It was the day after Christmas and we were going to Lowes to buy paint for the boys' room. I had moved the car into the garage the previous day to keep it out of the snow. I got in, turned the key, and got only a nasty-sounding squawk. Tried again, same thing. Wait. Repeat. Squawk.

In any event, we called for a tow Naturally, the engine started just fine for the mechanic. They couldn't find anything wrong. We got it back on new year's eve (right after eating the reuben fritters).

Needless to say, we've been a little nervous about the car since. So maybe it wasn't totally unexpected that we'd get about 100 miles out toward NYC early yesterday morning only to have the engine light come on. I had been watching the fuel gauge for the prior hour -- it already seemed to be dropping more quickly than usual.

Figuring it was better to get stuck within 100 miles of home we decided to turn around and try to make it back to our driveway. And we did. But too late to swap cars and get back on the road -- not that the 12 year old Jeep is much better, but hey, that's what we're driving these days. A Jeep without a rear-view mirror. You see, when we got into that to drive to Lowes I went to adjust the mirror, and it came off in my hand.

Because that's how it's going for us these days. Oh, and don't try spray washer fluid in that car either. Not sure what's up with that.