How Christmas Got a Little More Expensive

It's been a pretty good holiday season so far. The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves and their presents. Mom and Dad were in Florida, but we did get to spend some nice time with my sisters, nephews, and niece, plus my wife's extended family as well. Thanks in part to my wife starting her new job, we spent a little more cash this year than the past two Christmases, which seems to be the trend in the U.S. this year.

One unfortunate and unexpected extra expense this year will be coming from the heating bill. I discovered just today that the top half of the window by the bathroom had slid down about 1/3 of the way, leaving only the wood blinds and screen to protect us from the elements. Every now and then we had felt a draft, and my wife tells me she noticed the floor was cold by the bathroom.

I happened to walk by the window tonight and felt something of a draft, checked the window, and sure enough...I found the culprit. I have no idea why it wasn't latched. I'm pretty anal about latching windows for the very purpose of not wasting energy.

My best guess is it happened Saturday night when my older kids and I heard a noise we thought was just something falling in the nearby closet. Must have been the window sliding down, followed by our savings being sucked out of the opening.