This month we had one of those inevitable but always unexpected surprise that home owners eventually face. We needed a new washing machine. It was a 4 digit expense. Painful, especially in December.

About a week after we had it installed, a check came in the mail reimbursing us for Ben’s school fees. The difference in price from the washer to the reimbursement was $4. A timely check indeed.

Then, last night, New Year’s Eve, we sat down to a nice family dinner. I made crab cakes, green beans, crusty bread and a minestrone soup. Aaron cried hysterically and threw his food the entire meal. Of course, he wasn’t too upset to eat the s’more dessert afterwards.

Later that evening we got an email from our upstairs neighbor. He was out walking the dog and heard all the crying, felt bad for us and left us two very expensive bottles of wine. (It MUST have been bad on the other side of that door to leave TWO bottles!)

So I guess the moral of the story is – it pays to misbehave.