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Strawberry Pie tonight!

June 4th, 2013 at 01:18 am

Pull up a chair and have a slice of birthday pie with me...I am 52 years old today!

DD3 landed on the Slope this afternoon for her summer job. She is such a great daughter- she had one of her friends deliver a fresh strawberry pie out here today. HOW SWEET! My mom used to make sure I had one every year on my birthday..and since she has been gone, DD3 makes sure to get mom one. Smile (Even when she is thousands of miles away in Alaska!!) I am so blessed!

I am wrapping up a busy four day weekend. The hub and I spent most of it working on the big house and squeezing in some RnR.

Yesterday I decided to really deep clean the bathroom in the big house. There is just something yucky about scrubbing (someone else's) grime that has been accumulating for probably a year. Uh, beyond YUCK actually. But, I used several pairs of gloves and LOTS of those mechanic-strength blue paper towels. It took almost two hours, but when I was done the bathroom was completely disinfected and it sparkled. Today I stopped by the dollar store and bought a new shower curtain liner. We will need to move electrical switches and outlets and hang a new mirror, but otherwise, now that it is cleaned, I dont think we need to redo anything major. I had budgeted $3000 for the bathroom, but I think it will end up costing under $500 for electrical and drywall repairs and new mirrors.

Let me take a step back and talk a little about the home repair budget. When we first decided to move back to the country, I made a list of all the things I thought I needed. The budget was a minimum of $40,000 but could have easily gone way above that amount.

Thankfully, the semi-frugal part of my brain (and my desire to retire eventually) has kicked into gear and I have re-examined wants vs needs vs goals.

Because the one of the load bearing walls in the living room is not sealed well, and therefore neither weather or pest resistent- plus the brick work on the fireplace (same wall) is crumbling...AND the wood stove is too small for the house and doesnt heat properly, repairing this wall is a NEED. The estimated cost for this wall, plus new brick work and a new wood stove =$12,000-15,000. This is our first and main priority.

New kitchen cupboards would be really nice...but they are not a need, they are a want. As are updated appliances. However, the budget jury is still out on whether or not this will make the budget cut.

New flooring is a need, since what is currently in the house has been damaged by pets...and given the state of that bathroom, for my peace of mind, new flooring is a must for me.

New paint falls into the need category, in my opinion. Patch jobs, half painted walls, kids allowed to use markers, have all factored into this. I will probably hire my sons mother in law (who owns a painting company) to do the painting. having someone else paint, is a want. I could paint on my own, but the house will need to be painted in July or August. The heat and the fumes dont sound AT ALL fun to an asthmatic-menopausal gramma. Big Grin

Laundry was all washed and line dried. I have missed my clothesline. I love the smell of line dried sheets!

We went to lunch today with SIL who just started six months of chemo. He has been through round one and has lost some weight. It was good to visit with him. He has such an amazing outlook.

The hub is going to bbq some steaks and corn on the cob tonight- which will be followed up by the pie!

And tomorrow, its back to work.

12 Responses to “Strawberry Pie tonight!”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1370306528

    Happy Birthday!! I would love to eat some strawberry pie with you. Smile
    Can you charge your nephew a cleaning fee? That bathroom sounds very gross!!

  2. Beawealthywarrior Says:
    1370307136

    Have a great Bday!!

  3. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1370308482

    What a sweet DD3 Big Grin
    A cleaning technique that I learned about recently (and happened to find a box of what I needed for a big clearance ...) using denture cleaning tablets in the toilet bowl! I've used 4 so far, and the toilet looks amazingly better - with no scrubbing by me. Smile (Had LOTS of hard water stains that I'd unsuccessfully tried to remove before.)

  4. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1370312906

    Happy birthday! Strawberry pie, bbq steaks and corn on the cob... summer birthdays are the envy!

  5. LuckyRobin Says:
    1370315285

    Happy Birthday, Ray. Have you thought about just painting or staining the cupboards in a different color? It can be amazing what a little updating will do for the look of the kitchen without going full force.

  6. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1370319166

    Thanks everyone! It has been a great day.

    ccf- the hub worked out the arrangement with his nephew, so no, I dont feel we can do anything now..but its been a good lesson.

    Laura- I will have to try that! We are on well water here and there are lots of minerals in the water.

    LR- I have been considering that option. I am actually going to try that first- and see if it doesnt help.

    Again, thank you for the kind wishes..I wish you all could join me for pie!

  7. CB in the City Says:
    1370352666

    Happy Birthday! Your needs and wants lists sound well thought-out to me.

  8. ceejay74 Says:
    1370360967

    Happy birthday!!

  9. rob62521 Says:
    1370379173

    Happy birthday! Hope it was a great one!

  10. snafu Says:
    1370411636

    Belated Birthday best wishes for the best year ever! Strawberry Pie sounds perfect for a June birthday gal's celebration. Kudos to thoughtful DD who put in that extra effort to make you happy.

  11. Ima saver Says:
    1370555581

    Happy belated birthday!

  12. Looking Forward Says:
    1370623272

    Happy belated Birthday!! Big Grin Hope you enjoyed every bite of your pie - That was so sweet. Big Grin

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