Thursday Thirteen

Having the New Year's Talk about Finances

About once or twice a year we go over our finances. The upcoming new year is a good time to think about projects and special gifts that dip into our savings account. So this week we had "the talk."

1. My husband is going on a mission trip to Haiti--or as our daughter has reminded us since she heard, "one of the most dangerous countries on the planet." However, he isn't going to Port au Prince. Then our son-in-law chimes in with snake stories even though we tell them he will be in the city. He will be helping with construction projects for a Christian school where one of our pastors is teaching that is closer to the border with Dominican Republic than to the capital (which really is crime ridden).

2. Special one time gift for our church which seems to have hit a financial rut in the road to support three campuses and eleven Sunday services.

3. Annual gift for the Lakeside Association, the Methodist Chautauqua community on Lake Erie where we own a cottage.

4. IRA contributions for our children.

5. New stove top for the kitchen. This has been on the list for two years. Only two burners have a work ethic--the other two work when they feel like it.

6. Repaint the bedroom. It looked pretty good to us when we moved here compared to the dark brown and gray living room, orange dining room, electric yellow guest room and red family room, but now the dark blue faux stripe walls are looking a bit, um, dark (male decorators used to live here). We'd like to find a color that will work without replacing the carpeting. I asked my husband if he'd like to do the painting himself, and he quickly and emphatically said, NO.

7. Replace the ceiling fan in the bedroom. We really need the fan because it gets hot in the summer. It works fine, but has an ugly problem. Are there attractive ceiling fans? I've never seen one.

8. Replace the cheap medicine cabinet in my husband's bathroom. It's so cheap the door bends when you open it. Add a second mirror with a nice frame.

9. Replace the light fixture in the bathroom, which doesn't cover what it replaced.

10. Find a better bookcase for the bedroom (I've rearranged it and it looks better, but I have to leave it on the list or I won't have 13).

11. Try to find a head board for our bed that matches resembles our 1963 oiled walnut contemporary dressers. I believe this was on last year's list.

12. Find new bedding that works with the new wall color and the new headboard.

13. Replace the wall mirror in the dressing room area which has become streaky with age and can't be cleaned up.

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