High Electric Bill and Beowulf

 Wednesday

After another two-hour night of sleep, the day has been difficult. No amount of sleep hygiene will keep me asleep some nights. I don't ingest anything that could cause a rebound effect and keep me up. I will spare recounting my good habits to you. 

Tommy was horrified at his electric bill, almost twice the amount for June last year. He resists any effort to lessen the bill. Long ago, he stripped his yard of shrubs and heat mitigating growth. He insists the St Augustine grass be mowed to a nub. His brick home absorbs all the heat! Window coverings are flimsy. The front storm door sits 1/2" from the door frame allowing hot air and cold air easy access to the house. I can see a quarter inch crack all the way around the wooden door, same with the back door. He would rather pay for electricity and discomfort than a few minor cost home improvement items. 

I did not bake the blueberry cobbler last night. I did not freeze all the meat today. I did nothing all day, it seems! 

We have not seen or heard a dog all Wednesday, even during my nap. Lynda suggested they might dog sit for people as that would explain the different dogs, the varying numbers and the dogs being outside during different times of the day. It makes sense to me. I just don't know. Tommy said friends/family come just to visit and bring their dogs. He sees them arrive with dogs and leave with dogs. 

Tuesday night, I went into the kitchen when Tommy was cleaning the small pot. He said it did not look quite clean, so he was doing it again. As I stood there, he put about a cup of vinegar in it. I was quite shocked but holding it in. A quarter cup would have been excessive, but I just kept my mouth shut. I will casually mention the correct amount later. The pot shone like new! I would have used a Tablespoon in the two-quart pot of water. Or less.

Thursday

Have I mentioned that Tommy loves the third hour of the Today Show with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager? He does and laughs often. I guess I broke him. 

A friend sent me another box of books. I read one, forgot the title. Thanks! Right now, I am in the midst of reading Beowulf. It is a wonderful read, my beach read, I suppose. lol I am having regrets that I never read Beowulf to my children. They enjoyed Kubla Khan by Coleridge and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, so I think they would enjoy Beowulf. When my daughter was ten-years-old, she came running out of the movie Xanadu with Olivia Newton John exclaiming that they had the poem I read in the movie. I was so proud of my daughter! My son is an English teacher, so I suppose I did something right! 

They understood enough to ask intelligent questions and learned lots of new words. Of course, I did stop and explain the action. It felt good to introduce them to important literary works. My son's first book he read was The Call of the Wild. He was only seven when he read this, breathless and excited when he recounted what he had just read. Even the four-year-old enjoyed the poems. And, we did discuss all this later just as part of our conversations. 

If feels like 100F out at noon, so it will be worse later this afternoon. I feel for people who must work in this heat. The temperature is only 90F, but the humidity is brutal. 

Is your electric bill higher from June? How do you mitigate the heat in the house? 

Do you like Hoda and Jenna or any of the Today Show? 

Did your children enjoy heavier literature when they were 11-, 9-, and 4-years-old?