Ten on Tuesday: Heat

I am purposely doing my thankfulness list today about something I loathe with a passion. Down here in southeastern California (which is right next to the sun, by the way) summer is baking us to a crisp and threatening to dehydrate us into mummifications of our former selves. It is consistently in the triple digits and we don't. use. air conditioning. Yeah, you read that right. It's mainly for economic reasons, but the men in the house suffer sinus problems when the AC is on, too.

I get super grumpy and tired in the heat. But wallowing in my own sweat self pity is not going to solve the problem. So... since I have at least two more months of this, I figure I should try and look for the silver lining. While I munch on some ice cubes.

Therefore, in no particular order, here are my 10 reasons I'm thankful for the hot, hot summer heat:

* Since everyone basically hangs out in their swimsuits all day, there is a lot less laundry to do!

* When I do have to do laundry, I don't have to use the dryer. Put the clothes in any upstairs room and they dry in 10 minutes flat!

* Lots of barbeques! It's too hot to use the oven/stove, so we eat lots of BBQ and grilled veggies. Yummy!

* As far as cooking is concerned, I can now try out some car cooking! (Seriously, did you know that the owners' manual for the 1956 Ford station wagon had an entire section on cooking??)

* Looking for cold dessert recipes led me to the cookie-dough pie that we have all fallen in love with.

* My hair dries in 2 minutes with no hair dryer.

* The boys sleep a lot in this heat, so we have lots of quiet time ;)

* The boys NEVER complain about the heat. In fact, Peez was walking around in his flannel pajama bottoms last night. (Something's wrong with that boy.)

* The heat keeps a lot of people indoors, so stores aren't so crowded when I shop.

* Watermelon and frozen grapes are even more delicious in heat like this.

For more things to be thoroughly thankful for, check out Crayl's blog, Beyond Black & White today!