Warm Weather Woes

It was 104 yesterday, and I heard that it’s expected to be 105 today. I don’t mind warm weather too much for the most part, but once it gets above 90, I tend to start melting. : )

My family has never had a house with air conditioning, and on days like today, I wish we did. There is a small air conditioner in a window in the big room that serves as our living/dining/music room, but it is entirely too small for the space it’s in. So, keeping the house cool on hot days poses quite a challenge to us.

At my old house, we had our hot weather procedures down to a science. The first hot day of the summer, Tristan and Daddy would get all the fans out of the attic, and make sure they all worked. Then each morning, Daddy would get all the downstairs windows opened up with fans in them when he got up for work. We would watch the thermometers carefully all morning, and as soon as the temperature began to rise, we would all rush around to get the windows closed as quickly as possible. All the blinds and curtains on the windows would be tightly shut, to keep the warm sunlight out. We would then spend the rest of the day in our dark house, trying to use the lights as little as possible (because light bulbs generate heat) and to cook as little as possible. When it finally began to cool down outside in the evening, we would open everything up and be comfortable again.

One of the most frustrating challenges of hot weather is finding ways to feed our family without adding to our misery by heating the house up more. Mommy and I could probably live on cold salads the whole summer, but Daddy is a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy, and Tristan works up quite an appetite working in construction, and neither of them is too inclined to eat “girly food”, so, it’s quite a struggle to find things that everyone will eat. We have found that the crock pot doesn’t heat up the house as much as the oven, but cooking on the stovetop is pretty much our coolest option until Daddy gets our grill cleaned up.

Does anyone have favorite summer recipes or tips?

Feminine Hairdos

This is my new favorite hairstyle.

It takes a while to do, but it is definitely worth the time and effort. This works best on thick hair, (which mine is most definitely not), but I have found that using little clips to secure the bun makes it stay in a little better.

This is only one of the pretty and feminine hairstyles available with illustrated instructions on the In Timely Fashion website. The link below will take you directly to the hairstyles page.

http://intimelyfashion.com/main/?cat=10

The Importance of Encouragement

I love working children, though many times it is quite a challenge. There is one particular little boy in my NBT class who has been more than a little difficult to deal with. He seems to be always doing something he's not supposed to, without even realizing it. Today I noticed that whenever my head teacher would mention that she was watching to see who was the quietest, the most still booster with the biggest smile, he would sit right up in his chair and give the biggest cheezy grin imaginable. He really was trying to be good today, but at first he seemed very discouraged about it. It occurred to me that, while we always pointed out when he was disobeying, we hadn't been pointing out when he was doing right. I began to praise him for any ways in which he was being good, and pretty soon, he was happy and interested in class, and behaving much better than he had been.

How many times do we neglect to encourage those around us, pointing out every fault, but ignoring everything good they are doing? A little encouragement can indeed go a long way, if only we will give it.

Sympathy

Last night at prayer meeting, one of the ladies we were praying with said that sometimes all people need is someone who knows how they feel.

Today I had to go to the bank. There's one teller that I always seem to get, and today was no exception. I noticed right away that his voice was funny, like he was sick or something. I mentioned it, and he told me that he had just found out that a good buddy of his had passed away the day before. He was obviously devastated, but he had to work anyway, and was determined to do his job.

I never know what to say in situations like this. I said I was sorry for his loss, but could think of no other way to help him but hurry through my business and leave him in peace. (Although, since he was the only teller open at that moment, peace is perhaps not the best word for it.)

I think he could see that I had sympathy for him, though, and after all, God did put me right there at that moment for a reason. I just hope I did what He meant me to!

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
~Romans 12:15~

Freedom

With freedom comes responsibility.

I have been reminded of this principle recently as I have been driving myself places more often. It is such a blessing to have the ability to go places by myself, but I now have no excuse to put off those things which I have always said I wanted to do, but couldn't actually do because I had no way of getting there. I am now faced with the choice to either do what I ought to, or put it off. It is easy to say that I want to do what is right, but wanting to makes absolutely no difference unless I am willing to exert the effort to actually do it when the time comes.

