Snuggie Love!

I am coming off of another zany weekend, but in the best possible way. My friend Deb's friend Helen, who is is now kind of my buddy, too, was in Nairobi, and we made the most of a brief window of time. She's doing a work-related African tour of sorts--first stop Nairobi, then Lilongwe, then Jo'burg. She came loaded with information and gifts for each of those job-related stops, but she also had several special gifts for me. First was a thermal coffee press I'd been wanting, and then she even treated me to a terrific belated birthday dinner!

But she also had another special long-distance present. I've been hearing about Snuggies ever since they were introduced to a world longing for fuzzy shelter from the cold, but with all my traveling, never had the time or presence of mind to investigate. And then came this past "winter" in Nairobi, which I must have bitched about non-stop for the entire season. I don't care if you're tired of hearing me say it; you simply don't move to Sub-Saharan Africa and expect to wear socks to bed! EVER!!! The months of June, July and August were record-breaking cold for over here, and since nobody builds houses or apartments with central heating, the Oasis was uncomfortably chilly most of the time.

But I hung in there til early September, when things started warming up for a while. But wait, I forgot about the "short rains"...or are they the "long rains"???....of October. What-EVUH. After a few weeks' bright sunshine and warmth, I'm right back to where I started. Rainy season brings more chilly, gray weather. So guess what Helen brought????

A Snuggie, from my buddies Deb and Ray!! I guess being loyal readers of this blog, they got well and truly sick of my bitching and got one for me, and I am grinning like an idiot now just like I was when I first opened the package! I even had to call Deb and thank her in person. And here's the thing about Snuggies....they're just as fun as they are warm! It's like a baby bunting blanket with sleeves, for want of a more technical description. It opens at the front (or back, if you choose to wear it that way), but I relied on my burgeoning fashion instincts during the inaugural wearing. I pulled it together in the front and cinched it at the waist with a belt. Then I rolled up the sleeves, tied the loose ends up top into a jaunty knot, and honey, you cain't tell me NOTHIN' 'cept I was too fierce!

See, that's what friendship does for you. It warms you up from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. From the inside out. From 7,000 miles away. Thanks Deb and Ray, and thanks, too, Helen, for being the bearing of warm, fuzzy, Snuggie tidings!