Frustration versus optimism: that seems to be my constant battle of the moods. I like to consider myself a fairly positive person. If I’m going to complain I try to do it in an upbeat, light-hearted way because honestly I’m kind of used to life being a struggle and I feel like I’m pretty good at rolling with the punches now.
My current challenges/frustrations:
Plumbing issues. I recently moved into an older condo. The previous tenants at some point, installed the shower/faucet in upside down. Cost to fix that? Approximately $900. My master bedroom bath needs the faucet in the shower replaced but it’s so old and corroded the plumber couldn’t get it off without prying it off and he warned me he would be happy to do so but there was no guarantee that wouldn’t break the pipe behind it which would be costly. Bad news/good news: both can be repaired for approximately $1600 and if I wanted to hire someone to rip out the lovely Golden Harvest tile at the same time (a far down the road project I assumed I would do one day) it would be more like $700 to fix both bath faucets since it’s much easier to do this plumbing work if the walls are already ripped out.
Microwave is probably not going to last much longer. If you use the timer or time cook feature then it erases the clock time at best and at worst creates a jumble of computer garble on the screen. Twice we’ve had to unplug it and plug it back in because it wouldn’t work at all.
Still haven’t had my car dents fixed from my fender bender in February and also Michael scraping my car over a year ago. That estimate is also about $800 plus car rental while it’s being repaired.
I’ve not had a vacation in 3 years.
I’d really like a new TV for my living room. Yeah, my current TV works fine, I just want a larger smart TV in there. Totally selfish want. Mainly because I’ve not been able to buy anything fun for awhile.
Current loss of income from Nick’s graduation means I’ve had to take a second job. I’ll now be working 6 days a week, about 60-65 hours. It’s going to require some serious time management on my part.
Still haven’t heard back from my contractor guy for an estimate on what it will take to close off our dining room into a bedroom for Michael.
The Bright side/Optimistic look of things:
The plumbing doesn’t HAVE to be done now. The plumber rigged a fix where the boys shower can be used. It’s just a little harder to turn the faucet on and off and you have to work with it a bit to be sure it’s not still leaking when you turn the water off.
Microwave: Should be covered under my home warranty. $75 service fee to fix hopefully.
Car: Still functional, this is just a cosmetic fix
No vacation: Going to make a trip to Indiana to visit family for a few days this fall. That will just have to suffice until I can save up for a trip.
TV: again, this is a silly want.
Current loss of income: my second job is at Dairy Queen. My friends own and run this and I worked there 20+ years ago and both of my kids recently worked there. They are willing to give me the hours I need at a more than fair wage. Still a lot to learn after being “retired” for 22 years but I’ll be working with friends I’ve known for years in some cases. It’s also totally different from my day job and I think it will be a nice change of pace.
Room construction: this really needs to be a priority as currently Michael has no walls/privacy. It’s really a inconvenience with our cat being able to roam in there in the middle of the night and wake him up. May need to get a quote from someone else since our contractor is especially busy right now. Worried about the cost this might entail though.
So there you have it. Lots to worry about but really in the grand scheme of things I can’t complain. The boys have had to take out minimal loans for their schooling this year. Thank you, thank you for smart, ambitious kids. Despite the issues with the condo that need to be fixed/worked on, I am so happy with our new tiny space. I love the location and quiet neighbors. My work generally gives a summer bonus and we’ve not seen that this year but I’m hopeful we’ll still get one and between that and the second job and keeping some tight reigns on the budget, that maybe I can get some bills knocked out so I won’t have to work a second job forever.
Update-construction has started for the room remodel. A bit of a mess but I’m sure it will be fabulous when it’s done.