Sidebar: I just was distracted by watching Chena bury some item of great value (at least to her) in the folds of a towel on the floor. But it’s cool, she’s a dog. It’s what she does. Still, kinda funny.

Anyway, despite my little online explosion the other day, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m really doing pretty well – this especially for those of you who don’t see me all that often and might not know what to think when I don’t post for weeks and then suddenly come out with a message like I did on Monday.

But I’m good. I’m busy, I’m happy, I love my dog, I’m healthy, I have hardwood floors, I have a new patio door, I’m getting a new patio to go with it next week, and I’m employed. I’ve been thinking it over the past couple of days and decided that, despite any guy thing (or lack thereof) I’m not about to be bullied by happiness.

I should probably explain that last statement.

Dave Ramsey says in one of our FPU lessons (and he may have been quoting someone else, I don’t know) that if you’re not careful, happiness can become a “bully in a schoolyard”. Always drawing a line in the sand, but as soon as you step over that line – as soon as you obtain what you’re after – it moves. But happiness is not really the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Happiness is where you are right now, regardless of incidentals.

I think I started to learn this lesson somewhat when I was in England. I was frustrated with being in the UK – especially being so far out in the middle of nowhere. But I also knew that it was a good time in my life…something I would look back on and appreciate – although there were many times when I couldn’t wait to be “looking back” on it instead of living it! Still, I knew that this was the case, so I made a concerted effort to find things that I loved and appreciated about Leamington, Warwickshire, and the UK in general. Even now, I think back on that time and remember fondly my fabulous flat on Clarendon Square, the amazing Irish butter, Muellers Crumble Corners, riding my bike to work, walking everywhere, taking weekend trips into Europe, being so close to Stratford that I had a membership with the Royal Shakespeare Company at a “locals” rate… I could go on and on. So despite the fact that it was rough year (and I know I complained a lot), I still could appreciate it and still do. So much so that I’d go back for the right opportunity.

That whole concept of completing the phrase, “Happiness is [fill in the blank]” is really kinda difficult to do. Happiness is…uh…what? How can you define happiness if it’s a moving target? And there’s the rub.

Happiness isn’t that thing just out of reach. It’s not the marriage and kids you don’t have. It’s not the job you wished you’d gotten. It’s not the car you drive (or wish you drove). Neither is happiness a particular thing that happens once or many times over. Happiness is now. Happiness just IS.

If we don’t stop tying our happiness to the having or attaining of specific things, we’ll always be bullied by it and we’ll never find true contentment.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that sure, I’m missing some stuff from my life that I’d like to have, but ultimately, those missing items don’t necessarily detract from my ability to still see and enjoy and love and find happiness in where I am right now.

Paul said it like this in Philippians 4:11 – “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Rock on Paul. That’s what I’m talking about.

Therein lies my dilemma.

The gazelle in me says “Make Dave Ramsey proud – throw it at the debt!”  But then there’s the other part of me that looks at a chunk of unfinished items that also need to be addressed in my home and wonders if I shouldn’t siphon off some of that money to cover a few of them.

This is really tough for me because all I really want to do is pay off those stupid credit cards… Then again, some of these things aren’t exactly luxuries.  Sigh.

I’ll be having my monthly budget meeting with Shanna in a few weeks, but in the meantime as I’m thinking through this stuff, I thought some of you might be willing to give me your two cents.

The open items requiring money are:

• Downstairs Baseboards ($?) – These were left undone after my wood floors were put in and need to be completed.
• Bed ($600…?) – I hate my bed.  I’ve suffered with it for 2 years and don’t think I can really take much more.
• Kitchen floor ($?) – Also left undone after the wood floors were installed.  Needs to be tiled and sealed.
• Patio door ($1,000+) – This is an issue because the current patio door is leaking in heavy rain which seeps in at the foundation and will ruin my wood floors if not corrected.
• Upstairs bathroom ($?) – Disgusting.  I’ve dealt with it for 3 years, but it has a mildewy smell and needs to be gutted.
• Landscaping/patio installation ($3,000) – I’ll get into this more in a minute, but essentially it’s extra living space and a chance to clean up someone else’s terrible mess that I inherited when I bought the place.

In thinking through the priority of said items, I think for me it goes something like this:

1. Kitchen floor
2. Patio door
3. Downstairs Baseboards
4. Bed
5. Landscaping
6. Upstairs bathroom

Now I know that the landscaping thing is the most expensive by far except for the bathroom, probably, but it would be so great to have that done.

In order to understand why this is a priority for me, you’d have to know that today both my backyard & front yard are an absolute mess.  There are 6-foot tall weeds growing along the side of my back fence which I have been unable to get rid of.  The rest of the “planting boxes” (for lack of a better way to describe the crummy brick boarder around the yard) are full of jungle-like vegetation during the warmer months of the year that all but threaten to overthrow the yard itself and displace me from my home.  The yard itself floods easily which makes for a real swamp in the rain.  There’s nowhere to sit or do anything outside right now which is something I really love when the weather’s nice.  The front of the house has a large, barren garden with 2 dying bushes in it.  The fence on the front porch is rotten.  There is a built-up garden area to one side of the porch which has rotten railroad ties which are falling down.  In short, it’s just awful.  I would love to have a place where I could sit in the front or the back.  In a small townhouse like I have, any extra living space is a big deal, and my yards are the only additional living space options I have.

Basically, I know I could spend away all of the extra funds I’ll be seeing in the next couple of months if I’m not careful, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea to use that money to cover even a few of these things.  Say, maybe items 1-5.  Part of what makes it difficult is that I don’t know exactly how much most of those things will cost, although I suspect the kitchen floor will only be a few hundred, and the baseboards will not be that much either.

