Brandon cracks me up. He’s so tiny and has a little voice, but he thinks grown up–with a dry sense of humor. Today I was painting his closet. He wanted me to do other things–like get him a stick of gum :).
His room is a disaster and we are hoping a new closet system will help. Right now the places to put things that he can actually reach are pretty limited. So things end up in a pile on the floor. I forget the exact measurements of his room (that he shares with Grant and Warren) but it’s huge. The bigger the room, the bigger the mess!
The whole time I was painting, I was thinking of how lovely the new closet system is going to be. And I said to Brandon, “just wait, you are going to be so excited when you see your new closet!”
He replied, “A new closet is going to make me excited? I don’t think so. Now if you were in there making a swimming pool, that would be something to get excited about.” I was on a step ladder cutting in the ceiling, and didn’t say anything. I was too busy concentrating on staying on the ladder while holding an open bucket of paint and shaking uncontrollably in silent laughter. He’s too short to get a drink of water. He still has all his baby teeth. He wears footie pajamas. But the boy has logic.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since the weekend about frugality and making a home. I’m in my potential dream home right now, but it needs a LOT of work before I can even feel comfortable having a neighbor drop by for tea. It feels like everything takes money, or time–both things in limited supply. There was a day when I would drag stuff down the street from the neighbor’s trash and clean it or redo it for the home. But my methods are changing a little this time. I’m really thinking about what DIY projects will save me the most cash for the least amount of time spent and then saving up to buy the rest. I still watch and wait for the sale and keep detailed lists of what I’m looking for. I’m no longer looking for “anything” but THE thing that will make the area perfect.
Their closet kit is an example. I spent a lot of time researching all the options. Priced building it out myself and then finally settled on this set from Amazon. I waited for my swag-bucks to accumulate to cover about half of it and then took the plunge. It sat around for weeks since we did our own demolition of the old closet, mudding, sanding, and painting. I think that’s the hardest part about frugality–it’s the waiting. Trying to have patience for the great thing to come while we fit the labor in around our crazy busy lives. But there’s also a peace that comes from paying cash for things as we go and not having any bills accumulate along the way.
