We headed home on Sunday afternoon and there had been a few inches of snow while we were gone so Justin started shoveling right away. I brought Ben and Tessa in and it didn't take me long to realize that something was not right. It felt pretty cold inside (it was frigid outside) and when I touched the wall to balance while taking off my shoes it felt really cold. I looked at the thermostat and it was 40 degrees. WHAAAAT? Of course, on a holiday weekend, on one of the coldest days of the year so far, something was malfunctioning with our furnace. Justin called the heating and cooling company that we use (our thermostat malfunctioned last year the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I think there is an unpleasant trend happening...) and some wonderful on call employee showed up in twenty minutes and found the problem, which was a worn out part in the igniter. But he didn't have one with him and had to hunt one down. Meanwhile, I turned on the fireplace and the temperature started climbing one degree at a time into the mid 40's. Evidence indicated that the heat stopped soon after we left because of how cold the house was and also how cold the woodwork and floors remained even after the heat was on. A few boards of the laminate floor even had split apart (they went back together after heating up. Most upsetting, I was going to make a pizza for supper and realized the freezer was defrosting. The repairman said the cold could have caused the refrigerator to stop working (I don't remember the part that was affected) and it might start working when it warmed up but it might not. Justin had to leave for a trip for work at 4:00 a.m. the next morning which would leave me alone for the week to eat out of coolers and the deep freezer in the garage while trying to obtain a new one.
We cleared out the freezer and fortunately it started humming again soon after that. So at least I was able to clean it while it was empty! Yayyyy...but seriously that was a huge relief. Through this two hour ordeal Ben and Tessa were OK. We bundled them up although they did not want to leave their outdoor clothes on and Ben, the little polar bear that he is, didn't seem to care at all.
We tried to get him to wear mittens but he wouldn't. I am so thankful for those people who work on call for these situations! Everyone gets really upset about retail workers working on holidays but people forget the many other people who do. Allan seemed fine even though he spent the weekend in colder temperatures than he has ever felt in his life. When we arrived home it was around 5:00 so at the end of the sunniest part of the day where the house heats up just from the sun regardless of how cold it was so it was most likely in the 30s at night. Poor guy.
By the time we went to bed the house had heated up to 65 degrees which normally would feel cold but by that time felt so so wonderfully warm! I am still very grateful for the refrigerator every time I open it and am monitoring the freezer.
I had planned to put up the tree that evening before Justin's trip but it was postponed until a later time and I got to it yesterday. There are still boxes and packing material and other decorations that need to be organized so I will not show the finished product. But here is a preview:
He hasn't changed. This happens every year. He spent most of yesterday climbing it but he hasn't bothered it today unless it happened when we were out of the house this morning.
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