keys with trusted friends who live somewhat nearby!


• Don't ignore the weather guy, especially when you have left your house but are within an hour's drive from it

Following these tips could have saved me from cutting the visit short. As a consequence, I am back in Georgia two days earlier, with only Luna and a messy house to keep me company ;)