Episode 4 - Sweat or Sweater?

It’s been almost two weeks since Grandma moved in with us. She seems to be adjusting fairly well and I think we are too. As we sit here in the living room, she is looking out the window doing play by play commentary of the cars driving past our house. “One, two, three, four… and here comes two more going the other way….” She’s fascinated by the traffic tonight on the usually quiet side street on which we live. I’m guessing there was an Ash Wednesday service at the church a few blocks from here.

Grandma is wearing both a long sleeved top and Old Faithful, (her ‘very good’ brown sweater). One point of contention the past couple weeks has been the thermostat setting in the house. We knew from how warm she kept her apartment at the senior complex that our house would be several degrees cooler than what she was used to. Although we’d turned the heat up a couple degrees, she mentioned several times in the first few days that she was cold. She called me at work and asked if our house had a furnace. “Of course we have a furnace Mom, it’s just not set as high as what you are used to. I’ve turned it up, but I told you that you need to put on a sweater if you’re cold.”

I came home from work that day to find her sitting in a short sleeved shirt. “Mom, no wonder you’re cold … why didn’t you put on a sweater?!” (She has a wide assortment of long sleeved apparel) I then remind her we also have various throws, blankets and Snuggies (in a choice of colors I might add!).

“So this house doesn’t have a furnace then?”

“Yes … (*sigh*) the house has a furnace, but it would cost a fortune to keep it as warm as you’re used to… not to mention, at my age, I’d have to strip to my underwear and I’d still sweat to death.” (Nana Mama is a Hottie in the menopausal sense of the word and rarely has need for fleece, flannel or fuzzy fabric of any kind.)

To make an effort to keep her comfortable, we bought two space heaters – one for her bedroom and another for her living room (both in the basement which is typically warmer anyway). I’ve explained we can’t keep the entire house as warm as she’d like it, but we can keep her “apartment” warm (75 degrees). Of course, she still gravitates to the areas of the house that are not “climate controlled”.

Saturday night DH and I went to church, leaving Grandma and CeCe here alone. We had turned on the space heater in her bedroom before leaving so it’d be warm when she was ready to go to bed. A short time after leaving, DH’s cell phone rang. It was CeCe. The lights had gone out. DH talks CeCe through resetting the breaker (after talking her “to” a flashlight and the breaker box). Note to self: Only turn one space heater on at a time. Before coming home that night, we stopped and picked up some flannel sheets. Along with the four blankets on her bed, they should keep her warm.

“Boy oh boy, there sure is a lot of traffic. Here comes some more. I wonder how many cars have gone by. I should have started counting when I noticed the first one ….”

So ends Episode 4.