my bones are cold

okay, okay. it's been so incredibly cold here for the last week or so. face-breaking cold, or as some people say, 'butt cold' (sometimes my bum gets cold and stays cold when the rest of me warms up so maybe that's what it's referring to). when i was a student walking around on campus in this kind of cold sometimes i'd think about how great it would be to have a really hairy face. then i'd say a prayer of thanks that i didn't.


as you can see from the photo of our thermometer, it's not just below freezing, it's below zero - most of the time. just to give you an idea of what kind of cold we're talking here, we've experienced above freezing temperatures between the hours of 2:00 and 3:00 in the last two days. some people have considered it a heat wave and pulled out their flip flops but then they find themselves at home with their feet immersed in lukewarm water while they look up deadly frostbite on the internet.

here's a photo of our back doorknob from the inside. notice the frost encrusted on the strike plate and lock button. this is serious stuff.

fortunately we have like six different kinds of hot chocolate in our cupboard (when it rains it pours) to choose from - not to mention the various herbal teas. heat up the core first, then get the hypothermia victim out of their clothes and put them in a sleeping bag with two scoops of hot chocolate mix. that's what they taught us in first aid.

top model addict

over Christmas break we did some ranch-sitting in Spring City. besides enjoying the house and the views from the house we took care of the cats, dog, horse, mules, chickens and ducks. we also went snow shoeing and ice skating. oh, right and once we were able figure out the remote controls (plural) we watched cable tv too.

to my delight VH1 was having an America's Next Top Model marathon. i won't deny it... i love Top Model. i love the elimination process. i love the ridiculous challenges. i love the super model drama. i love the crazy guests/assistants. i love it all! but i especially love the outrageous photo shoots. this is one 'reality' show that i unabashedly enjoy. i was introduced to the show in 2004 when Yoanna House was in the running and won (we were on vacation in Port Antonio and had cable tv - i remember it well). i was hooked but it was all in vain since at home we don't have a tv, let alone cable. dry spell of all dry spells! until two weeks ago when i was lucky enough to find it.

well, i watched about six hours total (spread out over a few days). one night i watched it for two hours straight then went to bed. all night my dreams were Top Model. i played the role of judge, assistant, guest, photographer... there were even a few 'episodes' where i was one of the girls aching to be the America's Next.

it was one of the worst sleeps i'd had in a while.

but, like any other addiction i wanted more. i knew my cable tv days were numbered (you can't ranch-sit forever you know). so i watched more and even bore my testimony of Top Model when my sister-in-law came to visit. yeah, it's a conscious decision and a good thing we don't have a tv.