Flipping the Switch

Call me spoiled, I don't care. I love central air. I live in an area where we see upper 80s to mid 90s and beyond all summer long. The nights are typically cooler, but it's not uncommon for the temperature in my house to reach close to 90 degrees.
I could cool down my house if I could sleep with the windows open. Unfortunately, there are several reasons why this is not possible. The first reason is my allergies. If I sleep with the windows open, I am guaranteed to wake up stuffed up and with my eyes matted shut. Another reason is the neighborhood dogs. We are surrounded on all sides by dogs. There are two neighbors in particular who never let their dogs inside. The dogs would prefer to be indoors and they let the entire neighborhood know this all night and all early morning long. The final reason... Cakes and Tortilla's bedroom is at the front of our house. I can't leave their window open because some of our neighbors feel every night is a good night to tap the kegarator, set off fireworks or just be obnoxiously loud. These are not "young" neighbors, mind you. They are adults in their 30s who have young children who apparently are able to sleep through the noise.
Window units are out of the question. Our windows open side to side rather than up and down. Plus window units violate our HOA covenants.
When we lived in Michigan we did not have central air in our house. When we built the house we were looking for ways to cut costs and central air didn't seem like a priority in Michigan. There were maybe two weeks each summer when we lamented not having air, but we could manage to survive those two weeks. And then I spent a summer on bed rest. I vowed I will never ever ever go without central air again. You try being in bed all summer long with fans blowing on you from all directions and yet you still feel no relief.
Don't get me wrong. I don't flip on the AC at the first sign of heat. Last week we had record setting heat and I tried to hold out. I finally turned it on at 8:30 pm when the temperature in the house was still 89 and the girls were sleeping in pools of sweat. I turned off the air as soon as I woke up the next morning and we haven't had it on since... I'm sure it will be on again in the next few weeks.