Today we visited MIL, bringing our daughter with us. We also brought a box of See's Candy, her favorite. (Don't worry, I've been good!) It was nice to see her, and I think she was very happy to see us as well. I'd like to have her over for Christmas day, but our house is so cold, I'm afraid she'd be miserable.

We've been using space heaters and one of them bit the dust. The other one is not up to the task. We've also had some frustration with insufficient electrical outlets. The tech who looked at our furnace said it's unfixable. A new system would be very expensive... and time consuming to install, even if we have someone else do it.

Hence, Hubby and daughter I have spent an inordinate amount of time under electric blankets. Mostly we've just been cuddling together, watching Youtube, talking, lavishing attention on the cats (who are perfectly happy to have a warm lap). It's too cold to do much of anything else. I'd wanted to do something about our heating situation before winter came, but dealt with rental property instead.

Having a cold house has had it's advantages. We're still using our teeny weeny refrigerator that holds practically nothing. With temps in the low 40s, we've been able to leave all our produce out. I'm sure we could rough it all the way through a california winter, but I don't want to leave MIL at the rest home on Christmas day. I guess I'll brave the crowds tomorrow and pick up a heater or two.

I promise, we are not always this slow to deal with things. I'm just tired of houses and their many problems. At this point I'm perfectly content to stay huddled under a blanket if it means continuing this nice break.