(If you want to hear Lori read the story click) here

 

I wear the same fleece lined boots every day all winter. Last year's boots are in pretty good shape, except that there is this hole in the side where the sole has separated from the upper leather. 

 

The inner dialogue rattling inside my head rambles about both positions: to buy or make do. If this winter is indeed as nippy as last year, there will be approximately a hundred days when I am tromping around in weather below zero. If I use the coupon waiting on my refrigerator, I can get boots for thirty bucks, which comes out to about thirty cents a day to avoid frostbite. I'll take it.

 

It can be hard to spend money on my marriage too. Both John and I grew up in families that thought a vacation meant "Let's leave the dishes in the sink for a whole day!" Neither of us has ever been on a cruise, in fact I doubt I can accurately spell Carribean or Mediteranean, though I can spell Fuji, and the only St Johns I know of is a cathedral.

 

Amazingly our daughter decided that she wanted to spend her hard earned cash on our marriage. Go figure. Last Christmas she bought us tickets to the Nutcracker, and when the usher showed us our seats they were in the second row. I gasped. Decadence of this magnitude was bordering on putting on airs. Chara also strictly told me not to look at the prices on the menu when we arrived at the fancy restaurant she made reservations for before the show.

 

"Just hand them my credit card. Leave a big tip."

 

Don't tell her but I peeked. I would have tried to go the skimpy route but there was nothing listed that even remotely fell into the skimpy category. It was delicious, even to my unsophisticated palate. I think I can still taste it. 

 

For couples struggling with mortgages and gas prices, it can seem imprudent to spend anything on their marriage. Last year's memories will keep them warm, by golly. But if you do the math, even a forty dollar dinner out, with another twenty for the babysitter, can make sense if it gets you talking in ways that kindle warm feelings. Tending to the cold feet in your marriage can get you through the long frosty seasons that seem to show up annually.