Homeowner Woes . . .

Well, for the most part I love our house (although I wish the yard looked like this right now instead of bleak and cold and bare!). But we've certainly had some homeowner woes this winter:
1) Mice invasion. (not for the faint of heart, so read this cautiously!) YIKES! I guess I shouldn't say invasion. But we've found/killed 4 mice. We first became aware of the problem one evening a few months ago. Jake was off at churchball and I had just gotten the kids down, the dishes done, and was enjoying a quiet moment on the computer when suddenly I heard rustling. From under the kitchen sink. From some sixth sense somewhere I think I knew it was a mouse. By some miracle it had fallen into the garbage which I had already emptied and put a brand-new bag in. Despite internally FREAKING OUT I carried the garbage outside and left it there. Then I called Jake and externally freaked out! He came home and killed the mouse. Since then, we have kept traps in a few places and killed 3 more mice under the sink (one even left his arm in one trap then got killed in another. YUCK!). Blessedly we haven't killed any more for 2 months or more.
2) We have discovered that our house is VERY poorly insulated. How, do you ask, did we discover this? Well, a few things: drafts, very cold walls and floors, and HIGH heating bills! And, according to our neighbor and do-it-yourselfer, the snow on our roof melts too quickly. So, we are in the process of figuring out how to add some insulation to our garage, crawl space, and maybe attic. Cost yet to be determined . . .
3) Our current issue: a stubbornly plugged kitchen sink. So I was stupid yesterday and put more down the diposal than I should have. 2 bottles of Drano and 2 bottles of foaming pipe snake later, we're still dragging our feet on calling a plumber and hoping we might be able to figure out some way to remove the clog. Bummer!