A New Project & Living In The Now

You're probably thinking, what does that bathroom vanity have to do with anything?

Well, when it arrives from Home Depot, it will be the start of my next project, my neglected 1960s bathroom.

The faucet and lights I ordered arrived last night. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I'm tired of sitting on the proverbial fence, wondering where my life is going next.

I've come to the conclusion that where I am at this very minute is where my life will be for some time, maybe forever.

I know this complex has no plans to update the one floor apartments from its sixties roots, because the owner in Dallas doesn't seem so inclined. So there's no point waiting on them.

But I absolutely hate the bathroom. 

Most of all, I hate the stained bathroom sink and the sink hole where I have lost lots of little things since I moved in.

There is no getting that bathroom sink cleaned. Believe me I've tried for almost three years now. 

I can stretch my pretty red and white buffalo checked shower curtain over the old bathtub, though it isn't as stained.

So I am doing something mentioned in the book "Done With The Crying" that I recently finished. I'm taking a leap of faith and living in the now.

I will be paying the maintenance man, Kenny, to put these things in when the vanity arrives, on a weekend when he can work me in. 

I picked out a vanity that also included the sink that would fit the space and plumbing. It was $299. The faucet ($59) and light ($59). I checked various other places, but Home Depot seemed to have the best prices.

I have been thinking about doing this for over a year. Israel and I went to Home Depot last spring and looked at vanities. 

But still I was on the fence.

I mean, would I find a place to live that I could afford that I liked better? Would I ever get an opportunity to have a tiny house?

I mulled it over...This place has the wonderful fenced-in patio going for it. And I have fixed it up a bit at a time on the inside. 

I came to the consensus that those things might happen in the future. But I choose to live in the now.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring.

I think I will be painting the bathroom walls the tan color Israel and I painted the kitchen walls between the upper cabinets and counter tops almost a year ago. When I got a free Giani Countertop paint kit and applied it to the counters.

And now, as a single woman, I want to tell you how I've managed to do the things I've done to my home in the nearly three years I've lived here.

My accountant, David (love this guy; if you live here and need a great accountant, let me know) gave me some advice. 

He told me after I moved here and had a really crappy credit rating, to open credit lines that had the best offers, and then use them and pay them off.

So that's what I did.

For instance, this past year I purchased a mattress and box springs from Macy's for $750. It was one of those buy now, no interest for a year offers. 

The mattress I had was ten years old. It was the one I brought from Texas that had been in our guest room. And it was killing my back. 

I paid it off long before I had to pay interest. 

I did the same with my couch and chair. (And gave the chaise sofa that was broken to Israel. Which was a good thing, because he's had two relatives sleeping on it this past year!)

This month is the month that all is paid off. Yay! And my credit score is no longer in the lower six hundreds. It's now in the seven hundreds.

The whole time I was married, we were heavily in debt. And now, I think things through. I refuse to pay credit card interest.

So, I charged the items for the bathroom, and will do the same thing. It came to around $500 with taxes and delivery costs. 

Stay tuned. The bathroom will be my next project reveal.

And my motto is: Love it while you rent it.

And just as, if not more important: Be good to yourself. Because you are worth it.