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
~James 4:17

I’m Welting!

No, the title is not a typo. : ) Mommy and I made up the word “welting” while we were out running errands last Friday. It is a combination of “wilting” and “melting”, and as it was a very warm day, and I had forgotten to bring some water with me, and we were driving the car that did not have air conditioning, it was not long into our afternoon of shopping before we were both “welting”.

The day after that terribly tiring trip, we had to do our annual day-before-the-recital-frantic-thrift-store-hopping-trying-to-find-a-dress-for-Gwennie shopping excursion. This time, I was resolved to have at least a somewhat more enjoyable trip and not die of exhaustion afterwards. : ) There are some helpful tips I have gleaned from several ladies over the years that make running errands during the summer much more pleasant, and I thought I would share them with you all.

If one is going to visit more than two stores, food and water are a necessity!
I once read somewhere that hungry shoppers purchase more unnecessary stuff than if they were not hungry. (I tested this out on my family members, and it seems to be quite true.) I also read that the sensation of hunger often accompanies thirst, and that if one is thirsty, he will often also feel hungry. So water is important, not only to keep you hydrated in the summer heat, but also to keep away the “munchy” feeling that can make you buy those extra things that you really don’t need –those things that, upon arriving home and unpacking your purchases, you look at and wonder, “why did I ever buy that?” : )

Bringing a cooler can make one’s trip much more pleasant.
If you’re going to be out for a while on a hot day, having something cold to drink is much better than having something that’s as hot as the car it’s been sitting in. : )

Know exactly what you need and stay focused!
Now, there are two kinds of stores to which this does not easily apply (at least for my family) –thrift stores and antique stores, since they are designed for browsing. : ) Other than that, it is much more efficient to keep on task, rather than spending all one’s time and energy on the first store or two, and being “shopped out” by the middle of one’s trip.

Two drivers are better than one.
Mommy and I usually do our errands together, because it is more efficient that way. This has the added benefit, however, of providing an extra driver, in case one of us gets tired and doesn’t want to drive.

Of course, the most obvious option for making summer shopping easier would be to start out in the morning, before it gets too warm.

Any other suggestions?

Grocery Shopping

Today nearly everyone in my household was sick --except for me. Tristan (my brother) is still recovering from a cough, Daddy, who has the same thing, has just begun to improve, and Mommy has just come down with it. Thankfully, I am not sick at present, having started the cycle of sickness. This means that I get to take care of everything (well, almost) at home until everyone is better. (Which is actually really fun…like playing house, except with a real house!)
It is a great opportunity to learn how to do things on my own, but still have Mommy around to make sure I don’t mess up. : )

One of those things that I had never done on my own before was grocery shopping. And since this was the day we usually do grocery shopping, and Mommy was in no shape to do it with me, and seeing as I can now drive by myself, that task fell to me. Now, just to clarify, I have been grocery shopping before --in fact, I have gone grocery shopping with my family since before I can remember-- but helping Mommy shop and shopping on my own are two very different things.

But I figured it would be a good experience for me, for grocery shopping is a very important skill to have, so I made up my list and off I went.

Now, driving places by myself is a rather new skill for me, and I had never driven to the grocery store alone before. I got there in one piece, however, and even managed to park the car inside the space without having to see-saw back and forth. After calling Daddy to tell him I had arrived safely, I headed into the store.

The actual shopping was pretty easy, since Mommy has been training me for years, and it was no longer than usual before I had gathered everything on my list, and was ready to check out. Thankfully, it was just after lunchtime, and there were not many people in line. I found a line that had just enough people in it to give me time to put my things on the conveyer belt before the lady in front of me had finished paying, and then it was my turn.

This was the dreaded moment. I was going to have to pay and bag my groceries, presumably at the same time. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage it, but thankfully, the list was a short one this week, and I was able to wait to start bagging until after I had paid.

The rest of my trip was pretty uneventful. (Thankfully!) But it was definitely an adventure. At least now I know I am capable of doing shopping by myself, although I am looking forward to Mommy getting better so she can come with me! : )