I’ve seen Campbell Brown on television for years. I watched her (on and off) do election coverage during the campaign, and I saw her “free Sarah Palin” opinion piece.
Then I caught one of her first No Bias. No Bull. shows, where she said she planned to hold President-elect Barack Obama accountable for all the promises he made during the campaign. I thought, yeah, OK, we’ll see. Then I never watched again. Oh, I planned to watch and even programmed the show into my DVR. But I never got around to watching.
Then I caught about three minutes of tonight’s show, where she takes on Gov. Edward G. Rendell, D-Pa., for perpetuating stereotypes about women. He said that Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., would be perfect for the job of Secretary of Homeland Security (she’s Obama’s nominee for the job) because she “has no life” and “has no family.”
Hmm. I might have to check out the ones left on my machine.
Sorry I haven’t blogged for a while, but I’ve been busy freezing. No, not freezing, as in preserving apples and putting them in the freezer. Just freezing. As in … brrrr.
When this coldness started — before the snow in October — and I was bundled up in my brand-spankin’ new winter coat, someone wearing sandals walked up to me, leaned in and said, “This isn’t cold yet.” Gee, thanks. (He knew I just moved here from Florida. Maybe the Arctic Circle winter gear in September was the tip-off.)
The amazing this is … 8 degrees makes 20 degrees feel bearable, 20 makes 32 feel almost comfortable, and 32 makes 40 feel downright balmy. That explains the folks I see wearing shorts. Well, no, not really. Nothing explains that. But, in a way, I can see now how 50 degrees feels like it’s time to break out the T-shirts and shorts, where 50 degrees in Tampa had me scrambling for my coat.
I shouldn’t be surprised by the cold. I mean, I grew up in the Midwest. I should know better, right? But something in the brain shuts down and forgets. It’s like when I first moved to Florida, I went swimming in the ocean in December. Heck, after a record-breaking frigid Midwestern winter, it felt tropical to me. People who lived there thought I was crazy. By the next December, I was wearing my winter coat just like the rest of them.
Early on, I was impressed by how warm the house here stayed. Hmm, must be the new windows, and maybe the insulation is good, I thought. It’s a brick house. That probably helps.
Well, that was all before the temperature dropped below 20 outside. Then it was just darn cold everywhere, even in the house. So I started wearing my Winter Silks long johns, the ones I hadn’t worn (hadn’t had to wear) since living in Norway. I wear them all the time now. In fact, I’m wearing them right now. Is that TMI?
And I totally cheated and opened my Christmas gift from Norway early. (Shhh! Don’t tell the kids.) It’s a new winter dyne for my bed … sort of like a duvet, but better. Oh, what a wonderful difference it makes to stay nice and toasty at night. I knock Norwegians for a lot of things, but this one they got right. Well, they didn’t actually invent the dyne … they’re all over Europe. Norwegians like to brag about inventing the paper clip, yadda yadda. But if they want credit for the dyne, I’ll give it to them.
