It’s been hot. Hot, hot…HOT! The Great Northwest has been experiencing a record breaking heatwave, and we have been in survival mode. When we realized that the Ziploc baggies filled with ice, and stripping down to our undies while sitting on the floor in front of a fan wasn’t working for us anymore (ice was melting faster than we could keep the baggies filled), it was “pack the bags and over the river and through the woods to my husband’s parents’ house we go”. They graciously, and I mean GRACIOUSLY, opened their home to our brood of wild animals, and we’ve been camping here for most of the week. They have air conditioning…we don’t.
Why, you may ask, don’t we have A/C? Well, apparently “out here” A/C is not considered a necessity, thus they do not build homes with air conditioning in them. We bought our home four years ago, brand new, and if we wanted to have A/C it would have cost us several thousand dollars more to have it installed. Since simply buying the home was miracle enough for us, scraping up an additional three thousand dollars wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Joel and I are pretty adaptable people too, and figured we could buck up for the one week of summer weather we get per year.
We’ve managed to survive the past three summers of upper 90’s/low triple digit summer highs, but not this year. “Grumpy Amy” just couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t do the whole “human jungle-gym” when the indoor temp is registering close to 111*. My whole M.K. heritage (and pride of growing up in Africa) has flown right out the window, and I haven’t once felt guilty about it. Nope, as I sit here with the cool breeze of air conditioning gently blowing on my neck, I do not feel an ounce of regret, failure or shame. Me and my clan are happy campers, and I couldn’t be more content.
This blog post, while completely random and seemingly pointless, is mostly a “shout out” to my in-laws. They have spared my husband and children from the wrath of “Grumpy Amy”, which is a priceless gift to all of us. Times like this are a huge reminder to me of how absolutely blessed I am to have such a sweet and generous family. While the heatwave is blasting it’s way through the Great Northwest, we are “shiny, happy people” sittin’ pretty in a home full of (not just) love and blessed (oh sweet blessed) air conditioning.
Time for a nice cool glass of lemonade…
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Nothing more horrifying than grumpy Amy indeed…I’m never ashamed of not showing the “MK spirit”…because I expect more when I am in America.
Amy, At the same time I must shoud out to my husband who calls me early Tuesday and says “check in time is noon”. He booked us at a local hotel with swimming pool until today. All in the name of sparing everyone from grumpy elizabeth. Who needs air when we have the blessings of those who love us right?
We don’t have a/c either, but do have window units that work really well. The warmest we have gotten inside is the upper 70’s which is still very doable. Still, I am using the heat to not cook for most of the week.
Glad you have family to camp out with!
Born and raised on the east coast… gotta have A/C!