... I did make a start on sorting the pieces for my - derived from New Look 6735 - T and T t-shirt pattern. As you saw last week, it was a mass of tissue paper stuffed in a ziplock bag and now...
... I've created envelopes for the back, sleeve, front, and front on fold pieces as well as for multi-pieced fronts, sleeveless tanks, and cardigans. Although the basic shapes are the same, the sleeveless tanks have a higher armhole and the cardigans have slightly more ease. I'm ready to draft some more interesting designs. Sorry Bev that I have nothing to show right now. I have ideas to implement but.... life should settle down sometime after the 14th when the new store opens AND... GUESS WHAT...
... starting on the 18th, my friend's friend has agreed to cook for us three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday until the end of June. Then we'll take a break and reassess in September. She'll cook the dish at her house and then bring it over and put it in my oven along with instructions. She'll also provide recipes written in for dummies format so that - hopefully - I can learn to cook and recreate the dishes. The price? Nominal. Around $40.00 per meal including food with enough for four people plus left overs. YES! Bliss. She's my new BFF.
Isn't it amazing what we learn about ourselves over time. Who would have thought that at my age I would suddenly discover that I'm far more frugal and far more practical than I previously recognized. Some things - like this cooking - I have absolutely no problem paying for. Three times a week for two and a half months will come out to around $1,200.00. That total doesn't even make me blink, perhaps because we're already eating out at least three times a week and that's something I don't want to do anymore. HOWEVER...
... the cost of the housekeeper does make me blink. She'll come again this Thursday and then again two weeks after that at which point the move will be complete, the store open, and my routine back to normal so I'll change the agreement to once a quarter. That's an amount I can deal with. What's so strange is that the total for housekeeping is less than the total for cooking for the same time period. I'm not as invested in cleaning as cooking.
It's not a question of am I worth it. I am. I think each of us has to answer to the way in which we want to be worth it. Money is not endless. How and where we invest it - especially discretionary income - is an incredibly personal choice. Based on who I am, I can invest in the cook while I cannot invest in the housekeeper. I'm attempting to invest in having my nails done every two weeks and finding just the thought difficult. This may be something I force myself to do for a while in an effort to spoil myself a bit more because...
... I've realized that one of the reasons I don't have my nails done often or buy the really interesting and usually expensive clothes I admire - and perhaps even why I don't sew them - is because these items are not cost effective and practical. The nails wear out. So do the outfits. With unique outfits, when I wear them everyone notices which means I can't wear them too often which makes the cost per wear higher so I don't sew/wear those clothes. I can't fully explain what I mean because this thought is new and swirling. I'm still thinking it through and figuring it out and determining what I'm going to do with that new awareness. Just do it is somewhere near the top of that list.
What intrigues me about me is that I'm the queen of the good deal and I'm patient. You've seen the kinds of deals I get on fashion fabric. I'm like that in all kinds of areas. I won't pay a fortune for something I really like just as I won't buy at a discount something I don't really like. That said, I will buy in two seconds flat at a good price something that I know that I'll like and use. These discontinued wickers chairs are an example. I bought them Saturday for less than half the original price with an additional 10% discount for a small scratch on the front that was easily repaired with a felt pen. I'd been looking for two new chairs for our dining room for over a year. I knew what I wanted. I knew what I was willing to pay. When I saw them, I didn't even think about it.
With the housekeeper, I've been thinking about it a lot and I think - just maybe - I've come up with an arrangement that I can live with. I'll hire out the windows. I'll hire out the blinds. I'll hire out a thorough clean including the wall to wall hardwood floors every three months BUT... in-between... I plan to pay myself to do the cleaning. Knowing there is something in it for me will take the edge off the resentment of being the only one of us doing the work because the one of us - me - is going to pocket the money, save it up, and use it buy the furniture and accessories that she's been wanting for a while. Just like The Wealthy Barber suggests, I'm going to pay myself first. YES YES. This could work. I'll start in May. I'll let you know how it goes.
Today, I'm working all day and that's all I know for sure. With the mess of the move, our hours weren't posted on Friday although I heard that everyone is working this coming Saturday. Since I've only agreed to 24 hours a week during the move and 20 hours a week normally, that would mean that I have another 4-8 hours somewhere on the schedule, hopefully not back to back. It's very tiring.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - only ten more days until the opening
Your thoughts so resonate with me and others in our situations. I struggled for years and years trying to balance all my needs, wants and responsibilities. I call it "searching for center." I also believe this is an ongoing process that needs to be reevaluated and readjusted periodically. I hired out windows years ago, the company closed and I was miserable. I am not good at windows but at the same time I hate dirty windows. I finally found a reputable company again about a year ago. Yes, it is expensive, yes it is worth every penny. Peace of mind. DH does not understand, I don't care, he has never washed a window, enough said. Hope all your new plans work out well, I like to cook, but truthfully I am tired of it and wish I could find an arrangement like yours. I'll keep an eye out:)
ReplyDeleteThis is a thoughtful post that I imagine you will reread. I think that happiness has a lot to do with sorting out priorities.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I wonder if some of your thoughts come from the Happiness book you're reading? I have that on my e-book wish list, although you said you'd rather have it in hard copy. I never considered having my house cleaned because I can't stand the thought of someone touching my things. Cooking for me and my DH would be a nightmare. I'm a vegetarian on a diet and he's on a heart and diaetic diet! However, I do get my nails done every two weeks, and my hair done monthly.
ReplyDeleteI completely get paying someone else to cook. I've said for years that if I could afford to pay someone else to work for me that my first priority would be a cook, not a maid. I hate cooking - mostly because I'm the one doing it 99% of the time. Cleaning at least stays done for a day or two, sometimes even a week, but cooking is every day over and over.
ReplyDeleteKrista
I completely understand having someone to cook, even though I love cooking and wouldn't do it. I am not fond of cleaning but I am apparently fairly picky so I am not eager to pay someone to clean because I have learned that I hate a job half done or done badly more than I dislike doing it. I can ignore stuff that needs to be done to a point, but windows left streaky or a floor that is mopped but has footprints or streaks all over it drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI would pay someone to maintain the garden in a heartbeat but I want to plan the beds myself.
I must have control issues, at least as concerns "my" space.