They say everything in life is a learning experience. The last week, I’ve been learning a lot.

As anyone who has spoken with me over the last week knows, the air conditioning in my house died just as the worst heat wave in NY was getting started. Just picture what the temperature is inside the house when it is 95 degrees outside for days in a row.

Add to that, I’ve never been a fan of the heat. My parents tell all sorts of stories about how much heat and I did not get along growing up. [I have always loved sitting at the beach though. I don’t really understand that – but I digress.]

With our air conditioning down and a new unit a week away, we had no choice but to move to pivot. I quickly learned that I could get through most of the day by just not focusing on the heat in the room. It was actually interesting to me how effective the distraction was. We had fans going, of course, which made it slightly better. If I stopped to think about what was going on in the room, the temperature increased by 10 degrees in a literal hot second.

Of course, without my husband’s quick thinking this “focus plan” would not have had a chance of working because sleeping would have been just impossible. We are now the proud owners of a freestanding air-conditioning unit with a vent right out the window. It worked to cool one room from the excess heat.

I can only write this blog because our new unit was installed today. I can officially stop complaining – and I am sure all of you who have been listening to me all week are just about as happy as I am.

Yes, lots of lessons learned and I’m excited watching the thermostat in the house drop one degree at a time.