If you are still trying to think of a Valentine’s Day gift for your practical, likes-flowers-but-frets-over-the-serious-overpricing, loves-chocolate-but-prefers-to-get-it-at-50%-off-the-next-day sweetheart, may I suggest the gift of a warm butt?
(image from Amazon.com)
Paul got me this LavaSeat (he wrote “To Hot Buns” on the gift tag, predictably) for Christmas, and I love it. It is the perfect thing for that kind of chilliness where you’re already wearing a sweater AND wool socks AND cozy slippers, but your body doesn’t seem to be generating enough heat for those things to WORK, so you’re just sitting there in your cold sweater and cold wool socks and cold slippers, feeling cold. When I feel that kind of chilliness creeping over me, I microwave the weird giant ice-pack-looking insert for two minutes while I load dishes into the dishwasher; then I flip the insert over and microwave it for another minute or two while I handwash the frying pans that are always soaking in the sink; then I return the insert to the pouch and go sit somewhere with it. It advertises itself as something you can sit on at your kid’s track meet or whatever, but I like to put it between my back and a chair. At first it feels like when you’re freezing and you get into a nice hot shower that’s a teeny bit too hot but you can’t make yourself turn it down, or when you sit just a little bit too close to a woodstove or fire; and then it gradually turns into something you don’t really notice but also you’re not as icy cold anymore. It stays warm usually long enough for me to feel like I can generate my own body heat again—but if I’m still cold, I can put it back in the microwave for a minute or two while I make a little snack.
While getting the photo for this post, I noticed it says you can refrigerate the insert instead. This seems like it would be nice for various aches and pains, though I have trouble remembering which aches and pains are supposed to be iced and which are supposed to be heated. Now I am wondering if this would be lovely in the summertime when I am dying of heat.
SWISTLE YOU’RE SPEAKING MY LIZARD-BODY LANGUAGE
THIS HEATING PAD IS A SUN-WARMED ROCK
I HATE HATE HATE that kind of cold you’re describing. We lived in Northern California for 4 years in a huge old badly insulated house with WOOD HEAT ONLY (in 28 degree weather OMG) and I loathed it with every fiber of my inner being. This would have been sooooo nice to have (especially while I had my newborn!)
This would make THE perfect Christmas gift for one of my co-workers who is ALWAYS cold in the office. Unfortunately, she is retiring in April and will no longer be cold since she will have total control over the thermostat in her home.
Oh my gosh … I wonder if this would warm up my cold ass when I get into the car on these frigid Michigan mornings?! I know it wouldn’t last very long, but maybe long enough for my car heater to actually start blowing hot air. Thank you for sharing this!
I live in Ottawa and a few years ago I got a fuzzy seat cover to use in the car in the winter. I can’t understand how I lived so long without it!
My husband is always cold and I am always warm (often too warm, and I am not menopausal yet.) One Christmas I got him a hot-water bottle for bed, with a whimsical knitted cover, and it was an extremely successful gift. Which is to say, Hot Buns, you’re not alone.
p.s. Have two people who liked the same temperature ever gotten married to each other?
I’m having one of those too cold to warm up mornings right now!
The feeling you describe is why I got a mattress-heating pad (goes under the fitted sheet) for my usually pretty cold bedroom. I found that when I tried to get to sleep, having to get the bed warm first with my body warmth only was so uncomfortable, and actually kept me from being able to get to sleep. Now, I LOVE that pad, and will not want to miss it. There are few things I’d replace immediately if they broke, but that pad is one of them (it helps that they are only around $20).
The difference in comfort is immeasurable. Sometimes, when I wake up at night, I switch it on again so I can fall asleep easier (it’s on a 90 min. timer, so turns off some time after I fall asleep). I also found it makes getting up easier, so when my alarm rings I also turn it on and wait a little while until I’m warmed up again. I set the alarm a bit earlier for that, and a second one for when I truly need to get up.
Apparently, our circadian rhythm and if our body is ready to wake up is also related to body temperature, and our temperature drops during the night and then rises again when it gets closer to waking up. Afaik for some people who have a seriously off sleeping rhythm, a heating pad set on a timer to heat up like an hour or two before waking time helps adjust their inner clock. May be useful to me, too, but so far I haven’t gotten my act together enough to figure out how to best do that with a timer while also being able to use it at will.