Progress on the house

As most of you know, we're remodeling the house prior to selling and downsizing. Here are some photos of our progress. (This post is as much for the benefit of our daughters, so they can see the changes, as it is for my dear readers.)

For years -- 16, to be exact -- we lived with the world's ugliest blue indoor/outdoor carpeting. Blech.

Additionally, the walls were stark white, with remnants of other colors left over from previous owners -- notably one section of dark blue on the stairs. Again, blech.

Working on the precept of "ceiling down," we started with putting up sheet rock to cover the ugly walls. We used a thin 1/4-inch sheet rock as "skin."

This is our living room during some of the remodeling chaos. We laid the sheet rock in the center of the floor.

We also had to shove furniture all over the place. We disassembled the hoosier and jammed it into the kitchen.

The birdcage also got rolled into the kitchen (which the bird actually enjoyed; she was far more in the center of things).

Chairs and bookshelves got crunched into the front room.

This chaotic state of affairs lasted weeks. Typical remodeling scene: ladders and measurements.

Lots of pre-prep work was needed for the walls. In this photo, Don was prepping the west wall (on the right) for painting. We used the carpet as a drop cloth since we were getting rid of it.

Here I've removed the rest of the books and shelves, as well as all the pictures from the walls.

The books, shelving units, and pictures got piled in Older Daughter's bedroom.

View from up the stairs. What a mess.

Ready to start painting. We covered the piano with sheets to protect it.

Putting on primer.

Don disassembled the ceiling fan, then put a plastic garbage bag over the workings while painting the ceiling.

(The fan parts desperately needed cleaning anyway.)

It's hard to tell in the photos, but the walls are going from stark white to a lovely buttercream that reflects the sunlight beautifully.

After the walls were dry, Don started putting up oak trim. Wow, all the difference in the world in "finishing" the room.

The next step was the floor. At long last, we could get rid of that ugly blue carpeting!

Underneath is bare concrete.

Look at all the dust that accumulated underneath!

Here's what the room looked like without the carpet.

Then came the exciting part -- the flooring. We used the vinyl peel-n-stick from Home Depot.

We temporarily put the carpet and furniture back -- for one reason, we needed a place to sit; and for another reason, we wanted to see how things looked with the room set up.

It looked great -- a whole lot better than before we started -- with the exception of this accent wall. We had painted it a shade of green that (we thought) complemented the green accent walls in the kitchen.

The results were underwhelming. We sat with the paint color for a couple of days, and just didn't like it. So we repainted it the exact same shade of pickle-green as the kitchen.

It made a world of difference. Perfect.

Don still had compressor hoses and tall ladders everywhere as he worked on finishing touches.

Next step, the entryway platform.

We decided on a contrasting color.

Darcy fully approved of the results.

Don continues to add trim and accent wood. He's framed in doors, boxed and framed windows, and trimmed the walls at top and bottom. Talented guy, no?

When the entryway platform was complete, we were able to move the hoosier out of the kitchen to where it belonged (backed up against the entryway platform). This gave us breathing room in the kitchen.

But there was one insurmountable problem: the concrete stem walls around the perimeter. They're ugly. How to fix them?

Don's solution? Handcrafted wainscoting. He made it in advance to the correct size, then took it outside to stain.

Here he's installing one section.

The room is taking on the beauty and warmth of a Craftsman-style home.

That's what he's done so far in the living room. There is still more bits of trim to add, but at least the room is now livable. Next, it's on to the front room -- which, fortunately, has a lower ceiling and isn't in nearly as bad a shape.

We've also done some outdoor work, as the weather improves. Don removed the ugly tangle of wire field fence that separated the yard from the pasture...

...and is gradually replacing it with sturdy handsome railroad ties and 2x6 railings.

Oh, and we have a new cat that adopted us. She's a stray and found food and attention with us. She's a sweet and friendly soul.

The challenge is to keep Darcy from attacking her, for he would certainly kill her if given the chance. (He's a hunting dog, after all, and didn't grow up with this cat.)

This means the cat will stay with the house when we sell. She's making a superb shop cat. You might remember Don lost his shop cat a few years ago, and he's been without a mouser since then.

So that's what we've been up to ... not to mention trying to ramp up the garden, cleaning up debris and unneeded things outside, and all the other flotsam and jetsam of preparing a house to sell. Busy spring!

What do April hailstorms bring?

We've had a lovely, mild spring so far. Yesterday the temperatures even got up to 68F. It's no surprise the daffodils are blooming.

They're always such a beautiful splash of vibrant color.

But today the great celestial weathervane did a 180, and we're getting wind, rain, and hail.

The daffodils got hammered (this is looking through a window smeared by rain).

If April showers bring May flowers, what do April hailstorms bring? "Dead flowers?" suggested Don, watching the poor flowers get pounded.

Darcy, on the other hand, was energized by the storm cell. He dashed all around the yard, making it hard to get clear photos of him.

The daffodils will survive -- and be prettier for it. And it's better than snow!

Financial management 101

If there's one benefit to raising kids frugally, it's that they learn to be frugal when they grow up.

We've had a number of critics over the years who warned us our girls would go crazy when they got out on their own. These critics pointed out the disservice we did to our kids by homeschooling them in a rural area under humble financial circumstances. We were told they would explode into a dark and nefarious lifestyle once they escaped what evidently they assumed was the jail-like environment in which we raised them. (I don't know why homeschooling critics always assume the worst of how we raised our kids, but there you go.)

