Cold, Cars (or cash?), and Cons!

What January Brings....
In one of dh's childhood books there is a poem that the first line goes something like this.....

"January brings the snow,
makes our feet and fingers glow."

So far this January I haven't had much to complain about. New Year's day the kids and I were at the park and while a bit nippy for here, it wasn't what it could have been. We've had days where we've been out with light spring jackets on (like Tuesday this week.) Where most year's we've been bundled up. So far tonight and tomorrow will be our coldest yet this winter... with our lows being 14F and 13F, and our highs being barely 30F. For my Northern relatives, that's a walk in the park -- they'd think a mere night time temp of -10C and a daytime temp of -1C is downright balmy for this time of the year. But houses are built to stand the cold up there, where here and especially in this house insulation is a joke - I mean I can feel a blast of air coming through the electric outlets let alone the OMG the pipes might freeze warnings. In my next life I'll be a carpenter and strip my houses to the beams and fill with luscious insulation no matter where I happen to live! LOL!

So it must truly be January, old man winter has his siphon in my pocket draining our bank book yet again! Last year we started the new year off with a beautiful flat tire that fell right off the rim. This year we started off with 2 dead garage doors, 1 dead car battery, a new set of front tires on 2 different cars... and a set of rear breaks and rotors on one of those cars and it's only the 15th. I can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings! *sigh* I need a new door on my car - well the inner parts anyway - as the molding has fallen off one of the rear doors making it impossible to open without sheer brute force.... and there are other expenses coming, I just feel it.

So after M got her American Girl - Mia doll, with her Christmas money yesterday, dh blowing a whole lotta dough on the car today.... we were picking daddy up to get the car from the shop this aft and M reminds daddy that there is a Leaf's game tomorrow at Phillips Arena....
"Oh please daddy can we go??"

To which daddy huffs and says.... "No, I'm sorry we can't.... I'm just about to spend a bunch of money on the car sweetie."

Which is greeted with a flurry of tears from the backseat.

So I asked how much the tickets were ... just because she's had her heart set on seeing this game since Dec 26th when she went to her first Thrashers game. To which he replied the tickets were $40 - ish a piece.... I asked if there were cheaper ones and he said he thought so but would have to look and also check if they were available..

Sure enough when we got home.... he and M were at his computer finding the nosebleed seats for $10 a piece. Hey its a live game, she's 7 and all she cares about is being there and having a night out with daddy! We aim to please.... its a cheap date.... now if I could get the same deal and leave the kids home for just one night I'd be in heaven! LOL!

So all in all, the cars are fixed (for now) the garage is fixed (sort of) and the big kid is happy!