Quick question: I have not gotten to the house in Frederick to turn on the heat yet. Tonight there is a freeze warning. How much trouble will I be in if the heat is not on?

Maria, it's predicted to hit freezing here for only about an hour or two. The weather's been warm enough that the house should hold onto enough heat to keep the water pipes inside the house from freezing. It should be fine. Outside hoses might burst if they're still connected, though. (I am not an expert.)

I'm glad you and JZ were able to help your neighbor, David.

My delicate flowerness comes into play more with heat than cold. I was fine until things dropped ino the 50s inside. (In the summer I start the AC for anything much over 80.) It's cold, bright, and windy here today. I'm looking forward to getting out and about in it.

Fast healing and ease wished for neighbor Pete.

H made a pot vat of barley beef and veg soup last week. The neighbors got some, and we've been enjoying it for supper almost every other night. In from the chill of the evening, an almost instant supper of soup with pumpernickel slices spread with cream cheese, and cherry pie, with a lick of plain yogurt, for dessert. The pie was boughten, but from a farmstand, made with local cherries, and is awesome--a gratitude gift from a widowed neighbor for small jobs and kindnesses--including containers of soup, beans, or chili when H makes it.

We keep the thermostat at 64F all winter, and if we're up doing things, it's comfy. Sitting, we have throws everywhere for laps. It did get uncomfortably cool last week, and the furnace declined to come on. The thermostat is located near the laundry room and the dryer was in use. H held a Klondike bar over the sensor. The heat came on.

I succumbed to discomfort last Wednesday and turned on the little oil rad in my bathroom. Outside corner of the house, never gets sun, always cool, and though there is a heat vent in the room, it's at the opposite end from the chilly toilet seat. The oil rad on low keeps that corner bearable.

Your poor neighbor, David, good thing JZ could hear him! That's scary.

I'm a bigger wimp about heat than cold, but humidity has a lot to do with that. Inside the house, if it gets below 66, I'm too cold and the heat goes on. Having grown up in an old farmhouse without central heat, I'm not keen on "bundling up" to stay warm inside the house. Not when comfort is the press of a button away. Magic!

I made a vat of chili Halloween night, which was just the thing for a cold, rainy night. My chili recipe is lazy as hell, though -- 2 cans Brooks chili beans, 2 cans tomatoes, 1 can kidney beans, faux beef crumbles, 1 packet chili seasoning. I have smoked paprika, though, because it's totally my jam on roasted cauliflower, so I ought to throw some in the chili.

I'm getting much more conscious of how to balance flavors with acidic elements now - citrus, tomatoes, vinegar. Helps a lot with those richer dishes.

There's a book called the Flavor Bible, which is just a giant reference book of all manner of foods, with lists of what other foods/spices/herbs compliment them. It's incredibly useful.

I turned the heat back on again this morning--I'd turned it on a couple weeks ago, but then it got warm (65 during the day) while I was gone and my roommate turned it back off. But it was 64 in my room this morning, and that I say is Too Cold.

I had nightmares last night about being in Poland and trying to catch a plane somewhere, but when we got to the airport on a shuttle bus, I realized some of my luggage wasn't on it because I hadn't actually packed??, and I had to go back to the hotel, but there wasn't time...Woke up having been clenching my teeth for quite a while. OW.

How to respond to someone on OKCupid who's like 'Oh, you like to do X activity? I wonder if we've met, I go there sometimes!" and my response is "...yes, we've met, and I'm totally not into you"??

"Oh haha I think we have met."

meara, did you know VH1 made a sequel to Drumline??

But it was 64 in my room this morning, and that I say is Too Cold.

We have a programmable thermostat, which was WAY more relevant when we both worked outside the house, because we set it to go down to 60 or so during the day while we were gone, and then come back up to 68 right before we got home. Now that I work from home, well, I keep it tolerable all day long. But we set it to go down to 62 or so at night, which is fine because of the magic of the heated mattress pad, long may it reign.

meara, did you know VH1 made a sequel to Drumline??

I heard it was happening, but forgot--did it already come out?? Do I need to set my TiVo??

It's on right now!