A Nip in the Air

Question: What could possibly prompt an 11-year-old boy to go out sledding in sub-zero temperatures twice in one evening?

(Hint: This involves that redhead.)

Answer: That redhead!

I've said before that mothers are always the last to know. Carter just finished telling me after supper that his stomach hurt. I asked if it was something he ate and he said, no, the girl next door punched him in the gut after they got off the bus.

First question: Why? No reason, he said. Second question: Then why were you over sledding with her if she's being mean to you? The answer, now, is obvious. He wasn't over there to spend time with her. Just her friend.

He's over there right now but I figure -- in the naive motherly sort of way -- that eventually it will just get too cold and he'll have to come home!

Today was definitely the first really cold day of almost-winter. It was minus 5 degrees when we left the house this morning with wind chills in the minus teens. Ick.

During work I took a quick break and ran down (well, drove) to the post office in Iola. I swear it was just like a scene from Grumpy Old Men (a movie I love, by the way). We had two old guys trying to out-man each other like they were untouched by the frigid air. "Oh I just love this crisp autumn air," the one guy says. I look at the postmaster (post-mistress?) and would have rolled my eyes but I was afraid they'd freeze that way.

Just stinkin' cold! But I found a way to warm up...

Since hubby had to use the computer when we got home, I plopped on the couch and found -- what else? -- a Christmas movie called The 12 Men of Christmas. I actually kept my coat on until a half hour into it. Then, since the plot involved shooting a calendar of firefighters and rescue men, I was plenty warm. Good movie. (If you're feeling a nip in the air, you can see it on Lifetime or, if you have Charter, watch it On Demand.)

Kind of cool we can generate heat on demand, eh?