TGIF! 
It’s a cozy warm freezing cold 62 degrees in the crib this morning! You guys are so smart. 
We totally have a programmable thermostat and I completely forgot to use it all winter long! Oh well, better late than never, eh? I’ve now got my house completely hooked up:
5am-9am: 65 degrees
9am-4:45pm: 62 degrees
4:45pm-9:30pm: 67 degrees
9:30pm-5am: 62 degrees
It was quite a shock waking up in such chilly surroundings and there was definitely a mad dash for a hot shower. Our old setting of 71 degrees now seems practically tropical! Anyways, now that we’ve got the thermostat working on our terms, we just get to sit back and let it do it’s money saving magic. And seriously bundle up – the groundhog did see it’s shadow after all. 
In addition to being a little bit more cold than usual this morning, I’m also a little bit more tired than usual! I popped one of these babies – a Vitamin B pill.
I got these at Trader Joes for like $5, and they seriously do wonders for my energy levels. Did you know that the energy shots/drinks like 5 Hour Energy are basically just liquid vitamin B? Took a few of those when I was in Vegas last summer!
Vitamin B’s not the only thing for breakfast! I’m taking the rest of it on the go though, because I’m not feeling very hungry right now for some reason. I packed some extra BPC (blueberry pancakes) sprinkled with almonds and stewed blueberries!
I added some almonds this morning to give them a little extra staying power and will eat them cold, I think. They’re actually really good cold!
These store really well in the freezer, too. Just layer them with some wax paper, and pop them into the toaster when you’re ready to eat them. SO convenient, right?
Can you tell I like taking pictures of pancakes?
There are so many uses for these stewed blueberries, too. In addition to being the best pancake topper, mmm, ever they’d also be super good over oatmeal, spread on toast, or on top of yogurt. YUM!
Lunch today is a good one and I’m hoping that I don’t break into it too early. 
It’s got ALL my favorites!
An EarthGrains Thin Bun, smeared with almond butter and topped with banana slices.
LOOOOOOOOVE this combo!!
Some orange colored kryptonite, aka dried apricots. These apricots are darker than what you might typically see in the grocery store because they’re not treated with sulfur dioxide, which a lot of dried fruits are to retain their color. They are SO good!
And my heart. Peach Chobani and I go way back. Tried and true – always fabulous.
FYI – Strawberry Banana Chobani is very tropical tasting, I really liked it a lot!
In other news…
Happy 91st Birthday Grandma!
My beloved Grandma turns 91 today. 91! She was born in 1919 – can you imagine how much she has seen and experienced?
This woman is the smartest person I know – we still calls her for advice! Plus she’s the most tech savvy 91 year old around. She reads my blog everyday on WebTV. Yes, she has WEBTV!! She continually amazes me.
On top of everything else, she’s the sweetest, proudest and most wonderful person. I love you Grandma – have a wonderful birthday! Hugs and love from Iowa!!! 
Have a great Friday everyone!
~~~~~
Are you, or were you, close with your Grandparents?
91! Wow you have some good genes there girl
wow! good for your grandmother! 91 is awesome! i’m very close with my grandparents! i grew up with them living just around the corner from me, so they’ve always been very involved in my life!
I’m still close with all my living grandparents! Although one of them asked when would be a good time to call and hasn’t yet :-/ Boo to her, anyway. She’s living it up at Disney right now with my cousins!
I like my house at 70. I could never do the 62
Aww Happy Birthday to your Grandma!!!
I have a great-grandmother and a grandfather left. We are all pretty close because we have a small small family. I’m really thankful for them
Your lunch sounds fabulous! I love nut butter and banana together.. so good!!!!
Happy Birthday Grandma! She’s darling!
My grandfather was born in 1919 (passed away in 2005)…your title today reminded me of him. thanks!
I have always been very close to all of my grandparents…a reason why I don’t want to wait too much longer to have kids. I want my kids to grow up spending a lot of time with their grandparents.
Happy Birthday to your Grandma! It’s wonderful to see someone who has aged so well…and knows how to navigate the web!
My father’s parents used to live with us so I was close to them. I’m also really close to my mom’s parents who live 5 minutes away. I love my family too!
