It's Getting Hot in Here!

Every day the wood stove and I battle it out. My goal is not to let it get too low because I am seriously incapable when it comes to starting the stupid thing back up. The problem is that I am usually wrapped up in the boys and forget about it. And then all the sudden it is freezing in the house and I realize it has just about died. So then I have to stuff it full of paper and hope hope hope it somehow spontaneously combusts back to life, then throw in some logs and mumble a few sardonically encouraging words to the beast.
I am thankful we have a way of heating the house that doesn't involve electricity (because our electricity goes out several times every winter...one of the disadvantages of rural living) and that saves us money. And it does give a nice homey look to our living room. We can effectively heat the whole house with our little wood stove so long as temps don't drop into the 20s (then we really have to get it roaring to keep up).
And I probably shouldn't complain too much. Because at least I don't have to do this:
Personally, I think Paul's a little sick in the head. He actually likes chopping wood. And he does do a good job of it. But then again, he's a little obsessed with the wood stove. Last night, for example, he spent 20 minutes in the middle of the night tending the wood stove. If I accidentally let the fire go out and he finds out, it's traumatic enough that I sometimes wonder if I should call one of those emergency hotlines so he will have someone to talk to about his disappointment. And the morning he came downstairs and the electric heat had cut on...oh my! I didn't know if he would ever get over that morning. So, I've taken to naming the wood stove Charlotte. It seems she is our fourth child, and sometimes she takes more attention than our actual children. Since I didn't have any daughters (and at this point don't plan to), Charlotte is a nice girl name for the wood stove.