This weekend I had a bit of an epiphany. We went to Oklahoma for a wedding (one of the loveliest weddings ever btw) and managed to reconnect with old friends who have moved away from Houston. Becky and Steve are very involved in the financial independence movement and we have known about the work they have done for years, but in a lot of ways what they said just went in one ear and out the other. At least for me. Seeing Becky and Steve again has really been an eye-opener because they do not have the same financial frustrations that we have had. Not because they're so much "richer" than we are, but because they've been focused and managed their money well. Of course, they are richer than we are, but again...because they manage their money well. Anyway, all that to say that spending time with them has allowed us to refocus and reconsider some upcoming decisions we have to make.
Ever since my parents moved in we have been living in our guest room, all our things that were in the very large master closet have been put into upstairs closets with almost no rhyme or reason. Since May 29th my life has just felt incredibly temporary. Would they ever be able to live on their own again? No. Should we sell their house? Yes. Should we sell our house and find something bigger for the now five people who live here? That's been tougher. Our house is 7 years away from being paid off with a loan at less than 3%. The thought of selling my house and buying something BIGGER (when what I really want is something SMALLER) at a loan in the 7-8% range makes me physically ill (and very cranky!!) but we have been planning to do it in order for my parents to be more comfortable. Well....after our weekend away I think we've come to the conclusion that it would be a stupid financial decision and instead we are going to see what changes need to happen here in order for this to be a permanent residence for all five of us.
My mom and dad spend all their time sitting on recliners in their bedroom, which is overcrowded and that results in fall risks for them. My mom thinks our living area is "too bright". So...curtains are going up in the living room, their big screen TV is going on the wall and we are turning our dining room back into a dining room (a long story about an unsuccessful attempt to create a living space for them) and the living room will be theirs. We are going to convert an upstairs bathtub into a shower and make the needed adjustments to their shower for it to be safer for them. We are going to move a LOT of our things into storage and create an office that functions as my office and a sitting room for us. In the backyard, decorative plants are coming out and we are creating a garden for my dad to enjoy. And the house has to have an alarm system, especially on the windows, but that's a story for a different blog post.
It sounds like a LOT of stuff but we will use money from the sale of their house to make the changes to our house that are needed for them to be at home here. It feels like it's taken a lot of time for me to reach this point but I do feel like the Lord really used Becky and Steve this weekend to help me. I am so grateful to them and to Him!
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