Swamp cooler euphoria

Last weekend was full of all kinds of excitement. Not only did I peel my fingertip off (yes, I'm going to milk that for all it's worth), but we also got an AIR CONDITIONER!!!

To my friends from back east who didn't get to experience the reality of a summer in California...trust me, it does get above 60 degrees here sometimes. In fact, it's been holding steady at 100 degrees for over a month now. Now, summers here are a little different than summers back east because we don't have to deal with the humidity, and it actually cools off here at night. Summer in Tennessee? It was 90 degrees at 7 am. That is just not okay. But it did make for some fun summer nights!

Anywho, it's been hot here. And our house is approximately 50 years old with siding and insulation that is approximately 248957294 years old. That means that when it gets really hot outside, our house doesn't really stay cool...in fact I think it's something like the greenhouse effect. By late afternoon/early evening, when the evening sun is hitting our living room windows, I would literally sweat when sitting still. I guess that's what we get for living in a high desert area, right? You'd think since I was born and raised here I'd be used to it...but I'm not. I don't do so well with the heat.

In my very young years, my parents didn't really have any form of air conditioning. You can imagine that in a house with three kids, that made for some interesting summer days. And since both of my parents worked during the day, they were never around to notice the LACK of air conditioning in the afternoon heat. My dad explained to me last weekend that it wasn't until he had hernia surgery one summer and was stuck indoors in the 100 degree heat that he realized we needed air conditioning. I believe it was shortly after that when my parents bought a swamp cooler.

Swamp coolers = heaven

Well, the swamp cooler worked very well for them for the past 15 years or so, but my mom was getting really tired of the noise. If you have never had a swamp cooler, you probably have much better hearing than those who have. When running full blast, they sound very similar to an airplane taking off. My parents had put their swamp cooler in the room at the end of the house that we never used, so it wasn't a big deal...until they added on to the house and made that room the living room and the room in which they watched TV. Oops. My dad blames shooting without ear protection for many years for his hearing loss...mom blames the swamp cooler for hers.

Long story longer, my parents had a REAL air conditioning unit installed in their home 2 weeks ago and offered us their swamp cooler. Which we took. Without a second thought. Clint went over last Saturday to help my dad take it out of the wall, and dad came over to help Clint install it in our home...and it has been blissfully cool in our house ever since! It is so nice to get home from work and NOT have the house be 10 degrees warmer than it is outside...and even the kitties are enjoying the air. I caught Serious Cat on top of the TV cabinet in the guest room (where the cooler is) trying to get a breeze. And when Jake and I get back from our walks in the morning, he hangs out in the door of the guest bedroom for a bit to cool off. We're one big happy and air conditioned family!

Thanks Mom and Dad! You're the bestest!