Our Heated Family

Our Air Conditioning went out literally when I was typing the last blog. I noticed that the temperature downstairs was starting to get uncomfortable, and of course this happens on a Saturday night, where we are bound to not have anyone out to fix it for a few days.

After finding out they wouldn't be here until Tuesday, I had to begin to cancel my plans for next week. I was going to see Holly and her Twins to go swimming, and this really bummed us out since we haven't seen them in a long time. My family can't live in 115 degree temperatures without AC though, so it had to be done. Thankfully the upstairs unit was still working, so at least we could survive, and not have to live in a hotbox!

After being in the hot house for a few days I began to think back to my childhood...

When I was growing up my parents always kept the house at a "bareable" temperature, but it was not necessarily comfortable. The summers in Arizona, were about as hot as they are here in Vegas. At night we would open our windows to let cool air in (since there's about a 20 degree difference in the desert at night), and during the day we would survive on fan air blowing on us to keep us cool. My parents were pros at saving energy - and money. Never a wasted bit of energy in our house. No lights left on in rooms that are empty, no fans left on, no computers left running, no TVs unwatched, etc...

On the other hand, Brian's family was completely different. I remember getting a chill in the summertime walking into their house it was so cold. When Brian's brother and sisters were still living at home, there would be lights left on EVERYWHERE, and unwatched TVs etc... This shocked me the first time I went to their house.

Now that I have my own family, I try to find a happy medium between the two ways. I still try to be consious of the energy we are using in our household like the way I was raised, but we also try to keep ourselves comfortable. If someone is hot, it's ok to turn down the AC a couple degrees. Ok, so Brian has me spoiled now. He doesn't want to sweat in the summer, so he doesn't mind keeping it at a nice temperature.

After a couple days of it being 88 degrees in the house, it really jolted my memory, and reminded me of those days where my parents either told us to "turn on the fan" in the summer or "put a layer on" in the winter. The other thing it reminded me, was that it actually wasn't too hard to live with the AC up a couple of degrees higher than I was keeping it. Hey - Now 84 seems COLD!

The AC repair guy came out and found out that a motor in the unit had been halfway melted through, which caused the breaker to trip. He replaced the motor, and since it was under warranty it wasn't that big of a deal.

So, maybe after this, I can take a bit of advise from my past, and save our family a few dollars by keeping the AC up a few degrees during the day - Hey it's my turn to tell my kids to take off a layer : ). They are both boys, and according to Brian you should be able to just slap a pair of shorts on them in the summer, and they are good to go!

But you know that we are going to be chilled in the evening when Daddy gets home (and I'm not complaining)!!