So nice to see close relationships with grandparents. I am extremely close to my gram! We still go out together at least once a week and I think her couch is probably to most relaxing place on earth to cozy up for a nap! Happy Birthday, Grandma!
Happy Birthday, Grandma IGE! You sound like one special lady.
Happy b-day to your Grandma!!
I brought a peach chobani with me today–first one ever! I’m excited!
And your place seems like a tropical paradise. My husband keeps is at 64 when we’re home in the evening, and 57 at night and throughout the day while we’re at work. When I am there I turn it to 68 and he slowly turns it down when I’m not watching (but I always catch him). I need to move south! I’m not built for Pittsburgh weather!
Haha I like that the vitamin container says “Trader Darwins”
Happy birthday to your G-Ma! That’s incredible that she’s 91
Certainly doesn’t look 91! Wow.
oh happy days! happy birthday to your sweet grandma! my grandparents sadly all passed away by the time i was 17 but my grandpa lived til he was 93 which i consider a very ripe old age
your pancakes look delectable – i also obsessively take photos whenever i make them! such photogenic beasts.
We keep our thermostat around that same temp too! Happy Birthday Grandma. My Gran was born in 1919 too and her b-day is April 6th.
What a cute picture of you and your Grandma! I still have my grandma and Great Grandma alive. Right now there are 5 generations in the family alive; crazy!
OK – I live in WDM and am having trouble finding the Chobani yogurt. Where do you buy it? Dying to try it. Have a Fage yogurt with me today.
Thanks!
Susan
Happy Birthday to your grandma!
She looks so cute!
Oh, and loved your eats… Blueberry pancakes and banana+almond butter combo… YUM!
Have a great Friday!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
Too funny, our lunch boxes are identical twins today (minus the yogurt for me) I wish I was closer with my grandmas–one lives quite far away and the other is a newlywed at 78 and seems to have very little free time on her schedule lately! haha.
Happy Birthday to your Grandma!! What an inspiration at 91!!! I was very close to my paternal grandmother cuz she lived with us growing up…so many day to day things remind me of her!
Happy bday to your grandmother!! Seems like you have great genes so you can look forward to old age!
Happy Birthday to your Grandmother:) She is adorable. I love she is super tech savy!!!
Happy Birthday, Grandma! Grandma should totally do a guest post on how to use a WebTV… I have no clue and I think it would be interesting to see her in action.
I’m pretty close w/ my grandparents… all 3 of them live in PA and I live in GA, so I don’t see them very often. I try and call every once in awhile to check in and see what’s new!
I just wanted to comment on the thermostat issue. I live in MD and while it might not get as cold as Iowa in the winter, its still damn cold! We live in a townhouse, inside of group, which may help insulate us from the cold, but we set our thermostat REALLY low. 58* when we’re sleeping/out of the house for extended periods of time (ie: work) and 65* when we’re there. I spoke with someone at our utlities company last winter and she recommended leaving the thermostat NO LOWER than 58 during the coldest months…because of a) bursting pipes and b) if you leave it TOO low, when you eventually DO turn it back up, it will take longer to heat the whole house and thus will run longer…which equals $$$.
Wow – happy birthday to your grandma! At my office we have a gentleman who was born in 1925 and he’s still working! He was cracking jokes at a few people – about 20-25 years younger than him – who are retiring soon.
I’ve thought about freezing pancakes – I’m sure my husband would like that. I bet you could just pop them in the toaster oven and they’d be delicious!
K
Happy Birthday to your Grandma! She is adorable
Love the pictures of you- you look so pretty! 
My grandparents have all passed away & I miss them everyday. I was very lucky to have the grandmas live well into their 80′s, and both lived in their own homes. The women in our family seem to live long lives, and this is eating everything fried in bacon grease!…….the men, not so long!
My paternal grandparents live about 30 miles from me so I visit them at least once a month. My grandmother is 84 and still so sharp. She emails and even uses a web cam to communicate with my other family across the country. This spring my grandfather will be 94. It’s amazing how healthy he is for his age. I hope I got some of those long living genes.
I had stewed blueberries as my oatmeal topping today – DELICIOUS!!
