Let’s face it; I am a cold weather wuss. I figure why brave the elements when I can
don my wooly socks, crank up the natural gas heater, have a hot bubble bath and
then settle down for the night for some serious snuggling with whoever promises
not to put their cold feet on me.
Now that it is so cold outside I have been
officially nicknamed Hermott McDermott, and that’s OK, I’ll just fire up the
natural gas heating till I am snug as a bug and I’ll happily hibernate at home
until the temperature climbs back up to T ‘Shirt degrees.
As far as I am concerned, there is no
better way to spend our weekends than to treat ourselves to a cosy night in,
and Saturday nights in our house is just one big old Pyjama party, complete
with movies and games and a bucket load of popcorn.
The simpler the better is my motto to a
cosy night at home, but that being said, a good party needs a basic plan that
includes a few key essentials and enough supplies and entertainment to keep the
troops from getting bored and turning the slumber party into a scene from the
WWE championships.
Set the Scene.
We have a mattress that we lay on the
family room floor and we pile it up with pillows and blankets and this is where
we will nest for the night.
We can all lounge in comfort to play our games or
watch our movies and it has the added bonus of you being able to leave sleeping
kids where they fall asleep, and head off to bed yourself without having to
make the squid over the shoulder upstairs trek.
Get Comfy.
Have everyone take a nice hot shower or a
relaxing soak in a bath first and then don the PJs and fluffy bed socks. You
have to be comfy – no ifs or buts.
Organise Your Snacks.
In my humble opinion, you cannot go wrong
with a mug
of hot chockie, a bowl full of Maltesers and a bucket of popcorn. I like to
make our popcorn the original way – by popping it in a saucepan over the gas cook
top and then smothering it in hot melted butter and sea salt.
Choose a Movie or Game
We alternate between movie night and games
nights, depending on everyone’s moods. We are a competitive bunch here and our
games nights can drag on well past the kids bedtimes, but we figure meh… it’s
the weekend and all that.
Some of our fave games at the moment
include Pictionary, Monopoly and the Logo Game and we found for us, it is
better to work in teams to make it fair for the little guys.
As for movies, well thankfully we are past
the Wiggles and the Night Garden and so our boys can generally settle on a
movie that we are all going to enjoy watching.
Have a Back Up Plan… (for You)
Occasionally the kids pick a movie that
either bores me to tears, or we have seen approximately 781 times and truth be
told - I would rather pluck my eyelashes than sit through it again.
No worries beef curries – I generally have
a good book as my back up and honestly, the kids don’t care. They will give me
a running commentary anyway and as long as the hubby and I are snuggling with
them whilst the movie is on, they are happy to let me read.
Snuggle in Front of the Fire Place
Oh that’s right, we don’t have one… damn it.
It is on my ultimate wish list though.
Whilst I am incredibly grateful for our
portable gas heater that keeps us snug as bugs, it’s just not quite as romantic
as the vision I have of us all snuggling around a fireplace – drinking red wine
(the grownups not the kids of course) and talking to each other without having
to compete with the sound from the TV.
I’m not fussy… much. An open gas fire in a
clean room with clean white walls and clean unstained furniture like the one
below will do me just fine thank you very much.
What?
It is a vision!
Image
source - escea
We are totally sold on Gas heating in our
house.
Apart from the fact that gas gives you the
control to heat your home fast and efficiently, you are not bound by peak and
off peak periods, so you can use your gas appliances whenever you want without
having to worry about paying more at certain times of the day.
Natural gas produces lower greenhouse gas
emissions than other energy options, which is totally a good thing as far as
our environment is concerned.
The more natural gas appliances you have
the more cost efficient having natural gas in your home becomes, so don’t
forget to consider all the natural gas appliances available to you including
indoor and outdoor heating, pool heating, gas ovens and clothes dryers and your
typical hot water and cooking appliances.
For more information on Natural Gas and how
gas can help run your home more efficiently – visit the gonaturalgas.com website here.
What gas
appliances do you have in your home?
Do you have
a fireplace I can come and lounge in front of?
I come with Maltesers!
