Bitter cold

It has been bitterly, bitterly cold for the past week. Last Saturday I had a zoom call with friends (who all live in more temperate climates), and I showed them this forecast:

Yes, it was a forecast for an entire week of below zero temperatures. BLECH. But I decided to just put on my big girl panties and deal with it. I do live in Montana, after all!

On Thursday, however, my car decided it just wasn't worth it and it threw in the towel. At -19 degrees, it just wouldn't start. So I drove the truck back up to the house and called in for an unexpected day of PTO.

Thursday turned out to be a lovely day at home. I finished a book and read another full one, did some yoga, rearranged my bedroom, and witnessed Mike and Rose doing EFC. Lovely!

photobomb from Doug!

 

By late afternoon, Mike convinced me that I should just preemptively admit defeat (on behalf of my car) for the next day as well. The "high" temperature was still supposed to be below zero on Friday, and the low overnight was supposed to be in the -20s. So I called in and turned off my alarm for the next day. I always feel guilty when I cancel work, but given the forecast I think my body was also looking forward to a brief reprieve, and I appreciated a good night of sleep with no anxiety about starting my car the next day!

Friday was a lovely day in which I didn't cross the threshold of our house even once! I deep cleaned my bedroom floor, read another book, and then had a sleepover with Rose :)

Saturday was still cold, which made it a great day for baking. Somewhat hilariously, Weather Underground called -2 "warmer" than Friday. Yes, technically, I suppose. But not in any really meaningful sense, since -2 is still freaking COLD!

Today (Sunday) was marginally warmer - we actually got above zero! HOORAY!! But the bad news was that Mike noticed that my truck had a flat tire. Like pancake flat. UGH. So I "helped" him to change it. Then I drove it down to my car to make sure my car would start.

Mike was convinced that the 30 degree increase in temperature would mean that my car would start with no problem, but he was wrong. Turns out my battery was completely dead. Ugh. (So glad I didn't realize that on Monday morning!) Rose and I took a "quick" trip into Great Falls to get it replaced, and found out that everyone else's batteries were also dead, and most stores were sold out! Thankfully we found ONE in stock battery for my vehicle at the THIRD store we went too. And this was just an auto parts store so the guy said he wasn't supposed to actually replace it for me, but I succeeded at looking pathetic enough that he did it. I'm so grateful!

So that was my four-day weekend. Unexpected, with some highs and some lows, but delightful over all. 

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!