Friday, July 8, 2011

Summer Slowdown

It's WAY too hot and humid here in the summer. Seriously. It makes everyone grumpy and sticky and lethargic. Our apartment is under-air conditioned--mostly because of the way the windows and the beds are configured. Nobody sleeps with even a sheet on for almost three months in our house. The sound of air conditioners by the end of the evening makes me agitated, but it is, of course, preferable to the feeling of thighs stuck together with sweat.
And can we just talk about the subway platforms? It is unbelievable. You think it's hot above ground? Just walk down those steps...A sauna has got nothing on a NYC subway platform in July. You hope your train is air conditioned, and most are, but every once in a while? The air conditioning is not working, and however hot you felt before stepping into the car? Well, too bad you didn't stay there because now it's worse. Now there are a whole bunch of human bodies a couple inches from your own. The other day I got on a subway car and this guy yells out: "Togetherness!" It was pretty funny...
The other problem with the heat/humidity is that it takes away all my enthusiasm for using anything heat producing, like the stove, or dryer. I totally don't feel like cooking.
Portland, Oregon? Your HIGH temperature is our LOW a couple of days this coming week. Just think about that for a minute. When you hit 73 degrees in the middle of the day and you can take off your jacket for a few minutes? That is as cold as it gets in the middle of the night sometimes around here. It isn't pretty.
We've had a very mellow week. I've taken the kids out to go rollerblading a couple of times. They are getting OK stable. But the sweating and the lethargy? It almost makes me just want to go see a matinee movie in an over air conditioned theater every day of the summer and call it good in terms of summer enrichment opportunities. Honestly, the way our family looks at it, summer is a time to catch up financially from all the over spending we do on the kids during the school year. We've been very much enjoying having big stretches of time with nothing planned. The kids are reading like crazy, we're doing some art projects and finishing some things up from the school year.
We're also hoping that we are buying an apartment across the street. We meet Monday to sign the contract. But I'm nervous--it is being shown again this Sunday to someone looking at it for the third time. If they make an all cash offer or offer much more than what we have negotiated, I think we've lost it. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

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