:::: MENU ::::

Sep 17, 2014    |       13 comments

It’s So Quiet

by

The music has stopped. And I’m so sad about that.  If you will remember last spring I wrote about how important I felt my kids music lessons were. I still agree with that post wholeheartedly; however, with the reality of moving to a much smaller space and with the eye on the prize of getting out of debt, some things had to give and go.  So with our garage sale the full size drum set was sold and the full size keyboard was sold.  We held on to the guitar, figuring it would fit under a bed somewhere and the practice drum pad and one set of sticks, again, something small.

In general the kids have been okay with taking a year sabbatical from their music lessons and teachers, but History Buff does continue to comment that it’s really important to him that he learns to play the guitar well.  I’ve told him that if he shows me he’s committed to practicing and learning on his own (YouTube, iPad lessons, etc.) I will consider reinstating lessons.   And Little Gymnast asks every time we drive by their piano teacher’s home when he gets to go back…with him I say, hopefully in our new house we will have room for a real piano.  He will have to wait until that time.

We know this is a short term solution for us.  We know it will last at least a year. We hope it won’t be much longer than that.  But for now, the music has stopped in our home, and it’s quiet.  And it’s one of the few things that we are giving up that I will truly miss this year. But the bright side…that line item will not return to my budget, at least for this year which is a savings of a couple of thousand over the year.

The younger three will continue to sing and perform in our church choir which I’m grateful for as it’s free and I think it continues to bring some music to their lives.  History Buff is so good at working with the younger kids after having years of choir in public school growing up and the director loves having him as a volunteer while both Little Gymnast and Princess had solos in the Mother’s Day performance.  (Sea Cadet and I just show up for support, believe me, no one wants to hear us sing!)

 

Sep 17, 2014    |       12 comments

Moving Update – One Week Away

by

Exactly one week from today we will be moving into our new space…cutting down from 1800 sq ft to 900 sq ft.  I am SO PROUD of how well my kids have gotten on board with this move and the minimizing and purging we have been doing over the last six weeks since this move became a reality.  So here’s where we are at today, one week from move day.

  • Little Gymnast and Princess rooms are completely empty.  They have moved into my room, just as we will be living in the apartment.  We have a king size bed and a twin mattress on the floor.  (At this time, I am also taking a double mattress that slides under my kind size bed just in case we need our own space ie they fight too much on who sleeps where.)
  • All of us have packed all of our clothes except for 3 outfits which we will use for the next week.  There is one exception to this, History Buff and Sea Cadet are attending their first Cotillion dance of the season on Saturday so they kept out their suit and dress shoes for that event.)
  • Every closet has been cleaned out and packed.
  • Every bathroom cabinet has been cleaned out and packed.
  • The twins room is down to bare bones with just their twin mattresses on the floor and their clothing (three outfits and suit each.)
  • The living space is all packed up except for computers, tv and video games.
  • My “office” area (in my room) is beginning to get purged and packed.  I will get it down to just computer and desk by Friday.  Lots of digitizing and shredding going on along with testing electronic equipment and matching it with all cords in ziploc bags for packing.
  • The kitchen will get packed over the weekend.  We have purged all the cabinets so the only items remaining are those that we will live with, but I am keeping those out as long as possible so we can continue eating at home and using up the food we have here.

All items packed and ready for move are labeled and stacked neatly in the garage for easy loading into the moving truck next Tuesday night.

I think we are ready and very prepared for a stress free, as stress free as moving can be that is, move next week.  And I am proud to say that the only money spent in getting to this place is as follows:

  • 1/2 dozen rolls of packing tape at $3 per roll = $36
  • 3 trips to the dump @ $24 – someone had given me $12 when they moved = $12 (uses convenience coupons you have to purchase)
  • Gas for 12 trips to thrift stores = $0 (negated by receipts for donations)
  • Boxes (From curb of neighbors on recycling days and twins dad’s job) = FREE
  • Garage Sale (advertised for free on Craigslist and Facebook, no signs or newspaper ads) = FREE

Total $48

And we have easily made that back in our garage sale, donation and bartering. We are ready!

1 … 964 965 966 967 968 … 1,951