And I love cold pancakes, I think I prefer them to hot ones ha!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY your gran!! I’m pretty close to my mum’s parents, they are the sweetest, most generous people I’ve ever met. My grampa will be hitting 90 next birthday
Oh, and re the cold – our house used to be REALLY cold, and we NEVER got ill; I think it builds up your immune system and makes you resiliant lol – least that’s what we told ourselves….
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Oh, and thanks to you, I grabbed a bag of dried apricots last grocery shopping trip. They are so gobbilicious!!!
Unfortunately, both of my grandmothers have passed
I was very close to one of my grandmas because we lived on the same farm. My family had a newer house and her and grandpa lived in the older farm house. This grandma taught me how to cook, bake (great bread!), and garden. She also tried teaching me how to crochet, which I still can’t get the knack of doing 
Every Saturday I would help her prepare a huge noon dinner for everyone working on the farm. My aunts and uncles, and cousins would also be there. It was so much fun and created so many memories. She died 3.5 years ago at the age of 72 from bone cancer.
That’s great about your Grams – wish her a happy birthday for me! My Gramps was born in 1899 and saw many things in his lifetime – a public hanging at the age of five, his first auto at the age of seven and his first airplane at the age of ten. He worked the farm on a plow driven by big draft horses and ate sugar and lard on bread for breakfast. Lived to be 99, by the way. Smoked a pipe every day of his life and always had a cup of coffee with a shot of whiskey in it by his side. Worked on the railroad as a master electrician for 45 years, got into electricity when electricity was new. I wonder what he’d think of the Internet?
YES, I love my grandparents and always have! I enjoyed many wonderful days and visits with them as a kid and still now as an adult when time allows it. My daughter is following in my foot steps as well…….she is very close with my mom & step-dad and I love that. In fact, both of them pick her up from school each week, on seperate days, and take her to dinner or home to eat while I am at the gym and have for 3 years now. =)
I’m a long time reader of your blog but have never commented. I thought I’d come out of the woodwork today and say hi, and that your blog is one of my absolute favourites! I’m a college student on the other side of the world who doesn’t cook…yet I still think your blog is awesome and it always cheers me up. You have a great attitude and seem to take a lot of pride in your blog without being obsessive or over-the-top. It seems to come naturally to you. Perfect balance, and gorgeous pics too!
We keep out house at 60 degrees all of the time, I heard that haing two different temps does not save money…our biggest bill so far this winter was over 350 bucks, same time last year it was 450 bucks…that was when I put the temp at 60. Honestly, it is not that bad!
awww happy birthday to your sweet gma!!
I used to be really close with my one grandmother who passed away 18 months ago. She and I were kindred spirits.
I knew all four of my grandparents very well, into my teens, and even two of my great grandparents. My grandmothers both lived until I was in my mid thirties, and met two of my children. Only nine more years for your grandmom to “turn the odometer back to zero.” My best wishes for that happening.
As to your thermostat, I’m with Caitlin, to some extent. There should be a larger spread between your max and min temps. Step it back cooler than you have up till now during the day when you’re away, a couple few degrees warmer than you have it now in anticipation of your morning showers, and a degree or three cooler for your evenings and sleep times. You can bundle up anytime that you’re not showering, and can always overide (sp?) on nights when it is particularly bitter outside, or times when you just feel the need for extra heat, or when you are bathing in the evening.
I’ve been doing this in a house with what used to be young kids (now a couple are teens) for years, and none have been the worse for it. At least I assume so, although there’s no control group of kids to measure this against.
All the Best,
Ebeneezer Scrooge
Happy Bday g-ma! You know what that means, you’ll live until you’re AT LEAST 91 especially with those TJ vitamins!
Aww Happy Birthday Grandma! That’s wonderful! 91 years of life!
.
I LOVE my Grandmas. Both of my Grandfathers have passed away but I was so close to all of them and still am with my Grandmas. Love them and miss them b/c I live in Denver and they are 18 hrs away
Okay so question, is it not crazy cold with it set that low? My husband and I just received a bill for $230! We couldn’t believe it! I almost hit the ground and we leave ours at 70! So, we were thinking about getting a couple space heaters at night and dropping the thermostat way down. We have a programable one too but I haven’t set it up yet. That wouldn’t be a bad idea. Please post how much that saves you next month. I’m curious to find out!
You are brave!
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