Boreal Witch

The Universe has decreed that we needed two cars. Granted, one of those cars is broken and probably won't be fixed anytime soon, but we are technically a two car family now. Once we get our gray Matrix fixed, it will be rather nice.

Unfortunately for us, we are not a two-income family. It's going to be a challenge to pay for our new red car.

We're back to our college days of saving all of our precious pennies by having a strict weekly food budget. Robinson's even stopped coming home for lunch to save on gas. Christmas will be very simple this year, which is quite a coincidence because I was planning on a pretty frugal holiday season anyway. The kids are too young to know, so I don't feel bad or guilty in the least.

It's a good thing Christmas is around the corner. My sisters and my mom are always very generous when it comes to getting the kids clothes, so they should be set for the next year. Since I saved all of Arthur's old clothes for Balin, we won't have to get him anything. Plus, it's nice to have a network of other moms who give us their kids' old clothing.

I'm confident we'll make it all work. Somehow it always comes out in the wash. I've offered to get a part-time weekend job to help cover expenses, but Robinson said we don't need to worry about it yet.

Yet.

Now that's a scary word.

Blessed be.

In all my years of driving, I've done a pretty half-assed job taking care of my vehicles. Sure, they got the necessities like oil and air in the tires, but for the most part, preventative care like tune-ups were not done.

Then came the Matrix. I tried really hard to get regular oil changes and do some of that preventative work because it was such a nice little car. We depended on it. Once Balin was born, I didn't get around to it. I just didn't have the time. I had hoped Robinson would think to do it, but if he's not looking the beast in the eye right then and there, he won't tackle it.

Our poor car died yesterday. I was driving back from the quilter's when I started to lose power. Then the car died. Luckily, there were two cars behind me. The first guy didn't stop, but the next guy did. He took me home. I called Robinson and explained the situation. He got one of his co-workers to drive him out there and after pouring in some oil, he determined that the car would have to be towed since the car wouldn't turn over.

After a day's wait, the mechanics called with the verdict: the oil rod had gone through the engine which meant that the engine was shot. It would take $4000 and about 5 months to put our poor Matrix back together again.

So, now we are stuck either buying another car that we can't afford or fixing our car, which we also can't afford. Unfortunately, Fairbanks is not the kind of city where you can't have a car. The public transit isn't very good and we don't live anywhere near a bus route.

The thing is, I'm surprisingly calm about this experience. Sometimes it takes a big "uh-oh" moment to make sure that you never, ever do a stupid thing like not get regular oil changes again.

Our future cars will have it so good.

Blessed be.

Blessed be.

I've been trying to get better about celebrating Pagan holidays. I missed the summer solstice and Lammas this year. I meant to have a bonfire on the Fall Equinox. Some of it I can blame on Balin, as any new mother can tell you it's difficult to get anything completed, much less started. Brushing your teeth in the morning becomes a major accomplishment. Housework gets swept to the side and is only done when the pile of dirty laundry threatens to swallow you whole or when the dishes lean precariously on the counters. Blogs get neglected. Smileboxes aren't sent. I think family members are beginning to wonder if we're still around.

Still, we really made an effort for Halloween. Arthur is old enough to begin to understand that costumes = loads of candy. There were two deaths of close family members within the last year as well. It was imperative that we recognize them, too. As a result, Halloween extended from one evening to a week-long event, which was surprisingly nice.

Last year, I made Arthur a Curious George costume, which he refused to wear. I didn't want that drama this year, so after some battles with Arthur about what he wanted to wear, I finally left the costume up to Robinson. He did a good job convincing Arthur to be a computer programmer, like him. They made cardboard iPads and Robinson even asked one of his co-workers to make Arthur a name tag, exactly like the ones at the school district. Robinson's co-workers thought he was the cutest thing ever. There were so many pictures taken and the end result of cubicle trick-or-treating was a small bag of candy, which is perfect because neither myself nor Robinson needs any more sweets.

Balin and I dressed up like Wicket the Ewok and Princess Leia. I reused the material from Arthur's rejected Curious George outfit. I was pretty surprised it worked so well. We made quite a stir at UAF's Halloween Bash. Even a brief truce was declared so that we could pose with members of the Empire's finest.

Arthur even went to eight of the stations and was eligible for one of several door prizes. What a surprise we had when he actually won one of them! It was a Star Wars Lego sticker book, just the kind of thing to make both Robinson and Josh green with envy. Arthur sat on the floor the afternoon he got it, peeling and placing stickers, saying, "Not everyone gets to win a prize. I'm special. This is really special." He even covered pieces of paper with stickers for Robinson and Uncle Johnny.

We also went to our friend Sarah's house to carve pumpkins, but since we had not yet gotten our pumpkins, the boys painted their little ones instead. Well, I painted Balin's because he probably would have eaten the paint. When we finally got our pumpkin, Arthur decided he wanted the letters E, W, P, and H carved in it rather than a face.

Finally, we made rice krispy treat skulls and decorated them with candy. Unfortunately, the marshmallows were so old that the treats hardened within the hour of making them. Still, I hadn't done this activity since I was a junior in college and it was very enjoyable making one with my own child. This might become an annual activity.

We also remembered my grandmother, who passed away last August, and Robinson's mom who passed away this January. It was a little sad when Arthur couldn't (or maybe didn't want to) come up with a memory of his Oldma. I wonder if, when he gets older, if he will have any actual memories of her.

Blessed be.