...have entered this year's No Heat Contest.

They are:

1. Ima Saver
2. dmontngrey
3. HouseHopeful
4. Toyguy1963
5. CB in the City
6. My English Castle
7. PatientSaver
8 MonkeyMama

It's not too late to join! (See earlier post for the details.)

The days are growing shorter and there's a nip in the air come evening. You know what that means...it's time for the 3rd annual No Heat Contest!

The rules are simple. The winner of the contest is the person who can hold off turning on the heat longer than anyone else.

I'll leave it to your conscience to decide if using your wood fireplace, stove or space heater is "cheating," but I do think that would provide an unfair advantage. Remember, the idea of the contest is to encourage each other to forestall, for as long as possible, the long winter of oil, natural gas, propane or electric bills to heat our homes.

Here are a few ideas for doing that:

* Throw on an extra sweater.
* Weatherstrip your doors and windows.
* Indulge your Inner Chef to create some fabulous home-cooked meals, and keep that oven door open afterwards (make sure it's turned OFF) to warm your kitchen.
* Let your pets sleep with you.
* Get out the hot cocoa.
* Throw an extra comforter on the bed.
* If all else fails and you can't seem to warm up, visit a friend or your local library!

So who's in?