Turn the thing off, ok?

Did you know my neighbors have their air conditioner on right now? Well, you would if you sat here with me. They never turn it off, its the air conditioner or heater depending on the time of year. I mean its right outside my bedroom window, coming on all night and then off and on and off. I don't like to turn ours on until it hits like 85-90 in the house during the day.

I open my windows at night to cool the house off. I like the fresh air, and the way that it cools off considerably in my room by about 10 pm. I like most of the sounds of the neighborhood, cars driving by, dogs barking, the wind blowing, just not my neighbors heater/air conditioner.

To me it seems a total waste of electricity to have it running year round. Honestly, I turn the heater on a few times during the coldest part of the winter, you know, when the house is cooler than 58 during the day. I sleep better when its chilly, so I don't turn it on at night then. We do turn it on on Christmas morning. I know those of you in colder areas probably think that 58 is pretty darn warm, but you have to remember that our extreme temperatures are in the summer, when it averages 110 outside. Nothing works to cool you off, but sitting naked in front of a fan whilst pouring ice water on your body. It is easier to warm up and simpler to work with the cold, to a point. You just learn to layer add more clothes until you look roly poly. Yes, I know. I lived in the mountains outside of Denver for a year. I felt the cold, I learned the fine art of layering. And I loved it.

What temperature do you keep your house at? Does it change from winter to summer? Do you even have a heater or air conditioner? If not what do you do to mitigate the rising or falling temperatures?

Day Dreaming in Green

I am irritated.
It was hot today. I just turned on the air conditioner because the thermostat upstairs read 86. 86! HOT. If I hadn't been so lost in a book that I could barely think past that world, maybe I would have come up and turned the air on earlier. That would have been the smart thing since right now it is so hot my butt is sweating while I type. Yes, it is gross, but true.

I had a brilliant idea today. Nothing life altering, but it would make looking out of my back window easier on me. As of this moment my backyard is a dirt lot with a few trees thrown about. It has foxtails everywhere. The girls keep bringing them into the house and they are poky little buggers. It is my own fault that the yard looks as it does. I should have cleaned it up weeks ago. I knew what would happen, but when we were getting rain the plants were so green and it made me happy to glance into a lush green backyard. Now I regret letting them go. I could have avoided this. Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda.

I was at Costco today and stood looking at the synthetic grass. I have heard many good things about it. The only bad I have heard is that it gets hot. Well, that makes sense. You spray a little water on it, and it cools off, or so I have been told by someone who has had it for a few years. Now I don't want a huge patch of it. Maybe even just the twelve by seven foot piece they sell at Costco, would be enough. I want our backyard to look like a place to play. I want the girls to have a place to dig, and a place to run, possibly even a place to swing. (Not saying I personally could build that third link, but it would be awesome, no?)

I spent the afternoon day dreaming about the possibilities in our backyard. I even drew a few pictures of what I would like it to look like. There is a guy in our neighborhood who does landscaping, and maybe I should call him and get an estimate of what it would cost to have him put in a sandbox and the rock, as well as cleaning out the weeds. I am positive that it will cost more than I am willing to pay, but it needs to be done. I can't do this without Will, well I probably could (having strapping brothers who are the best guys in the world.) If only it were already done. If only we had done it long ago. We actually planned to get the rock put in this year, but credit cards and army has kind of put it on the back burner.

Swinging In the Breeze

I want a clothesline. I want the OPTION of using the desert sun to dry clothes namely jeans that take forever, and unmentionables, you know, the stuff that takes a beating in the wash. I am not sure if it is allowed in our neighborhood, but Will is totally against it, as he thinks they look "white trash." Apparently he isn't alone in this, to me they look farm life and like a way to save energy AND a way to utilize the year round heat we have here. No frozen undies for us.

Check this article out, too. Crazy! The restrictions on these things makes me want one even more. Call me a crazy home birthing, extended breastfeeding, green living, hippy. I dare you (And I will grow out my armpit and leg hair and SHOW IT TO YOU, so there.) My own personal protest.

I would ideally like one of these drying racks. But I think that our patio cover would be a good place to put a couple of these retractable lines. They wouldn't be an eyesore, nor would anyone really see our hanging laundry. I already have a line in my laundry room. I hang Will's underpants in there (mostly because he has expensive taste in undies and they cost $20 a pair, so it is a way to keep them going longer- the elastic wears out more slowly.His undies can continue their inside dry time.) I hang the fleece jammies that Rhayn and Gwen have, they stay softer and do not pill that way. I lay sweaters on our table. I sun Gwen's cloth diapers once a month or so. But right now? I am doing 6 loads of laundry and one has 3 pairs of jeans that could be dried in no time in the 85 degree temperature outside.

I love the idea of standing in the morning sun, hanging up a load of laundry, watching it sway in the breeze. Taking shirts off of the line and smelling the fresh smell. I remember that smell from childhood. I remember the crispness of shirts and jeans that were line dried. I remember and I want my kids to remember it, too.