Assateague, yo!

Sandy, sandy beaches.  Scenic hikes.  Wild horses.  What else is there to say?

Move Along

BG has been scootching along on her backside for a couple of weeks now, but started crawling in earnest a few days ago.  It's pretty exciting for us, especially since Kiddo didn't start crawling until after he was already walking.  Now that BG's a crawling virtuoso, her favorite things to go to are:

1. Mother, father, or brother.
2. That nook in the living room where we stick the computer and camera cords we sometimes need but don't actually want to put away.
3. The hutch in the kitchen that holds all my baking pans.
4. Kiddo's cars, wherever they are.
5. The bathroom.  Specifically Kiddo's stepping stool. 
6. The broiler beneath the oven.  

Other things our Blue-Eyed Girl has mastered recently?  Nodding, waving and clapping.  It's adorable.

Back Among the Living

Over the past week, it was like my life was slowly draining away.  Sure, we went to the library, the grocery store, the church, the neighbors', but never for long enough to rejuvenate myself completely.  Besides, I always knew we would eventually have to go back to the soul-sucking, heat-emitting black hole which was our apartment.

According to our neighbor, we suffered in ridiculous heat for a repair that took less than a minute's worth of work; it took the electrician longer to walk from his truck to the building than it did to actually fix the problem.  I'm trying not to be bitter.

In short, after 5 ½ tortuous days and nights, the power was restored to our building.  Finally--finally!--we have air conditioning again.

Worth the Drive

We have a new baby nephew within driving distance.  And Brandon didn't have to work on the fourth.  And we didn't have air conditioning in our apartment.  All perfectly good reasons to drive to Pittsburgh for a day away.

It was wonderful to spend the day with Adam and Candace (Kiddo adores "the Pittsburghers"!) and their new baby boy.  We sure love these guys.

9 Months!

Most of BG's 9-month birthday was spent desperately trying to avoid the heat.  Unsuccessfully, I might add. I managed to catch one (clothed) picture, right after she had finished eating some yogurt.

Answering That Age-Old Question

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, or in Alaska (Angie, can we come visit?), you've probably noticed there's a massive heat wave going on right now throughout the country.

(Looking at that picture makes me feel a little nauseous.)

All my life, I've thought I was a summer person; I liked it a little on the warm side.  I owe this to the 11 years I scampered barefoot while living in Las Vegas as a kid.  But we live in DC now and, as anyone who has spent time on the East can tell you, you haven't been hot until you've lived in humidity.

Last Friday night, there was a massive thunderstorm.  Thunderstorms are common here during the summer, but this one was crazy.  I have never seen lightening like that before.  It was like a fireworks show, colors included, with hurricane-like winds.  Two trees next to our apartment fell down as cleanly as if Paul Bunyan had chopped them with his axe.  

In other words, we are experiencing record-high temperatures and we don't have air conditioning.  

Sure we've lived in apartments without air conditioning before, but folks--it's bad.  Fortunately, we still have most of our electricity (except for things like the dishwasher and washer and dryer.  Dang it.), but we try not to use our lights in hopes that it will keep the temperature down.  And we have to bring a flashlight with us when we leave the apartment because there's no lights in the hallway to find the stairwell.  And we're eating way more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than I'm comfortable with because it's too hot to cook.  I know there are people that don't have power at all, even some in our own building, so I really can't complain too much, but it all feels very reminiscent of when we lost power for two days two winters ago.  Except it's already been three days and there's no end in sight.

So we've been doing a lot of this lately:

Which brings us back to that age-old question: Would you rather be hot or cold?  After having lived without  either heating or air conditioning recently, I think I've determined that...

I'd rather have it cold.  No contest.  Layering all my sweaters doesn't sound that bad anymore.  Heck, I'd even shower in the dark again if it meant I had a/c.

This heat is ridiculous.

Seriously, can I get a popsicle?