Keeping Cool

Even by Gulf Coast standards, it's H-O-T! For the past week, we have seen triple digit heat, and that's without factoring in the heat index. Yesterday's temperature soared to a scorching thermometer busting 101 degrees! And while this record setting heatwave is music to the ears of power companies throughout the South, the rest of us cringe at the the mere thought of our sky rocketing bill.

Our air, both upstairs and down, has run non-stop for days. And what's worse, there's no apparent relief in sight, at least according to our meteorologist's, 50% chance of being right, forecast.

Just the other day my dad shared with me an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about Americans and their dependency on air conditioning. (You can read the entire WSJ article here.) The article cites a man so extreme in thinking that he blames air-conditioning for just about all of America's flaws and stands by his view that we've grown so accustomed to AC that we couldn't survive without it.

Now while I'm 100% positive that we can live without AC (just ask any coastal resident who's endured weeks without power due to a hurricane), why on Earth would we want to? I like to think that if God didn't want us to have air-conditioning, He wouldn't have made the South so darn toasty!

I am, and always have been, warm natured. Bret likes to say I run hot, and trust me, he's not trying to score brownie points by throwing a little flattery my way. When I was expecting Gillian Grace it only got worse. I was constantly hot and sweating like a you know what, you know where, especially at night. Getting comfortable was a chore and staying that way meant making some changes. We kept the house on a chilly 70 during the day and a frigid 68 at night. Bret would go to bed dressed like an Alaskan ice fisherman, while I laid simmering in shorts and tank top.

Fortunately for us (and our bank account), these days we keep our thermostat set between a more reasonable 72 and 74 during the day and between 70 and 71 at night.

Could our monthly power bill be lower? Sure! Am I willing to be uncomfortable just to save a little? No way!

I'll cut back in other areas, just please don't mess with my AC!

But thankfully, we Southerners do know a thing or two about how to keep cool, especially in the summertime.











How do y'all keep cool?

Go ahead and grab something cold to sip and come on over. Gillian Grace swears the water's just fine!




{Click here to check out yesterday's giveaway and don't forget to check back this evening at five for today's giveaway from My Creative Side.}