I've been getting freaked out at reports of natural gas prices going up 75% this year. I have the budget plan with the heating people, but that will not be enough. So I spent today doing some house repair stuff that I'd been putting off.

What I did:

• Swept the floor near the catboxes
• Washed out the furnace filter. Realized that a reusable, washable filter is a nice ecological idea, but I live in Cleveland. I will not be running out in January to rinse this sucker out, and so I measured it to go and buy replacement filters. 26" by 16 3/4."
• Drained the water heater!
• Got 5 years worth of fluff out of the outside vent. Realized that I need to fill that in some way, as the outlet is smaller than the hole.
  
• Tried to fix my lightbulbs from where I pulled too hard and the strings got stuck. No luck. I'm headed to the library for the Cleveland Restoration Society's talk on home maintenance and winterizing tomorrow night, so I will have to conduct a reference experiment.
  

And although my most recent trip to the library lead to a lost wallet and hassle, I did get what looks to be a good cookbook that will help this winter. I haven't looked at it too critically, but a quick breeze through of Beth Hensperger's Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook shows a variety of grain and vegetable dishes, along with the standard meat heavy stuff. It even has a breakfast and dessert section, which is rare. And did I mention that it was pretty veggie-friendly? I wouldn't buy it for Genevieve or the Phoenix contingent, but I'd at least suggest they take a look at it for ideas. Plus, slow cooker=energy efficient! And makes me pay attention to food right when I get home, cutting off my tendency to get to hungry and then eat junk.