In the lap blanket of luxury

Last Christmas R gave me an electric lap blanket to use when I sit and watch TV in the evening. Unfortunately, it has made it impossible for me to get off of the couch because the shock of room temperature air is more than my system can handle.

I have been cold all of my life. I'm rarely too hot (102 degrees outside, no shade, 80 percent humidity might do it) and nearly always too cold. I don't have anything wrong with me, I'm just cold. I usually sit on my hands or position them in such a way as to warm them with heat from my trunk. Same with my feet if I can manage it.

A couple of Christmases ago, he gave me an electric blanket for our queen-sized bed. It has dual controls because we're incompatible when it comes to temperature, and I love it when I get to put it on the bed in the fall. But like my electric lap blanket, I've become dependent on it. I swear I don't know if my body generates any heat of its own.

Okay, that's not entirely true. When I run in the early mornings, I actually sweat. I don't get soaked or anything, but the back of my neck gets wet. And I think my feet sweat. And around the bottom band of my sports bra. So I guess it can be said I am capable of being warm, I'm just usually not.

But this lap blanket is a problem. I haven't done the dishes in two nights. R did them both nights and I didn't even get up and help. Tonight I didn't put socks on when I changed from work so consequently I didn't want to stand around in my bare feet on the cold floor. And it's not even cold yet! Typically I do dishes around here (I don't mind because there's a lot he does that I don't do) so I feel guilty when I don't. Maybe I should institute a "no lap blanket until chores are done" policy. But that sounds too rigid.

When I stayed with my daughter after her second child was born in February, I took along my electric lap blanket. Her house is way too cold for me and it was the only way I could sleep without piling on hundreds of blankets. She got her father's metabolism I think because she's rarely too cold. Her kids are the same way. On the other hand, I could have slept in their furnace.

Please don't let there be any serious long-term effects from electric blanket overuse. Premature aging of skin (oh well), excessive laying around (whatever), withdrawing from normal activity (sounds good to me). I can live with those. Higher electric bills might jar me a bit, so maybe I should be a little more judicious. And maybe I should wait until the temperature falls below 40 degrees outside.