OH HAPPY DAY

A dancing happy face guy rewards me tonight for the long (long!) stretch of hard times that I have been enduring, now that my furnace was fixed today (!!) and the house has actually warmed up to the point where it's comfortable to walk around in.

I realize it's been cold one way or another in here since last summer. No joke- not even the blazing woodstove and the cranking furnace could really heat the house all the way through, because the furnace had only been partially working for months (I learned this from the furnace repairman today).

Whew. We've been toughing it out in a big way!

This is the first time also since I moved my computer downstairs that I haven't ended up being too cold to work on it after only a couple of hours. It became almost common to go upstairs and run my hands under tepid water to warm them up after such a run.

Most of the time I couldn't get warm enough even doing that, so when I could I crawled under the covers and tried to get warm enough to keep going.

So, tonight, having a warm house like this has caused me to be beside myself with joy. I'm crying tears of relief, gratitude, and faith.

Of course the kids all seem relieved too- excited and playful with eachother for once, instead of their usual testy interactions. That's nice, too, though it may simply be due to it finally being the weekend.

Sometimes survival is the goal in this life I lead, but tonight I am absolutely basking in luxurious warmth, and incidentally, I'm thawing quite nicely too!
(Below is a gif (t) for everyone's enjoyment)




(and oh, by the way, Lord, THANK YOU!)