Bring on the Arctic!

Middle Munchkin said to me the other day, "I forget, is life about the journey or the destination?"

It's the journey, let me tell you. Most definitely the journey.

When hubby says to me this morning, "Why are you so happy?" I answer, "What is the alternative?"

So the furnace goes out on a night that it is snowing when we are expecting a series of insanely cold days.

I could get angry and let myself sit around and steep in the unfairness of it all; or I could put on my flannel jammies beneath my sweat pants, a t-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt beneath my hoodie, my coat, my black knit gloves (that still allow me to type), double pairs of socks and my winter boots.

I'm happy that I have enough warm clothes to dress in layers.

I  could bitch and moan and be a miserable person for my family to live with; or I could haul my #ss out the door at 8am to shovel the driveway so that the repairman can pull right up to my door when he arrives. Bonus: shoveling snow warms a body pretty good. Double bonus: my house doesn't feel quite so cold when I  come back in.

I am happy that we understood what was happening to the furnace before we went to bed last night so that we were able to set up space heaters for the kitchen and bathroom pipes and put all the faucets on a slow drip so that we did not wake this morning to the frigid temps AND frozen, busted water pipes.

I could worry and stress about what this event is going to do to our (already fragile) budget; or I could appreciate that we have a budget and are on top of the status of our inflow and outflow so that this repair, though not necessarily a welcome expense, is one that we will be able to incorporate and recover from.

I am happy that I am not waiting to call the repair man because I have no idea how I would pay him.

I am happy that we have a nice, electric space heater upstairs and the kids were able to sleep in relative comfort last night.

I am happy my little dog sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, especially when winter comes indoors!

I am happy that I see sunshine peeking through the gray filled sky.

I am happy that the furnace man has arrived and pronounced our troubles "easy to fix."

I am happy for the sour cream spice cake that is in the oven. Nearly done. Going to be warm and delicious.

I am happy that, on a whim, I stocked up on hot chocolate and cappuccino mix at the store yesterday morning.

We have heard reports of 12-17 inches in our area. Thankfully, the driveway only had about 8.5.

....or maybe 10.5...

Hello Sun. I am very happy to see you.

To my friend Justine who is growing pineapples in her yard. Don't you miss Kansas?