On Monday!

Mondays used to be our Saturday - back when we lived in the small town.  Terry is almost always in his office, meeting with people and later working in the quiet on Saturdays and, then, of course, Sunday is busy, busy, busy for the Pastor and his wife!  So . . . for twenty-five years, Monday was the 'day off' - a day away when the phone was not answered (unless there was an emergency message left) and attention was turned to the kids - or in later years to golf (for Terry) and maybe even getting out of town. 

Now, since moving to the city, that day has changed to Friday.  Mondays are too 'office intense' at this church.  Terry really likes this arrangement as he works hard to have the sermon ready by Thursday and he can look forward to Friday all week.  I, on the other hand, still have occasional longings for that day of rest together.  It doesn't make sense, as we do get that day together later in the week.  I guess it is just the habit of twenty-five years dying hard.

This Monday involved checking on our health insurance (that's a long - and boring - story), updating Scentsy paperwork (my wickless candle business), unpacking and cleaning up after the weekend away at Camp Cornerstone (the annual camp/seminar/fellowship weekend for Cornerstone Church), having a friend drop in, and re-assessing the week and month to come as September brings new ministry responsibilities.

Hope you had a hopeful Monday - beginning a week of new possibilities.

Next time,
Karol

The Basement Artwork . . .

Last week when there were eleven of us cozying into this house (kids, grandkids, granddog . . .), I came up with the brilliant (?!) idea to do a painting in which all of us would put one footprint on a colorfully painted 12" x 72" canvas (or three 12 x 24 which is all I could find)  that would hang from the rafters in our basement, camouflaging the water pipes which hang below the rafters.  Starting with the oldest - guys on the right, corresponding gals half a step forward on the left - and ending with tiny baby Lydia (Sorry, Rufus, we were leaving room for later additions . . .) we each squished our feet in the paint and stepped!  Done in vivid colors of lime green, hot pink, electric blue . . . it became a very striking and funky painting.  Now that it is 'installed' (I believe that is the term one uses when placing high end art in one's home!), I am thinking that, while it disguises the offending pipes, it directs attention to the rest of the open rafters in which miles of electrical, cable, and phone wire resides!!  Oh, well . . . the painting makes me smile and my mind wanders to who has the smallest feet, who has the largest feet, how soon will the 'little feet' outgrow this moment in time, and what a fun week we had . . .

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I'll be back on Monday!!
Karol

We have this basement

When we moved from a small town to a city 2 1/2 years ago, we had to downsize (even though we upsized the mortgage!).  We went from four bedrooms, three baths, a livingroom, a walk-out basement familyroom with 9' ceilings, and a MBR walk-in closet (one of the things I miss the most!!) to a three bedroom, two bath, a livingroom, and an unfinished 1960 basement with 7 1/2' ceilings, (and we won't even discuss closet space)!!  Don't get me wrong, we still live in a wonderful house and there are, after all, just two of us most of the time. 

I say all of this to help you understand the discussions between my husband and myself these past two years:

Him - "We don't even need to use that space (except for storage) . . . the ceilings are too low, it is too dark, and their are only 2 electical plugs and 4 bare bulbs for lighting!!"  (But, yes, we do have to go down there to do laundry!)

Me - "But couldn't we just add some electrical plugs, upgrade the lights, shore up and put safety rails on the rickety stairs, put in 'real' ceilings, add some inexpensive carpeting, finish off a bedroom and a family room, and maybe add a bathroom??"

Him - "We'd never get our money back out of that!!  Our house has already depreciated with the economic nose dive!"

Me - "But when the kids come, there's not room for all of them upstairs!"

Him - "How often do the kids all come at one time??!!"

Well, this summer THE KIDS CAME . . . FOR A WEEK!  Thankfully, we had 6 months advance notice AND I had some new, powerful persuasion . . . "We don't want our 2 1/2 year old grandson to be scared to go down there or to fall off the side of the stairs!  AND someone is going to have to stay down there for a whole week!"

What resulted was marital compromise (take note young couples!).  Yes, the stairs, the electrical plugs & lighting, and inexpensive carpeting were addressed.  A bedroom was partitioned off with bookcases and a cozy-enough family room was arranged.  The hold-outs are the ceiling and the bathroom!  BUT I can live with that . . . for now!

More about the family art project for the basement tomorrow . . . but the moral of the story is . . . patience and compromise!!  He really is a good man!!

Talk more later,
Karol

About refinancing

Yesterday, I mentioned that I recently refinanced our house.  As most of you are aware, the mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low (in my lifetime and, no, I'm not going to say how long that is . . . but it's 'PLENTY' to quote my friend, Madelene).  Anyway, I thought, "We just bought our house 2 1/2 years ago, so refinancing will probably not pay for us . . ." 

But at the urging of a friend, I called a reputable mortgage provider and spoke with a really nice person who answered all my questions and assured me that, YES, it would be a very wise thing to do.  She made it painless and the end result is: 

1.  Our percentage rate will be just shy of 2% lower
2.  Our required payment will be $200 per month lower
3.  OR we can choose to pay exactly what we pay now and pay our house off 10 years earlier and save $70,000 in interest!!
4.  Our original mortgage was 'sold off' to a company that was next to impossible to contact so an unexpected bonus is getting to have a new company that has been a dream to work with!!

We will choose to do #3 since we had such a late start on paying for this house and we are afraid we might not live long enough to get it paid off the other way!!  I'm sure our children would rather inherit a 'paid-off' house!!  (Your welcome, children!)

To sum it up, I am quite happy that I searched out the option - because I LOVE saving money!!  If it is feasible for you, I highly recommend it!!

Talk again soon,
Karol

Because I am who I am . . .

I am always looking for ways to save money, decorate on a budget, enjoy life and my family, and make a meaningful contribution to my little world and beyond!  So, that is why I decided to begin blogging! 

Actually, my oldest son suggested that I take up blogging!  (I hope that you understand that, when your son thinks you might have something of value to say, you sit up and take notice!!!)

So . . . it's like this . . .

I have three amazing and hilarious children - all married to equally amazing and hilarious 'children-in-love.'  (AND if you don't believe me, you need to go to 88improv.com where proof can be found for four of them who perform regularly as 88improv!!)

I have an amazing (yes, the repetition is intentional!) and longsuffering husband, who generously lets me stay home and think of new ways to save money, decorate on a budget, enjoy life and my family, and make a meaningful contribution to my little world and beyond!  How do I do that?  Below is the list of this week's attempts.  I will expand upon them in further blogs.

1.  Refinance our home
2.  Create an art project with our kids for our basement
3.  Renegotiate our phone, cable, and internet bills
4.  Host all the kids for a week-long vacation where we live (in St. Louis - 5 to 8 hours away from them)
5.  Meet with younger women to encourage them in their marriages and spiritual life
6.  Provide opportunities for others to beautify their homes (and their homes' aromas!) through Scentsy

. . . And it's only Tuesday!!  (Actually . . . the vacation with the kids ended Sunday!)

We'll discuss more tomorrow!!  See you then!!!!
Karol