My body knows! It can tell when the change is coming. It gets dark earlier and my shoulders get sore.
This is the weekend we change back to Eastern Standard Time locally. The clocks are only the tip of the iceberg.
In the old days (that would be two years ago) we also changed batteries in the smoke alarms. We did that until we had the incident.
Everyone has had that incident. The alarm starts beeping at 3 a.m. and nothing will stop it. You can pull out the battery but our system is hard-wired so it keeps beeping. In your sleep fog you can’t quite tell which one is the problem and in the morning there are ten smoke alarms on your front yard. I already wrote about that episode here.
We changed out our alarms for a system that doesn’t require semi-yearly battery changes. That doesn’t mean we are off the hook.
Clearly there are other things that happen at this time of the year.
There is the yuk stuff like washing the windows. I could do without that. Bringing out the snow blower and putting away garden tools.
I bring out my towel warmer. There is nothing better than a heated towel when you step out of the shower on a cold day. (Yes, I know that it’s 70 degrees in my bathroom. It’s cold outside and somehow it feels good. This doesn’t work on a 70 degree day in the summer. How long have you been reading my blog? You are looking for things to make sense? Get over that!)
There is one more change. This week my bra straps started to rutch. It was all uncomfortable. Obviously it was a message from the girls.
Let me backtrack. Since I’ve retired, my winter clothing consists of beautiful flannel shirts and bulky sweaters. You don’t need a Madonna-type bra for this kind of wardrobe so I cut the girls a break. I have relaxed stretchy things that give enough support to keep the girls from banging against my knees but they are no longer bandaged to my rib case.
It used to be that I just switched them out when I started wearing the flannels. This year the girls have been anxious. Much as I whine about the winter, they are doing the happy dance. (Perhaps it’s more like a happy bounce.)
I’ve been holding out on the wardrobe change but this week, I broke out a sweatshirt (without the stretchy bra). The girls were not happy. They considered it cheating and started to complain about fabric digging. These are the same bras that kept them perky and happy all summer.
Summer memories are in the past. Time to pull out my winter bras and appease those puppies.
Oh yes, we will have the discussion about the fire alarm thingies but they are definitely not top priority.
I’d love to have smoke alarms that did not have to be changed out at 3 a.m. It seems when one goes, others – like lemmings – follow. Maddening.
The DST change is one I could do without. Too many clocks to change – the phone, the microwave, the alarm clock. Plus I don’t see the advantage of it getting dark at 5 p.m. instead of 6. That’s harder on the kids, I’d think.
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Our alarm clocks and a few others are set to that universal clock in Denver that sends out signals and resets those clocks automatically. I don’t know why they don’t put the technology in oven and microwave clocks. If we have a 2 second power outage we have to fix all the other clocks.
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I’m looking forward to that extra hour of sleep tomorrow. But, your heads up on the smoke detectors has not fallen on deft ears—although I should be, since we use batteries, and I change them on the year with disastrous results, often at night. I’ll change them to day. Thank you, Kate.
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Hope the detectors don’t wake you up early!
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You and me both! I need my beauty sleep.
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Yes, I must remember about the clocks. I work at a 24 hour office, so I will inevitably gets calls when someone doesn’t show up.
I got a towel warmer last year or the year before for Christmas and thought it was be nice when I stepped out of the hot tub in the winter, but the thing didn’t work so we returned it and didn’t replace it. Now I wonder if we’re missing out.
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About the towel warmer…my walk-in closet is over an unheated garage and it was always the coldest room in the house. I would freeze getting dressed during the winter so I got a towel warmer. It was wonderful. Eventually we added a little automatic heating system in my closet so it’s not as critical anymore. Still, on a cold wintery day, it’s wonderful.
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It sure sounds it!
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Stretchy things? I need more info. What am I missing. I wear the same white bras all the time. Take them off when I put my sleep shirt and oversized boxers on after dinner. I don’t want my boobs squished like they used to be in my twenties and thirties when I wore racing swimsuits. A link or picture???
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Soma calls them bralettes but other companies make them too. All stretchy with minimal support. http://www.soma.com/store/category/bralettes/cat9969291
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Okay, I clicked your link. Thank you, Kate!
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Pix has asked my question and you, Kate, have answered. The things I learn. Will be clicking on link immediately. I. Like. Comfy.
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For some reason I don’t like to go braless despite the fact that I’m not that large. These are less confining than my comfortable tee shirt bras. Switching to lighter support in the winter has become a seasonal change out for me.
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Love the idea. Never thought of it.
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I had no idea that the time change was coming up until I read your post. I should probably thank you but maybe I could have made daylight savings time last a little longer in my world… until I showed up for a class or an appointment an hour early.
