Desert chill

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but my Bahrain apartment is cool.  Seriously.  Literally.  Cool as in chilly, and thats the way I like it.

Goose bumps are weird.  

Its awesome because there are 2 thermostats.  One for the living area and one for the bedrooms.  Score.  Ok, its awesome for more reasons than that, but they don't apply to this post.

I keep my living area about 21-23*C/69-73*F, while my bedrooms stay at a delightful 18-19*C/64-66*F (don't judge my asterisk, there isn't a degree symbol and I'm not techy enough to know a keyboard shortcut for a degree sign).  Something I didn't get from my family, an acceptance of "warm" temps for my household.  It also helps that I don't pay my power bill.  Although, even when I lived with Teh BFF, our apartment was always warmer than my current temps.  To battle that, I had a fan in my room.  I like it cold, what can I say.

Growing up, we had a wood stove which heated the house.  Teh Dad kept it so warm hot that people knew to bring shorts with them to our house if they were visiting...  in the middle of the winter.  I was always complaining growing up during the summer how hot it was in our house after I'd come in from being outside.  Teh Parents would always just tell me to let my body cool down and it wouldn't feel so hot.  This was only partially true.  76-78*F isn't cool by Teh Megan standards for the summer.  Its good that I'm an adult now and decide my own temps.

In the desert though, its delightful to walk into a frigid apartment after being outside.  You feel the sweat that was running down your back freeze in place.  You feel cool and refreshed again.  When I got here, one of the guys that went through indoc with me insisted that going from the extreme heat outside to cooler temps inside made people sick, and he didn't want to be sick, so he didn't plan to run his AC while he was here.

Good on him.  Not me though.

In the desert, rockin'
that sweatshirt!

I better be able to practically see my breath.  Ok, thats a little extreme.  But, only kinda.  I'm sitting in my bed typing this (yay laptop!) and I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt.  Pretty sure my arms have chill bumps.  But, its so delightful when my body is all in the covers, or I'm wearing long sleeves.  During the "winter" in Bahrain, there are photos of me wearing my NC State sweatshirt while in my apartment.  And, when we had PT at 0530, people used to show up in their Navy sweats (classy) because it was so cold.  By cold it was mid-70s (F).

While Teh Bear was here (yeah, go ahead and brace yourself for lots of these references for a while, Gentle Reader), he commented about how I could turn up the temps in my apartment and not have to wear fleece pants and long sleeves around my apartment.  Silly Bear.

I explained to him that my fleece pants weren't because I was cold (mostly a lie, since often I also wear socks, but the tile is cold!), its because my fleece pants are awesome.  As for the long sleeves, its because often I like to have one arm out of the covers while I'm sleeping, and I don't like for that arm to get cold.  To make the long sleeves applicable for awake time, the places in my apartment where I usually sit are where the vents hit me.  But when I'm in the kitchen or moving around, the temp is comfortable, so I just accept the wearing of long sleeves, fleece pants, and socks.

One of the funniest moments of Teh Bear's stay in Bahrain was definitely one morning about mid-vacation.  We both magically got out of the bed at the same time.  It was kinda strange though, because we didn't do our normal lay in the bed for a few minutes, then get up.  No, we both got up, and started our morning routines.  Banyo, Carnation Instant Breakfast shake, internet check.  We'd prob been up for about 20 minutes, minimal chatting, as it was still early, and I'm not really a functioning morning person, which we've acknowledged.  Unless I'm ready to be awake, my communication consists of grunts and slight nods.

Finally, I was ready to make words.  I asked him what he was doing, and he said looking at FB.  Eh.
Then at the same time we said:
Teh Bear: I think I'm going back to bed.
Teh Megan: I'm freezing.  Lets go back to bed.
We looked at each other, started giggling, at which point we both got up from our computers, I did a silly run to the bedroom and jumped in the bed.  Teh Bear was much cooler about it than me, because he just walked his long strides, and was still right behind me, he jumped in the bed right after me and we both covered up with the sheet, comforter, and B.o.B. (what is B.o.B.?).

We giggled to ourselves while we snuggled, both of us freezing.  As the dutiful girlfran' (this is the modification of the word "girlfriend" which I stole from someone on FB because I was making fun of them, and its just stuck because its so fucking ridiculous), I made sure to put my ice cube toes on Teh Bear's legs, making him squeal, in a very manly way.

I guess its good that I'm headed to MD next.  Maybe I'll get the snow I've been pining for, for years now.  Although, I am slightly worried that my Caribbean/desert thin blood really won't bode well in the cold.  Its just a good thing I look good in layers.  Oh wait, I wear a uniform now.  Fuck, that stupid digi coat is stupid expensive.  FML.  I can haz gortex for life?  :)