Baby, It's Cold Inside!!!

Cold has never been an issue for me. I normally sleep with a fan blowing on me 365 days a year. I turn on my A/C in March and keep it running through October. I wear a winter coat only when we are well and truly in to the teens - and even then it just depends on the wind-chill. Hey, it happens more than you think here in North Carolina. It has been a long-standing issue in my marriage because my poor husband was slowly freezing to death under 14 layers of blankets while I was kicking the one thin sheet I used for sleeping off!

Then forty began it's lengthy approach. Honestly, no other birthday/age makes quite the entrance of the big 4-0. Somewhere around September something weird happened to me - I felt cold. Not just a 'chill' but out and out COLD. I found myself walking around in layers and asking "Is it cold in here?" My husband found this wildly amusing because it seemed that he was finally going to be able to live in a climate that was comfortable to him while I was stumbling around the house like Nanook of the North!! I think he was also enjoying all of the extra 'close' time we were having. Little did he know that it really had nothing to do with romance and everything to do with the fact that he throws off an enormous amount of body heat. Sorry, honey.

The sun could be shining, the temps could be in the 50's or 60's and I was dressed for a blizzard. I gave up trying to be fashionable and found myself just grabbing clothes out of the drawers just so that I could be warm. It wasn't pretty some days; there were layers of shirts and sweaters, socks - none of which matched. Most women get hot flashes at this age, I was slowly going in to a deep freeze. Weird!

This whole cold-phenomenon came to a head at a recent doctor appointment. There's nothing more painful for a person who feels nothing but cold than sitting in a cold, sterile room at 8:30 in the morning (BEFORE the office has even had a CHANCE to heat up) in a paper gown! When the doctor is running late!! I mean, come on! After 40 minutes of shivering and shaking (and other indignities) I was finally able to put my layers back on only to find that in my haste to dress warmly, I went out with two different shoes on!!!

The slow freeze has slowly gone to my brain, I guess. I can hardly wait to see what 41 has in store for me!

* The above is my entry to the Scribbit December Write-Away Contest. For more information on this contest (or if you want to read a really good blog) go to http://scribbit.blogspot.com/search/label/contests.*