Out of the mouths of babes....

If you want the truth listen to a child.  They give it to you straight and it can be very, very funny,

Yesterday, Jenn and I were lucky to be invited to the birthday celebration for a special 6 year old.

Miss Maggie was the birthday princess.

Jenn and I had  plotted and planned.

Everything PINK and I mean PINK.  Including gifts, gift bags and icing.

Jenn made a funfetti cake and cupcakes.  We brought them uniced so that could be part of the party.

And sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles.

When we arrived, I started the climb up the full flight of stairs in the front of the house. As usual, I took my time and was very careful.

The birthday girl was climbing patiently behind me.  She did ask Jenn, "why is she walking so slowly?"  Jenn and I both laughed as I stepped aside to let them pass.

The next few hours included presents, coloring and decorating cupcakes.

Jenn successfully negotiated with Charlie the issues of a PB&J sandwich which was not cut to an little man's satisfaction.  It was cut up and down not diagonally.  Jenn was able to offer options, a new sandwich or a cupcake.

Guess which option was chosen?  You guessed it, the cupcake.

Within a few minutes, Charlie had partied until he dropped and fell asleep sitting up in his chair.

I also got to check in with the teenage generation.

Talking to Morgan about proms and college options made me realize how quickly time has passed.  It seems like yesterday she was a cute youngster.

Ben has grown a foot (or it appears that way) since the last time I saw him.  He is entertaining to talk to and I love kids who are comfortable enough to hold up their end of a conversation with adults.

When the candles had been out a few hours later it was time to leave.

I am not one to push myself on children.  I let them come to me and I do not force them to give me a hug.

As I was saying goodbye to the adults, my youngest friend, Simon, came running over and hugged me around my legs as I kissed him on his head.  A wonderful spontaneous moment.

As I walked to the door slowly, Maggie asked "why are you walking so slowly?"  I said laughingly, "because I am old."  Without missing a beat she replied, "Yeah, very old"  I don't think I have laughed so hard in ages.

Lastly, I headed to the stairs.  I took them one at a time holding on to both railings.

What I didn't realize was I had a conga line of little people following down the stairs in the same manner as me, one step at a time. I am sure it was quite a sight.

I had so much fun, laughed a lot and am still chuckling about it today.

I need to remember these moments when I get frustrated.

Besides the gala party, the rest of the week had some good moments.

I went to another wood craft class.  Jenn and I both painted lighthouses.  I love doing projects in these classes.

I had a picture I bought at Lowes a few weeks back.  It had been leaning against my dining room table waiting to be hung.

Well along with replacing my garbage disposal my most willing "volunteer" contractors, Gabe and Meg, hung my picture.  I love the way it looks.

I had may hair cut and colored and love the way it looks.  Too bad I can't have Wayne Powers at my house every morning to make it look as good as it does when he works his magic!!

See you next week.

Just when you think you have it all figured out

About a week ago on a Friday night, I opened the mail.  Since I had been away for a few days the pile of mail was bigger than normal.

I opened up each envelope. It was almost as if the mail-person had seen inside each envelope. As I opened each one, the dollar amount of the bill inside was larger and larger.

An invoice for my part of my mammography bill from last July.  Why did it take so many months to show up in my mailbox?  And why is it when this procedure used to be covered fully by my health insurance, I now have to pay for 25% of the procedure??

Next was the car tax bill.  Yes, in  South Carolina we pay a property tax on our cars EVERY year.  Fortunately, since my car is old and has high mileage the bill was not huge but it was bigger than my balance of the mammo bill.

This was followed by my club dues.  Yes, yes I know, I chose to live someplace where this is a mandatory fee and due monthly.

My Home Warranty bill for the next year also arrived.  The time from year to year for this bill seems to fly.

Loews also hit my table with the credit card bill for my new appliances.

Lastly, my HOA dues for the year arrived along with all the other items listed above.

Talk about lousy timing.

And coming up, 4/1- quarterly HOA dues (in addition to the annual dues listed above).

Life Insurance will come due in May.

UGH !!

I sat at the table with my checkbook and this stack of bills along with the normal monthly expenses (cell phone, water, electric, internet and on and on).

I looked like a Poker Dealer in Vegas.  I shuffled the bills by amount, date due, date late and priority.  I also made sure to leave enough money for gas, groceries and the vet.

Finally I had a game plan.  I wrote out the checks or scheduled the payments.

Mission accomplished!!

That was on Sunday.

Then Monday arrived.

My phone rings and it's Jenn.  "Mom, there is something wrong with my car."  We arrange to meet at a nearby gas station.  If she can't make it there I will go find her.  Jenn pulls in right before I do. They take the car into the bay and after a little while come out with the news.

The transmission is on it's way out and so is Jenn's car.

