Bring On the Heat

Bring on the heat.....oh wait.....Maryland brought it already. This is a year of records and I'm not sure I like being a part of it. We had record snowfall this winter and now record heat this summer. For what seemed like months we drove by the snow dunes on the sides of the roads and especially in the overflow parking lots of BWI airport. We live minutes from the airport and every morning I would drive by the mountains of snow that they moved off the runways and into overflow parking. Record setting. Now.....we get the heat. Yesterday we hit 105 with a heat index of close to 110. I had the central air running our house all day as well as window units upstairs and fans and our house never got cooler than 82 degrees. Granted we are part of a program with our provider that they control our air during peak hours (and yesterday was the definition of "peak"). Also our insulation is probably as effective as an umbrella made of gauze...but still.....82 in our house was as good as it got. Poor dog literally moved from vent to vent in search of the cool air.



But- we may have found the secret to Ben's sleeping success.....HEAT. He napped harder and longer than ever yesterday and I'll attribute it to heat. Hot temps make everyone feel groggy and miserable and I think poor Benj was included in that. So it's a catch 22....do I enjoy getting more work done during the day while Ben naps, even if it means I'm constantly damp and gross or do I prefer shorter naps but being hydrated and cool?

Heat not only makes people gross, it makes other things gross as well. Take for instance my diaper bag today. I was driving Ben to drop him off at the babysitter's house and was heading into work. It's about a 25-30 minute drive and what I didn't realize was that the nice, fresh 8 oz bottle I had just pumped had flipped upside down in my diaper bag and the contents were covering everything....clothes, diapers, toys. I've smelled my fair share of sour milk.....the milk that Ben spits up, the milk that has been sitting out too long on the counter because I haven't washed bottles lately, the milk on the blankets and burp cloths. Gross. Absolutely gross. So....the thought of my diaper bag in the 100+ heat filled with breastmilk was enough to make me gag on the spot. I could practically see the bag and the contents inside growing....growing all sorts of disgusting things that only bleach or fire could dispose of. I got to the house and went inside and made an attempt to clean it as best as I could. Thank goodness for AC.

Here's to hoping for cooler days to come.