It’s in the 20s here in Seattle this week, a bit abnormally cold for this area. I’m finally starting to dress more warmly both at home and when I’m going out. (I often tough it out and skip a coat if it’s in the upper 40s!) I normally don’t wear socks year round, but have been making myself do it lately. And I guess I am getting old, because I turned the thermostat down one degree and started wearing sweaters or coats in the house! My father would be so proud!
I’m treating myself to my gas fireplace for an hour or two every evening when I get home. It costs around 50 cents an hour, so I’m spending $30 or more a month on this luxury. I’ll find something else to cut out (Starbucks, desserts, cocktails at bars) to save that $30 so I can be cozy while watching movies, folding laundry, and reading magazines.
Tonight is my planned weekly “stay at home and stay calm and relax” night. I very firmly enforce this and I said no to a dinner invitation that would have been fun to accept. Tonight, there’s no rushing around to holiday parties, no rushing from store to store, no housework, no stressful things allowed. I plan to make a simple bread, pasta and salad dinner, and light a wood fire.
Are you enjoying your wood-burning fireplace if you have one? Is it clean and ready to be used should the mood (or cold) strike? Have plenty of firewood and fire starting supplies on hand? If you use “Bed Buddies” or some other heatable, microwavable warmers, are they nearby where you can find them? Covers clean?
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
– Clean fireplace if needed
– Need to sweep, mop or vacuum your front entryway, or back mudroom?
– Need to launder any throw blankets you cuddle up with on the couch? Mine gets lots of cat fur on it, so tonight it’s being tossed in with a load of white towels I’m washing already.
– Wrap up any last gifts.
TODAY’S PROJECT: Sock Drawer and Glove Basket
I’m sorting my sock drawer this afternoon. I do this once a year in winter, about the only time I wear socks. I am mercilessly getting rid of socks with bad elastic or holes, socks that are itchy or too tight or too ugly, and of course socks that I absolutely cannot find a match for.
I will only keep socks that I know I will actually wear. I’ll see if I need to pick up a new pair or two. I know I would like more pairs of a particular style of uber soft house socks (the kind with tiny rubber pads on the bottom so you don’t slide around on your wood floors). I have a pair in black and one in red, but I’d like to be able to wear them every day and launder in between. I think I’ll pick up two or three more pairs.
I’ll be throwing unwanted socks away instead of donating them to charity – if they’re not good enough for me to wear, they certainly aren’t a nice donation for an unfortunate person.
I mustn’t forget to go through my leggings and warm tights too.
When I’m done, I will have a lot less in my sock drawer, and everything will be arranged nicely so I can get dressed and out of the house even faster in the mornings.
Next I’ll tackle our glove basket we keep by the front door. It also has warm hats and scarves we can wear outdoors. I will throw out anything that doesn’t have a matching set, and I can restock easily with Target’s under-$5 soft gloves.