You reach a point when you stop investing in a 17 year old car with almost 200K miles on it.

My car is 12 years old and has over 210K miles on it.

We are down to one car and a long commute

We had prayed our cars would hang in with duct tape and paper clips for just 5 more months until Jenn's student loans are paid off.

Oh well, the best laid plans.

At least I bought the new kitchen appliances before the car issue came up or I would have lived with the old stove, microwave and dishwasher for another year.  Too late they were bought and paid for already.

Once again it is Sunday and I am figuring out our options. I am the Black Jack dealer today.

As usual we will find a solution.

Anyone want to play 52 pick up?

See you next week !!

Let's Party Like It's 1999.

As I went shopping at Lowes, this song by Prince kept popping in my head.

Why?

Maybe because my kitchen appliances were from 1989. Yes, my dishwasher, microwave and stove were all 30 years old.

Let's party like it's 1989??

After over a year of saving, I was finally ready to shop.

Had I researched the appliances? Yes, a zillion times.  I printed out comparisons of various brands. I carried the sheets with all the facts about each product with me for weeks.

I kept putting off going into Lowe's.  I knew I would be overwhelmed.

This is the first time I was going to shop for appliances and not say "what is the cheapest model".

Not that I was a looking forward the trip to Lowes.  I knew the options would be mind-boggling. And they were.

In one of my very rare impulsive moments, I asked Jenn if she wanted to go to and pick out the appliances I had been praying over. She said "Yes", without hesitation."

Once there, Jenn found an incredible Lowes employee, Aaron.  He was kind, patient and put up with my zillion questions.

About 90 minutes later, we were done.

I had purchased a dishwasher, microwave and a stove.

The dishwasher is pretty basic by today's standards.  There are buttons that replace the dials on my last dishwasher.  I never used to one I just replaced.  It  was pretty gross and we just kept it locked except to open it and spray Clorox in it once a month.

I also bought a microwave.  The new one has a turntable and also melts a stick of butter  in less than 5 minutes. The old one was very slow at heating, melting or cooking anything. It also had no turntable so we had to keep opening it and turning the item in it ourselves.

Lastly, a new stove.  This was my biggest decision. I opted to get something that I would never have considered previously. I did not ask for the basic, cheapest, solid white model.  Instead I ordered the stove with two ovens.  Yes, two ovens! I can now cook two things at the same time at different temperatures.  It has the smooth top vs the burners.  There are some bells and whistles that I still have to read up on.  One setting says "Sabbath".  I had to read up on what that was about.  One oven is a convection oven too.  I am not sure that that means either.

Having to decide about colors was another struggle.  Stainless steel, slate or did I want something that didn't show fingerprints.

This is where my practicality kicked in and my thriftiness.  I did not go for the most expensive brand names on any of the three. I did not opt for the most expensive color.  I decided not to pay extra to not see fingerprints.  Instead, I bought cleaning cloths which will do the job. I just couldn't get myself part with the money I had been saving for all those months.  I also felt like I had really gone over the top on the stove purchase.

I did annoy my daughter when I said "this would probably be the last stove I would ever purchase". I said that because I hold on to things forever.

Fear not Jenn,  I am sure there is at least one more round of appliance purchases in my lifetime.

And I still have not replaced the washer and dryer (they are in my garage and work just fine).  When I do replace them, they will be basic and white.  No bells and whistles  for their replacements.  My next refrigerator will also be pretty simple.  Side by side with water in the door and that's it.  There is no need to shop now since the fridge I have currently works great and is black which fits in well with my stainless steel. I could not allow myself to purchase a big ticket item like a refrigerator just to have it match my other kitchen appliances.

I also have a new respect for installers.  None of these installations were quick or easy.  The fastest was the stove which took about 90 minutes (this included having to move the outlet into the wall behind the stove).  The microwave also took over an hour.  Since we didn't have a free hanging microwave previously, it was a process that started with having to install a bracket on the wall. The dish washer also took a while between the hoses, water hook-ups and balancing it so it would not wiggle.

A week later, the stove has been used and the microwave too.  The dishwasher, not yet. It tends to be easier to hand wash dishes for two people.

You know how when you paint one room in your house, the rest then looks dingy.  The same theory applies with the appliances.  During the next few years, I will be looking into cabinet fronts (I can't afford all new cabinets), new counter tops, flooring and new lighting for the kitchen.  It will take time to save up again.  I don't mind since I know what I am working toward.

So here is 1989:

old microwave- please note the oven dials were on the microwave-

 old microwave and stove- yes, they were one attached unit-

old dishwasher-

2019- new dishwasher

new microwave and stove (note two door oven)-

It was worth every penny I saved to be able to get these new appliances.

Now I just have to learn how to use them.

See you next week !