The Rice Sock

If you have read my previous post (titled "Fireball"), you know that Rex and I are freezing in our apartment and are trying to find alternate ways to keep warm so we don't have to turn on the heat and pay mucho $$$. "Fireball" was one example of why candles might not be the best idea. Luckily, Rex and I are creative and resourceful...or maybe just a little bit desperate.

This summer when I was at a craft show, a booth was selling little fabric pouches that were filled with rice. When you put them in the microwave they warm up, and then you can put them on aching muscles in order to soothe pain. WELL, Rex and I did not have enough money to buy one of these magic pouches, so we passed on them. I have recently been regretting that decision, though, because a heat pack would be very useful right about now. I have no aching muscles, but I have lots of cold parts that could use some heat.

Rex and I had a brilliant idea. We would make our OWN heat pack! Obviously rice isn't very expensive, and we actually had some in our cupboard already. We decided that sewing a fabric pouch was time consuming and too expensive (we would have to buy fabric and a sewing kit), so we hypothesized that a sock would work just fine. Well...new socks have not been in the budget since, um, well, since we got married. So pretty much, we needed a big sock for our project, and we used the best one we could find. I assume it was a clean, fresh white sock at some point in time...but now it isn't. It's more of a nasty gross dirty sock, even after it has been in the wash. You know the ones I mean - everyone has those socks. So we PACKED the sock with rice and tied off the top. Then the true test - we put it in the microwave.

Our experiment worked!! The sock came out warm and toasty (even if it was kind of smelly), and it stayed warm for hours! So now every night before we go to bed, we warm up the sock and put it in the bed first so that the bed will be warm for us when we get in. Then whoever is cold can lay on the rice sock or hold it like a really nasty gym sock teddy bear. We usually have a slight kicking fight once we're in bed to see who gets to wrap their chilly toes around the rice sock first, but I usually win on account of I am the wife and, as a general rule, wives win everything. ;-)

Last night was a particularly epic rice sock evening. Everything was going normally, and I was having a turn with the rice sock. All of a sudden, I heard Rex give his satisfied "Ah I am so toasty warm" sigh as HE rolled over onto the "rice sock." I turned over to look at him confusedly and immediately screamed, "THAT'S NOT THE RICE SOCK!! IT'S THE KITTEN!" He quickly got off of our kitten, and she glowered up at him as if to say, "Um. That was RUDE!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

After that, Rex had the brilliant idea that perhaps we should make another rice sock so that we don't have to take turns with one and accidentally roll over onto the kitten for warmth. I like this plan. Then he said maybe we should make TEN rice socks so we can fill our whole bed with them and then the whole bed will be toasty instead of just one spot. Who knows? We may have an entire gym class's worth of rice socks by the time this winter is over. But, no matter how it happens, WE WILL STAY WARM!!!