Brrrrrr!!

This was our dining room window a couple days ago. From the inside.

We made it up to about 10 degrees F above zero! This means we got half of our house thawed out. We've been covering windows and trying to thaw pipes for two days now. We have weird frozen pipes. At first we didn't have water in the kitchen, nor did we have hot water anywhere. That was yesterday. Today: still no water in the kitchen, but then for awhile our bathtub drain and the water was frozen. As of this evening, we have both hot and cold in the kitchen, no hot in the bathroom, but the water is draining out of the tub. At least this means we can easily do dishes, and we can now do laundry. This is still bad news for showers though. Bear can take baths in his little tub on the table with heated water no problem, but Tom and I just haven't figured out how to fit in his tub.

He's pretty happy being bundled against the cold. This has been the nap outfit of late. His heater in his room just hasn't been cutting it (we are working on that issue among others). He sleeps with Tom and I at night when it gets really cold. We all four pile in together. Bear, Tom, myself, and Buddy at the foot of the bed. It gets toasty warm then.

Meanwhile we are also trying to get ready for visiting, visitors, and the holidays in general. I think I have one more Christmas card to write and then mail. One other to mail as soon as I get an address. I figured that is one thing I'd better get done this year; what with a new house and baby.

Our first bit of snow. We only got about 6 inches. Nothing like Austria. So sad about that. We are supposed to get some more snow in the next couple days before we get sub-zero temps again.