There is a wonderful little heat wave going on right now in Memphis. It’s hot.

Yesterday I worked from home as I was trying to get over a cold and wanted to do laundry while I worked. I went about enjoying the flexibility of my job working from home until around 10 am when I noticed I felt hot. Too hot.

Normally my apartment is quite cool, and even a 74 degree setting will make me reach for a blanket. It’s amazing and I love how efficient the air conditioning is in the space.

When I started to feel warm I knew something was wrong. I waited a while and realized the temperature kept going up, so I informed my landlord that something was wrong.

After getting the runaround from the AC guy it turned out no one was coming to fix the air that day. I left my apartment when it hit 86 degrees and I was sweating inside. I went to Jason’s house for cool relief… and then their air conditioning promptly stopped working.

When I finally returned that night, defeated and out of options for a cool sleeping spot, it was 90 degrees inside on our downstairs level.

I tried going upstairs to my bedroom and I lasted five minutes. The heat was unbearable even with fans and I wouldn’t get any sleep there. Instead Juju and I slept downstairs with fans on and ice nearby. When it gets that hot you have to make changes to stay cool!

How to Stay Cool During Hot Weather

Here’s a list of things you can do to stay cool in this situation, aka things I’ve been doing to stay cool.

• Get out the fans. All the fans. Borrow some fans from others. Turn fans on high.
• Turn on all fans
• Stand in front of the freezer with the door open.
• Put ice in a bowl or bucket in front of the fan.
• Take a cold, cold shower. Then sit in front of the fan.
• Drink lots of water with ice in it. Lots of ice.
• Go sit in the car with the air conditioning on for a minute.
• Go out to eat because it’s too hot to cook and restaurants have air.
• Go to the gym to workout because they have fans and air conditioning.
• Take off all your clothes and enjoy naked time since your roommate is gone.
• Give your dog water with ice because your baby is hot too!
• Start planning a snowboarding trip and think about snow and winter.

If you want a more official list of ways to stay cool during a heatwave, the CDC has a great list:

• Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible. Contact your local health department or locate an air-conditioned shelter in your area. Air-conditioning is the number one protective factor against heat-related illness and death. If a home is not air-conditioned, people can reduce their risk for heat-related illness by spending time in public facilities that are air-conditioned, and using air conditioning in vehicles.
• Do not rely on a fan as your primary cooling device during an extreme heat event.
• Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.
• Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
• Don’t use the stove or oven to cook—it will make you and your house hotter.
• Stay in an air-conditioned indoor location as much as possible.
• Drink plenty of fluids even if you don’t feel thirsty.
• Schedule outdoor activities carefully.
• Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing and sunscreen.
• Pace yourself.
• Take cool showers or baths to cool down.
• Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
• Never leave children or pets in cars.
• Check the local news for health and safety updates.

Those are a lot of the things I tried yesterday to stay cool while I was incredibly hot! Getting overheated is a serious problem and can lead to heatstroke and even death unfortunately. It’s something you should take seriously!

That was the most I’ve sweated in a 24 hour period possibly ever. If I still weighed myself daily I probably would have been amazed by that weight loss thanks to losing so much water!

The air is supposed to be fixed and working by the time I get home today, so fingers crossed these things don’t have to be done again any time soon!