Happy first day of March! It is starting here with a sunny but cold day, which is more than fine with me. It means that when I go outside to take a walk, it will be especially pleasant. And I definitely want to get in a walk today, since tomorrow is supposed to be continual rain all day.
Well, the guys came yesterday to do the final measurements for our new front door. And it was somewhat dismaying. When we had the initial measurements, our door was already smaller than usual, so we had very limited choices, and only one that included any glass. I'd been hoping to have one of those panels on the top with a little fan window. But we settled for two little panes at the top. Then yesterday when they did the final measurements, it turned out the door was even smaller than originally thought. Which led to a choice between a door with almost ALL glass, or a door with no glass. Since the door is right on the street, we didn't want a glass door, since it would be like being on display. So now we'll have a door with no glass at all, which is disappointing. It will still look nicer than what we have, but you know how it is. You get excited about one thing, and have to accept another.
Now this is likely to be the only way we get an outside opening on our door ...
Definitely a first world problem, though, so I'll just get over it and be happy we can have a new door at all.
Guess what I'm doing today, though? Laundry - both in the washer and also in the DRYER!!!!! The Tim was able to get the venting set up when he got home last night, and so we're finally good to go. I already put a small load in the dryer earlier, and it dried in so little time, I was really surprised. This may just mean that laundry day will not go overtime into laundry evening, which is a real game-changer. Hallelujah!
So in the world of Operation Home Improvements, we so far have:
New roof - check
New dryer - check
Electricity hook up for dryer - check
New door - ordered, and not quite what we were hoping, but almost a check
Zooming right along, spending money like we have it! 😜
(kidding, we have saved a lot for these projects)
*****
Speaking of spending, I'm pretty proud of myself, because I'm not currently spending. Well, what I mean is that I decided that for Lent, I was going to give up buying things for myself unless it was something I actually needed. I wanted to get out of the habit of seeing something and thinking "Oh I can afford that, I'll go ahead and get it." Now it's not like I was buying big-ticket things, but I'd see a pair of earrings, or a shirt, or maybe even a really nice project bag, and buy it. I would be happy I had it, and always enjoy/wear/use it, but it was never anything I really had to have. So when I realized that Lent was coming along, I thought I would try to get out of that habit. Not that it was in danger of sending us to the poorhouse, but I wanted to get back into my former habit of giving something real consideration before deciding if I wanted to purchase it.
And you know what is funny about it? There have truly only been a couple of things that I have felt any amount of regret about not buying. And that was only because they were things that I don't see that often at a good price. But neither item was something that I am suffering from by not having in my life. I feel like I'm getting back to my more reasonable self. And I'm saving a certain amount of money each week that I decided was an average of what I would normally spend to donate at the end of the season. So yes, I'll still be "spending" the same amount, but it means that I'm giving up something for Lent in order to give *to* something else, which pleases me.
(Lent gives me a good reason to try and get myself back to some positive behavior each year, a nice re-set, if you will.)
As for this weekend, I have to work as usual on Sunday, but other than that we have no particular plans. I'll probably finish catching up on the laundry, and otherwise I am reading a good book and have my knitting projects waiting for some attention. Rainy days are especially good reasons to just stay put and have a quiet time of it.
I hope you can enjoy your weekend, and have a chance to spend some time doing your own thing. Take care.
4 comments:
We have big decisions to make home wise ourselves. Do we sink more money in the place? We need two more bathrooms done and a new deck plus the driveway needs re-doing. There is also thousands of dollars of tree work that needs to done. OR do we pack it in and just move? The yard is too much for us oldies but the idea of moving is terrifying. Between the two of us this house is packed to the brim with hobby junk that we are not ready to part with. Decisions, decisions.
Sorry about your door. I hope you do like it, and maybe you can paint it a fun color?
I've been curbing my spending (because I am so lucky I need absolutely nothing) by not buying anything unless I can get some $ off of it. I discovered (probably everyone knows this) that if you go to a website and put something in your cart, and then exit, the website will email you and send you a coupon. So I'm playing that game with some things I think I'd like to see how low I can get the price.
I would say I need a hobby but I have many!
Lots of wins for you! It's too bad about the door, but I've found that I rarely use the small panes in my front door. Of course, I do have windows that look out in front, though, so that may be why.
What a great idea for Lent! I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, but I appreciate the way many Catholics have interpreted Lent to make it more meaningful.
So sorry to hear about the window thing. . . Maybe you can paint the door a really exciting color to spice things up instead? And lovely wreaths for the changing seasons? YAY for you for curbing your impulse spending! I try hard to consider my purchases, but every once in a while I kind of let myself go. One thing that really helps me is a file on my computer that I named "Things I Want." Whenever I'm tempted to click on something and just order it, I save the link to that file. I know I can always go back to the file and find the things I think I want for myself (and I actually have done that a couple of times), but usually . . . I never think about those things again! Happy March, Bridget! XO
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