Day 264 of 365

I'm tired of being cold.

The weird thing is that I didn't really realize I was tired of it until yesterday. I always have goosebumps. My toes are always cold. My arms are always cold. My nose is always cold. And I just figured out why.

It's cold in my house.

At night the heat doesn't ever kick on since it's set for 55 degrees and during the day the setting is the same. The days I'm home I override it and set it anywhere between 64 and 67, but never, ever, have we ever, no matter how cold it is, had the heat over 69 degrees.

But here's where the bigger problem lies. I spend most of my days at home wearing either jeans or sweats. And a t-shirt. No sweatshirt, no fleece. A t-shirt. No wonder my arms are always so cold!

My husband owns probably a dozen or more sweatshirts and fleece. I own one sweatshirt, and I keep that one downstairs for when I'm in the basement. So each and every day when that heat is setting at 64 or 65 or even 67 I'm in my t-shirt. And I'm cold.

Since turning up the heat isn't an option because of our power-conservation attempts, today I am going shopping. Shopping for something to wear with my jeans and sweats. Something that won't pick up all the extra thread I accumulate as I'm sewing. Or, if it's warm and snuggly enough, something that can pick up as many extra threads as it wants.

I'm on a mission to be warm.

I'm also on a mission to start hubby's baseball quilt. Have lots of big squares cut, but haven't figured out what I'm doing with them yet.

Day 263 of 365

Who could have predicted that something that happened in 2007 in Indianapolis combined with something that happened in February of this year would come full circle today.

Back in the summer of 2007 we took our cross-country tent camping trip across the United States. From Idaho to Maine and all the way back. Lots of miles, lots of campgrounds, some hotels thrown in, restaurants shown on the Food Network and Travel Channel, and touristy-stops along the way. And in particular, lots of sports-themed stops.

Turner Field for an Atlanta Braves baseball game. Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. National Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Field of Dreams (from the Kevin Costner movie) in Iowa. Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was of particular note. Being a non-race car fan I've watched the Indy 500 a couple times but haven't been too interested. But when we stopped at the raceway and a Richard Petty Driving Experience was happening, my husband made me take lots (and lots) of pictures of cars. He especially wanted Tony Stewart's car. I had not a clue who Tony Stewart was.

Fast forward to February of this year. Recovering from shoulder surgery, in a sling, unable to drive, sitting at my daughter's apartment while she was at work, and no cable TV. Flipping through the channels and finding the Daytona 500 about the only thing on. I sat there and watched that race. And enjoyed it. (Granted I was on pain pills at the time.)

Right before I started this blog in March I was able to move back home. Told my hubby about enjoying the race. He suggested we start watching those NASCAR races. So we did. Every weekend they've raced since March, I've settled myself into my recliner to watch the races. For the first few weeks, I always picked who I thought would win the day's race - based on who had the prettiest car. Wouldn't you know it, for several weeks in a row I was always right.

After a couple months, I started liking one driver over the others - Carl Edwards. He won quite a bit and had great poise off camera. So I started rooting for Carl every week. My husband kept rooting for Tony Stewart, even though he didn't win a race all season - until these last few weeks.

Tony and Carl have been close in points through these few weeks. Today was the last of the Sprint Cup Series Championship races. Who could have predicted that the two drivers - my husband's longtime favorite racer and my driver who had lots of pretty cars throughout the season - would wind up in a tie in points. Except...

A tie in the series goes to the driver with the most wins in the Championship Series that was held these last few weeks. That would be the driver who won today. Tony Stewart.

So congrats to my husband who has been cheering his driver on for years. Now I know why I took all those darn pictures years ago.

I don't know why I took today's picture out my den window, though. Sun rising in the east shining on the dusting of snow on the mountains to the west.