I'm happy to report these critics are beyond wrong. Both our daughters have settled into their chosen careers beautifully, and are living responsible lives – and that includes financial responsibility.

Which leads to an interesting story Younger Daughter told us recently.

Younger Daughter, as you recall, joined the Navy in 2017. She graduated from boot camp just before Thanksgiving and spent the subsequent year undergoing training as an electronics technician. She is currently at her first overseas duty station and will go on her first deployment in about a month or so. (She flippin' loves being in the Navy!)

She's getting a reputation for being a "clean" sailor – a straight arrow, hard working, not given to excesses, etc. She also took up all the financial opportunities the Navy offers its members, including setting up a retirement account and savings account. She set herself an aggressive savings plan (in part, she hopes, to purchase some rural property when she gets out) while allowing herself some play money, since she'll be seeing parts of the world she's only dreamed about.

This clean and responsible reputation was confirmed when a fellow sailor asked Younger Daughter to help him draw up a budget. It seems this young man had $12,000 in credit card debt and needed to get out from under that burden.

YD asked him if he would trust her to look over his online banking records, and he agreed. So, drawing on the frugal lifestyle she grew up with as well as the financial management classes she received after boot camp, she sat down with the other sailor and worked out a plan that would get him completely debt-free and with $5000 in the bank by the end of next year … IF he follows the budget. Based on his income (which, in the Navy, is regular and predictable), she had him focus on paying down the debt first, then he can start aggressively saving by the middle of next year.

The sailor asked for a few concessions. While allowing him a certain amount of spending ("play") money on a monthly basis, he wanted extra funds available at some of the foreign ports they would be visiting so he could party ("If he makes it back without getting in trouble, I shall be genuinely surprised," wrote Younger Daughter). So YD budgeted that request accordingly, with the stipulation the spending money had to be in cash so he couldn't "accidentally" go further into debt. Once the cash was gone, no more partying.

We talked to YD a few days ago, and she said the other sailor was apparently following the budget she'd drawn up – to the letter. As a mom, I was very proud that other sailors thought YD was responsible and mature enough to trust her with their sensitive financial issues.

Which leads to an article I read recently entitled "Five (Potential) Misplaced Financial Priorities." In addressing the question of why people get into financial problems (outside of insufficient income, of course), the author, Trent Hamm, finds a lot of people spend money on "misplaced priorities" because they value the short-term more than the long-term.

Hamm writes:

[A]ssuming there isn't anything that can obviously be done to raise one's income or bring in some more money, the number one reason for financial problems is misplaced priorities. People spend money on things that should be a lower priority, and then find themselves struggling to pay for things that should be a higher priority."

This comes back to the "important" and "urgent" dichotomy that serves as a really powerful time management insight. Everything you need or want to do in a day fits into one of four categories – it's either important and urgent, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither important nor urgent. Signing up for your 401(k) is important but not urgent. Taking your sick child to the doctor is important and urgent. Answering a ringing phone is urgent but not important. Channel surfing is neither urgent nor important.

We all do things each day that fit into each of those categories, but the biggest mistake we make is giving too much credence to things that are urgent but not important (answering a phone call) and too little credence to things that are important but not urgent (signing up for a 401(k).

Hamm lists five areas in which people overspend their money (go read his article for detailed explanations of each category):

1. Over-prioritized entertainment spending

2. Under-prioritized emergency fund

3. Over-prioritized food

4. Under-prioritized debt repayment

5. Over-prioritized college savings (this category was not a factor for the sailor in question)

Hamm concludes, "In my view, someone who is carrying a credit card balance month over month and doesn't have an emergency fund while going out to eat multiple times a week and carrying a cable bill is creating their own financial prison. That's a cavalcade of misplaced financial priorities, and they're adding up by the thousands each year, and yet it's a common story for many Americans." [Emphasis in the original.]

This is some of the basic stuff Younger Daughter tried to impart to the sailor who requested her help.

The ironic thing about both our daughters' financial management is because they've avoided debt and are aggressively saving their income, they're able to "play" and indulge in fun stuff a lot more than other young people their age who are mired in debt (credit cards, student loans, car payments, etc.) and feel hopeless to escape the trap.

I'm grateful our girls grew up frugal, and I sincerely hope the young sailor sticks to his budget.

Why we're moving

A friend (who lives in Virginia) and I were emailing back and forth about our upcoming move, and she ended one of her emails with the loveliest sentiment: "Wherever you go, you’ll be happy. You take smiles with you." Awww, thanks pal.

That said, some readers have gently questioned why we're interested in moving at all. It's a logical question, considering how many improvements we've made to our home and property, and how much we'll miss our wonderful friends and neighbors.

What it comes down to is three factors. One, as mentioned before, this house is simply too big with just the two of us. It's not practical to close up a portion of it, nor are we the type who would be interested in renting out a section.

Instead, this home deserves to be filled with another happy family, where the children can grow up the old-fashioned way, healthy and free on a rural homestead.

Two, we'd like to be mortgage-free. We're looking for a fixer-upper property we can purchase free and clear, then fix it up to suit our particular tastes and needs. We feel this is a wise financial approach as we get older.

And three -- and this is arguably the biggest factor -- we're looking for another adventure.

As Don likes to put it, we both feel we have the time and energy to engage in one more humongous "adventure" in our life, and moving to a whole new property and then turning that property into a self-sufficient homestead is the adventure we'd love to tackle. We've learned so much here on our current property that it's time to apply that knowledge to a new set of circumstances and see how we do.

And hopefully we'll take our smiles with us.

He is risen!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.

A blessed Day of Resurrection to you all.