So I can either pay off my remaining credit cards completely, or get some items in my home completed and I have no idea what to do.  Of course it also doesn’t help that I don’t know how much my bonus will be yet either – we’ll find that out closer to the end of this month.  This will certainly have an impact on my decision here as well.

Thoughts anyone?  The lines are open.

But that’s a topic for another post.  This post is about flooring.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll be familiar with some of the drama that I’ve had to face being a homeowner.  This has included a rogue washing machine, appliance issues, and a suicidal heat pump.  Owning an older home typically also includes a vast wish list of improvements, enhancements, changes, or other adjustments either to make the home your own, or to at least bring it into the current decade.

My townhouse was built in 1987 when Cindi Lauper, Def Leppard, and sheet linoleum were all the rage.  Since moving in, I have repainted every wall (and I mean EVERY wall) of the house, I have put up new closet shelving, replaced appliances and the roof.  I painted the kitchen cabinets, put in a pantry, and even added built-in shelves (that I made myself, I might add) to the bathroom.  Still, these are all very minor compared to some of the items I still have on my to-do.

One of my dreams for my little space is to replace the floors.  As I discussed in my original Hopelessly Devoted to Hardwood post, replacing the pre-Deb carpet in the downstairs with hardwood was certainly at the top of my list and I am most happy to report that this week it has actually happened!

That’s right – hardwood floors now abound throughout my downstairs.  No more hidden dirt and grime.  No more haven for dust mites.  No more fearing what might lie in wait between the fibers of the nasty-ass carpet.  Swiffer is my new best friend.  The new floor starts at the door and carries through the powder room, entryway, and back through the dining & living rooms.  It looks fabulous.  It makes the whole downstairs feel bigger and lighter.  I couldn’t concentrate on the debate last night because I was so distracted by my floor’s beauty…and I can’t wait to get home tonight just to look at it some more.

Of course the staircase and the second floor are still carpeted, but that’s okay – it’s going to be replaced with better, clean, safer carpet.  Carpet that I wouldn’t be afraid to lie down on.

Naturally I’ll take pictures (or better yet, a video!) and post on here, but in the meantime I just wanted to share the joy.  The only thing outstanding now is the kitchen…  The floor was ripped up in there as well because it ran into the hallway, but is now just a mess of paper backing from the original linoleum.  It’s weird and rough and messy and smells funny.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it past the weekend with it like that…

Anyone interested in helping me tile?

Later that same day…

Look at my shiny new floors!

It’s Tuesday night. Gilmore Girls is over, and there’s no point in my trying to go to bed yet because, well, it’s just too early. I have a puppy sitting at my feet chewing on…well…something, and DIY Network is on the TV.

This brings me to just about the only thing I have to comment on right now…the house.

The house. Where to even begin. I’m definitely glad that I actually OWN a home. This, in and of itself, is an accomplishment – dare I say, part of the proverbial American dream. But it definitely also comes with its pitfalls.

A few weeks ago I had a semi-disaster involving a washing machine and what I can only describe as its manual attempt to relocate itself onto the first floor. I had come downstairs in the morning to let Chena (my puppy) out. It was dark and cold out and as I stood by the back door waiting for her to “do her thing”, I heard a sound which sounded a lot like water hitting carpet. Lo and behold, when I turned around I discovered a miniature version of Ruby Falls spilling down into my living room from the ceiling.

Weeks later, I am still dealing with the after-effects. Holes in the ceiling and padless carpeting among them.

The disaster recovery service I called was great and dried everything out, made sure there was no danger (or even hint) of mold or mildew and then came back last week to finish off the refinishing of the laundry closet by adding baseboards and installing my new washer/dryer. The ceiling holes remain, and I’ll need to have them come back to take care of that, but the floor is what has me…well…frustrated is too mild a word, but I guess it’ll do.

In essence, the carpet wasn’t ruined in the washing machine’s rebellion so the insurance company will only pay for it to be re-padded and installed. Not exactly what I had in mind since the carpeting is on the older side and, thanks to ever-present allergies, it has been my ultimate plan since moving in to replace it with hardwood.

Hardwood is expensive, and therein lies the rub.

I think it would be silly to put $1,200 into putting back bad carpet, but $1,200 is not exactly going to cover a 500 sq ft hardwood installation either. So now what? Well, this weekend I’m going to go to one of the Home Depot (or is it Lowes?) DIY clinics on installing hardwood and will see if that will answer some (if not all) of my questions about tackling this project. Then I think I may start upstairs in the hallway which isn’t a terribly big space and I feel that I might be able to use it as my “test space” since screw-ups are likely to not cost me as much as they would downstairs.

Of course the best thing would be if I could find someone who is familiar with hardwood and the laying thereof and could give me a hand – or at least get me started. However after a lot of searching, I have been able to find no such person. Ah, the perils of being single and a woman…not that being a woman really has all that much to do with it, but the fact is that most men seem to come with in-born aptitude towards such things…and at times like these I envy that!

Okay, well it’s going on 10:00 so I’ve managed to successfully kill a half hour so I think I’m done for now. Not sure if anyone is really interested in this particular entry, riveting though it was… I just hope no one was operating any heavy machinery while reading.

Promise the next one will be better…I hope.

So prayer would be great, any additional thoughts or suggestions would also be much appreciated. I just keep reminding myself that my house actually belongs to God and He allowed this for a reason but I’ll be interested in finding out what that reason is!