My girls are happily unrestrained anytime I am home as long as no one but my husband will see me. I guess being less endowed has its advantages.
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Yes it does. I’m not overflowing myself and it’s a blessing really.
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I miss things like bulky sweaters and rusty razors. Still stuck in summer land out here in SoCal. I’m wearing shorts around the house. Saturday should get up to 88!!!
But I saw that next week might include a high of 68. Please, please, please…
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88 sounds good! I like summer. I wouldn’t mind winter if it was shorter….much shorter.
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Hahahaha. I spent so many hours bemoaning having small breasts when I was young. Now I am SO happy. I only wear a bra to weddings and funerals. Woot!!! We JUST had a smoke alarm incident yesterday. So I completely get the problem. A couple are on such a high ceiling we need the electrician or alarm company to have a tall enough ladder!
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When I was in my 20s my two besties were very well endowed and teased me a lot. In their forties, both had to have breast reduction surgery because of back issues. I’m pretty happy where I am.
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Best of both worlds . . . pun intended!
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One of our alarms did that little warning beep thing last week. We ran up and down the stairs checking the alarms on each floor. We have vaulted ceilings so that meant getting out the BIG stepladder too. We checked every alarm but the beeping continued. Finally we realized it was the carbon monoxide detector plugged into the wall outlet. Damn!
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Heavens! I hope it was just a bad battery and not carbon monoxide!
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It was an “end of life” notice built in to the detector. Maybe next time I’ll read the owner’s manual. 🙂
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Oops! “End of life” meaning the end of the carbon monoxide detector’s life!
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Better the detector than you! I hate losing a reader!
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I totally did the same thing! I had replaced two batteries before I caught on.
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My husband had ripped all the batteries out. Very bad night….er…morning.
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Hilarious-
This is the season to switch out clothing – so excited to wear long jeans…but then it warmed back up. Sigh. Toes however are insisting it’s time for them to be closed in…actually I think they are just trying to hide from some very large and heavy dog paws.
Ready to fall back to normal….like the dogs actually noticed the clock anyway
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My toes are tired of nail polish and happy to be inside shoes these days. My old cat Jake used to have a hard time adjusting when we changed clocks. His personal timer for dinnertime had to be slowly adjusted to accommodate the change.
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This whole post made me laugh. Love the image of the smoke alarms out on the lawn. I never wear a bra…only if someone special’s coming over so he has something to play with. I used to pray for cleavage when I was a kid. Now I really don’t care I look like the paper boy.
Didn’t realize it was clock changing time, so thanks for that…fall back, spring ahead business.
And I too am not happy about saying so long to summer and have enjoyed these couple of Indian summer days donning my shorts one last time. Great essay.
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Thanks! More Indian summer!
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That’s what I say.
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My “girls” are only happy totally unrestricted. This is not a particularly enticing fashion statement, nor is it very comfortable, so unfortunately they never stop complaining until bedtime. 🙂 Hilarious post Kate!
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Maybe your girls need some wine.
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Bwahahahaha! You are “a caution” Kate. If you haven’t heard that saying before, it means that you say some hilarious things that make people fall down laughing.
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Well, you can laugh but don’t hurt yourself!
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If you get fat the girls don’t go as far down.
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I’ll keep that in mind!
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The only good thing about EST is I can go to be at 7:30 pm and not feel guilty since it’s dark outside.
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How is it that we need to be in our nightclothes by 7:30 during the winter but in the summer it’s 9 p.m. and we’re still outside? The power of the sun.
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Simple Pleasures are Life’s Treasures ~ comfort being KEY!
I am already longing for the start of DST next spring ~ I prefer an extra hour of light at night.
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I know. My girlfriend said she can’t wait for spring. We are having a lovely fall but it’s the anticipation of what’s to come before spring that puts a damper on it.
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Oh yes… time for changes. Mom pulls out the heavier bankies for me. Us anipals here at the Hotel Thompson get beds in front of the fireplace to share. Adjusting to the new time sucks for me. I hate it. It’ll take me a couple of weeks for sure. And mom says she is right there with you about the bras. Her girls are happy this time of the year with sweaters. You see mom says the girls have their separate zipcodes – whatever that means. Snorts and oinks! XOXO – Bacon
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Your mom is the best! Cuddling in front of a fireplace! A special zipcode for the girls! Wow!
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Snorts with piggy laughter. Thank you. XOXO – Bacon
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I’ve been known to run around my house, up and down the stairs, then wait and listen for that annoying beep so I could rip the darn detector out of its socket! Why do we only notice it at 3 am? Okay, I have never thought about switching out my bras to wear under my bulky sweaters. Hmmmm.
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I can’t go bra-less. It doesn’t feel right to me but I do like the stretchy things. They just don’t look so good under tee shirts.
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