Baby, it's cold outside!

This was our Aunt Elke, shown here with her nephews.
She had flown up from Florida to celebrate her granddaughter's wedding.

We woke up to 34 degrees. A cold morning. Our old blankets outlived their appearance and warmth after a dog and two humans snuggled into the fibers for so many years. During the summer, I made my bed with a lovely new lightweight quilt. It came with a fancy pillow sham and it was fun to dress the mattress each morning. My bedroom became a symbol of a perfect house.

Once the temps dropped, the old covers were thrown back on and my carelessly made bed came back home like a child from college. So as any good homemaker would, I used my 30% off an already cheap sale price at Kohl's and bought two new warm blankets in a pretty color. My house is well dressed again. Now we are enveloped in warmth at night. It was close to freezing this morning; we need the warmth.

This was Norman's text to me this morning.
 He likes our new blanket, but not New Jersey.

Norman says he needs Florida. I have never been to the state where old people go for warmth. Do they have well-lit rooms down there for artists who retired but still want to paint as well as keep warm?

I don't think Florida has our beautiful New England trails covered in fall leaves, but honestly, my perfect fall season only lasted a couple of weeks. It is already much too cold out. Today, I will skip my brisk walk around Covered Bridge and I won't be hearing the crunch of autumn leaves in the park. I guess I won't reach my goal of 10,000 steps again until the spring.

I don't know if I could embrace Florida living. Norman has relatives and friends who migrated south with the birds and he flies down to visit them regularly. These people seem to love living there. Problem is, I do not want to be so far away from my children. I need to feel the warmth of their hugs, not just hear their voices over a phone. If I could uproot my whole family and take them with me, I would live there. I guess. I've never been there. How do I know I want to live there?

Next week, we fly down to Dave's neighborhood along with the rest of New Jersey. We'll be staying in Aunt Elke's place and I'll find out if this lifestyle could be for me. I am excited to visit with Delmi, Dave, Doris, Joel and Aunt Sonia. I hope I like Florida, but I'm still not moving there.

So I say.

The jackpot for the lottery is way up there, into the billions. I don't need a billion dollars. That would come with way too much responsibility. A couple of million would do the trick. I would pay off our bills, invest the rest in our children and our future, and happily buy a home in Florida to escape the frigid temperatures. I would also buy a home in the Berkshires where I could "summer" like rich artists do... and keep my home in Jersey where I can enjoy a hug from my children. Three homes. That's my dream.

Buy a lottery ticket because you have to be in it to win it.
What do you do to keep warm?