February Fast

February, I see you coming.  You look all clean and sparkly new to me right now.  You look like a good thing waiting to happen.  I like your style: short and to the point, pretending to ignore the soul crushing bitterness of your wintery depths. 

But I'll take your highs-in-the mid-nothings weather with the chance of snowsleethail and sun for a few minutes here and there.  I loathe your weather but I like your get-to-it determination: 28 days and done. 

That's a reasonable amount of days to do what I have heretofore declared to be a fasting month for get behind me gigantor credit card bills!  This whirling confluence of money-down-the-drain needs to end and NOW.  It's not like there haven't been good reasons for spending money in the last year.
*pre-moving costs money
*moving itself costs money
*post-moving costs a shocking amount of money
*life continues and pretends that you didn't move and, oh yes, also costs money

We've had some expected stuff do its expected thing and happen.  We've had some unexpected stuff make me grumble. And it's a good time to have neither of those happen for a whole month.  So I omnisciently declared to the boy today that February was going to be our return to equilibrium.  If I say it, will it no be so?  I've no faith in my divining skills, but I've got a feeling in the words of the prophetic Black Eyed Peas that this month's gonna be a good good month.

But, I've also said that before.

I declare there shall be no more cracks in teeth that need to be replaced.
I declare that there shall be no more washing machines that leek everywhere only to stop leeking once their replacement has been hastily purchased.
I declare that there shall be no more please-pay-large-lump-sums-up-front payments for a bit of early morning drop off supervision.
I declare that there shall be no more conversations with the boy when he says "We need to buy 4 new tires and we need to do it 6 months ago."
I declare that there shall be no more 3-year-rabies-shot-and-we-should-probably-do-senior-bloodwork vet appointments. 

All valid.  I begrudge none of them.  But this is taking more trickery to stem the tide than usually happens. 

Oh, and our first true winter electricity bill for a 2-story house (read heat-sucking, how-do-we-manage-the-different-temperate-zones?!? house) landed today.  Sometimes I groan when I get a bill.  And then sometimes, I laugh (because the children were around and I can't afford the therapy when I traumatize them with my massive sobbing).  I might have, in all honesty, entertained the thought for a brief moment that maybe we should move back to a more conducive heating situation.  But that would just promulgate the pre & post moving expenses.  So that idea got chucked quickly. 

We're digging this new arrangement, we really are.  The sticker shock is taking some getting used to, so BRING IT ON FEBRUARY.  Hello, darkness...my (c)old friend.