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Refinance - This morning we had a sitter come and watch the kids while Michelle and I drove into Nashua to refinance the house. For roughly the same monthly payment, the remaining debt on the house has gone from 30 years down to 15 years. As a side benefit, we get a small break since the first payment comes up March 1st. We only owe about 30% of the value of the home but Milford property taxes are pretty high, so ironically our monthly escrow is bigger than principal and interest. Since it was just the two of us, I stopped at J. Beaners on the way home to get Michelle and I a hot drink.

Shopping - After lunch Claire and Abby played with some friends down the street while Michelle and I took the boys to WalMart. Our goal was to find a cartridge or two for the Leapster and Little Touch Leappad that the kids got for Christmas. While there we also picked up Baby Noah for the boys.

Donuts - In our travels around the area I noticed that a new Milford donut shop which has had an "opening soon' sign for the past few months announced it will open tomorrow. Perhaps now we'll have a decent Dunkin' Donuts alternative? Shortly after the girls came home I picked up some KFC for dinner. Have I ever mentioned that I love KFC cole slaw? It's about the best you can get from a restaurant.

Stove - After the boys went down to bed I disassembled the front of the wood stove to clean out the heat exchanger. We've gone through a ton and a half of wood since we got the stove and some ash deposits had built up. The key to getting good heat output from these stoves is to have efficient heat exchange in the baffles hidden behind the face plates. Ash buildup just insulates the air tubes from the fire's heat and reduces the heat transfer efficiency. It was a bit messier than the usual weekly cleanups I do, but not much worse than cleaning out a fireplace.

Suzy's wheels - I'm happy to hear that Suzy arranged to lease a new Civic coupe to get her through these next few years. It made me look at the new Odysseys as well. We're a bit weary, though, because the last time we bought an Odyssey, we found out we were having twins shortly thereafter … It tends to make you not care whether or not it was just coincidence.

Half birthday - I hardly noticed it until my mom called tonight. Today is my half birthday. Sometimes I think ours is the only family that takes note of these events, however informal. After today I'm officially closer to 40 than 35. It'll be harder to consider myself as "mid-30's". Instead I'm "approaching 40". Say it isn't so!

Happy New Year to everyone.