Although Future Husband’s car is a far cry from my Rattling Death Trap (RDT), he’s been having some problems lately – a funky feeling in the steering wheel when he has to make a hard turn, just some of those intuitive feelings one has when they’ve driven a car for awhile and know that knocking sound is something genuinely wrong instead of a screwdriver rolling around in the glove compartment.
Well, a broken stabilization rod, some brake problems and $550 later, I dropped FH off in front of our mechanic’s garage and prepared to drive my way back home.
“Well, I guess that’s our new refrigerator,” he mumbled as he got out of my car and into the cold evening.
OK – now I’m going to back up and tell all of you that I’ve had a hellacious week and that maybe if I put my next thoughts into the context of complete exhaustion, I won’t sound like a total nutter or a bad Future Wife – when I’m tired, most of my thoughts are suspect and if I’m about to lose my temper, I’ve learned that’s a great time for me to take a nap.
Anyway – later that night when we were both in our home, I made a decree. “No more talking about home improvements until we can make them into a reality,” I announced. “And I’m serious – I don’t want to get my hopes up over a new floor or a new refrigerator again until we can actually afford it.”
“We’ll get them soon,” FH assured me. I shot him a look, muttered something under my breath and retreated to my recliner where I then took a three hour nap. (I was really productive last night …)
Well, before I actually fell asleep, I had some pretty damn mutinous thoughts that really made no sense. But here’s the gist of what I felt and what I’m still thinking this morning after I’ve been refreshed by some much needed sleep: We do not need a new floor in our kitchen, nor do we need a new refrigerator. But they are both old and outdated and it would be marvelously nice to get both replaced sometime before the next presidential election.
FH saw a GE refrigerator on sale the other day when he was at some home improvement store. And that’s where the refrigerator wish started. Our old fridge is probably late 1970s-early 1980s vintage and technically, it’s fine – it’s just laid out very poorly and the shelves do not adjust. And whereas, I don’t get too excited about the prospect of appliances, it was a nice idea to think that we could have a new one. We’d be able to pay cash, of course, and it would be a really nice Christmas present for us.
And I’ve blogged about my fugly floor in a previous entry. There are even pictures of its green madness.
So yeah – technically we could afford both or choose one or the other to replace yet this year. (Oh and btw – it’s subzero weather here in Minnesota … it really makes no sense to consider home improvements until … I don’t know, summer?) But I understand where FH is coming from – his current job is a temporary position that will transition into a permanent placement (and a higher salary). It’s good to be cautious right now and to wait until the job is a sure thing before blowing a couple grand on laminate flooring.
But still – it’s frustrating sometimes. And what is probably the most frustrating part is that I don’t even care about things like refrigerators and flooring until we talk about them. And then I get my hopes up. And it’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
When my husband and I got married we needed a washer and dryer (and lots of other things) so we purchased one at Sears and went the 0% interest for 6 months that Sears offered. We were hoping that we would get enough cash from the wedding to pay this off. Well, luckily his grandma gave us $1000 for the wedding, and expressed her desire for us to pay for the washer and dryer. My mother-in-law wanted to upgrade her frig., so we got hers for a steal. My sister-in-law was a home health nurse, and got a super nice stove for us at a great price from a patient. Think outside the box, put feelers out, check Craigslist, there are great opportunities out there for getting appliances at great prices. Good luck!
I agree – I love Craigslist…but, no warranties, and sometimes there aren’t any close by. I do know what you mean about getting hopes up. I HATE that. My husband had mentioned getting a flat screen tv last summer…and I had never even thought about wanting one, but then I started to look forward to the change. Needless to say, we didn’t get one, and I felt let down about something I didn’t want in the first place. I’m one of those people too.
Great ideas – all of them. It’s funny, when I was growing up, so many of our things came from auctions and garage sales – I’ve almost forgotten that lost art of scavenging for treasures in alternate places.