I don't like the heat. If I had to make a choice between the tropics and the Antarctic, I'd have to choose the Antarctic. Face it, you can always put more clothes on to stay warm, but I've never discovered a way to take enough off to get cool.

I've been kind of spoiled this summer -- at least up until a week ago when Jeremy took off for boot camp.

I'd simply entice him with the opportunity to drive the Crossfire, and I could get him to go nearly anywhere to pick up something I needed, pay a bill, or stop by the bank.

Now he's gone and I'm forced to go out into the heat alone. I feel like a vampire facing certain death in the rays of the bright sunshine.

I really feel for those who are forced to work out in these conditions every day. My husband works on an oil workover rig. Not only is he dealing with the heat of the sun, he's dealing with the heat from the machinery he works on.

I hate the idea of asking him to come home after a long day in the heat and work even longer hours taking care of the lawn, so we've just let it go natural -- I do have a pathway to the street from my front door.

Brad doesn't complain too much about the heat, so it surprised me a little the other day when he told me he'd been waking up at about 4 a.m. every day, hot and dripping in sweat.

In truth it was a little strange. My bedroom is about 20 degrees colder than any other room in the house, but I wake up every morning -- at about 4 a.m. -- tossing blankets off the bed and sweating.

"You must be having sympathy night sweats," I told him.

He laughed.

"It's not that funny," I shot back. "If you start having sympathy mood swings, life as we know it could end."

In my mind I pictured a mushroom cloud over our house. Honestly, I was frightened.

Then he said one of the nicest things I think he's ever said to me … "Honey," he told me, "Your mood swings aren't anything close to what they were when we first got together."

I guess I'll keep him around. Obviously he's my horse whisperer -- which makes me his horse -- and up until now he's tamed me and trained me to keep a more even temperament.

The only thing I can see that might set me off is if the temperatures don't start falling below 80 before too long. Then you might look for a mushroom cloud over the entire south side of the city.