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Bonus Meatballs!
Jan. 6th, 2018 08:14 pmAh, mid-January, when our nation's eyes look forward to a season of renewed hopes and dreams. No, not spring, but tax refund season. Most of us slightly over-pay taxes through the year what with automatic payroll deductions, so we get a little back.
Or, in our case, since I went on disability, a pretty big chunk back. I voluntarily have taxes withheld from my disability payment just so we don't end up with a tax surprise. Kirsten withholds at the single rate and has an extra twenty taken out for the feds every paycheck.
The result is we get a pretty big return each year. It's our chance to do something big. in 2016, the return was part of our Istanbul fund, helping us have a magical stay in the Queen of Cities. In 2017, a large part of the return was invested in the Free Trailer Beowulf project. This year?
This year we're redoing our bedroom look. Our current bedroom set has been with us since around 1994. Kirsten is rightly concerned about the fact that at some point in the future, I will need to spend more time in bed due to my health. She wants to get an adjustable bed, and I have no problem with this plan. A new mattress from Tuft & Needle completes that part of the plan.
But storage is always an issue for us. Last time we were at IKEA, we found a great solution. The Pax wardrobe collection, a great set of configurable pieces that, with the Kompliment accessories, would give a great new way to Kirsten to store her clothes and shoes. There's even a little "valet hanger" that attaches to the side of the system where you can hang the next's days clothes. Pretty cool stuff, and we're quite excited about it.
We're even splurging and playing IKEA to bring it here and assemble it. Because I'm disabled.
But to get things into the bedroom we have to get everything out of the bedroom. This is where my inner staff officer gets to come out to play. Were in the midst of a five-step plan!
Step 1 - Clean out the bedroom of everything we are keeping. Clean the living room so we can sleep on the futon for a few days with all our clothes out here.
Step 2 - Call 1-800-GOT-JUNK to come get all the old furniture.
Step 3 - Rent a carpet cleaner to attack the floor while it's empty.
Step 4 - IKEA comes and assembles the wardrobe/bedside tables. Start moving clothes back into the bedroom.
Step 5 - Bed frame and mattress delivered. Set up, bears back in bed.
Step 6 - PROFIT!
Sorry, there is no step six. This will involve us doing something hard for us, spending money in big chunks. We're just too good at being poor at this point!
However, it's going to look great when it's done, and it is spurring us to do something difficult: throw things away. We just have so much accumulated crap that it gets overwhelming. A project like this forces you to confront your own mess and take hard looks at why you are holding onto things.
Personally, I'm culling tons of t-shirts and other old clothes. I've cropped my gaming shelf to the bone. But there's still a lot of what is essentially crap lying around. Old convention badges and programs, things that once held meaning and are now held onto out of pure habit. Stuff that is just sitting there, not used or displayed.
It all has to go. I don't care where. Goodwill gets a lot of it, if we can get a decent load, we can go to Half-Priced Books, or just in the trash, I don't care. Because all this clutter is hurting me, psychologically. Ever since the stroke I get tired faster, and having to deal with too many stimuli just makes that worse.
So the big goal for 2018 is to nuke the apartment so we can deep clean one room and redo it for better living. Then our lives get crazy with conventions and Burning Man for a while. But I'd like to see us turn our eyes to a similar deep clean of the living space for the year's end.
We may ask for some local help in getting all the stuff out of the bedroom and cleaning the living room. Neither of us is really up to day-long cleaning marathons. But I'm really looking forward to getting all this taken care of.
Or, in our case, since I went on disability, a pretty big chunk back. I voluntarily have taxes withheld from my disability payment just so we don't end up with a tax surprise. Kirsten withholds at the single rate and has an extra twenty taken out for the feds every paycheck.
The result is we get a pretty big return each year. It's our chance to do something big. in 2016, the return was part of our Istanbul fund, helping us have a magical stay in the Queen of Cities. In 2017, a large part of the return was invested in the Free Trailer Beowulf project. This year?
This year we're redoing our bedroom look. Our current bedroom set has been with us since around 1994. Kirsten is rightly concerned about the fact that at some point in the future, I will need to spend more time in bed due to my health. She wants to get an adjustable bed, and I have no problem with this plan. A new mattress from Tuft & Needle completes that part of the plan.
But storage is always an issue for us. Last time we were at IKEA, we found a great solution. The Pax wardrobe collection, a great set of configurable pieces that, with the Kompliment accessories, would give a great new way to Kirsten to store her clothes and shoes. There's even a little "valet hanger" that attaches to the side of the system where you can hang the next's days clothes. Pretty cool stuff, and we're quite excited about it.
We're even splurging and playing IKEA to bring it here and assemble it. Because I'm disabled.
But to get things into the bedroom we have to get everything out of the bedroom. This is where my inner staff officer gets to come out to play. Were in the midst of a five-step plan!
Step 1 - Clean out the bedroom of everything we are keeping. Clean the living room so we can sleep on the futon for a few days with all our clothes out here.
Step 2 - Call 1-800-GOT-JUNK to come get all the old furniture.
Step 3 - Rent a carpet cleaner to attack the floor while it's empty.
Step 4 - IKEA comes and assembles the wardrobe/bedside tables. Start moving clothes back into the bedroom.
Step 5 - Bed frame and mattress delivered. Set up, bears back in bed.
Step 6 - PROFIT!
Sorry, there is no step six. This will involve us doing something hard for us, spending money in big chunks. We're just too good at being poor at this point!
However, it's going to look great when it's done, and it is spurring us to do something difficult: throw things away. We just have so much accumulated crap that it gets overwhelming. A project like this forces you to confront your own mess and take hard looks at why you are holding onto things.
Personally, I'm culling tons of t-shirts and other old clothes. I've cropped my gaming shelf to the bone. But there's still a lot of what is essentially crap lying around. Old convention badges and programs, things that once held meaning and are now held onto out of pure habit. Stuff that is just sitting there, not used or displayed.
It all has to go. I don't care where. Goodwill gets a lot of it, if we can get a decent load, we can go to Half-Priced Books, or just in the trash, I don't care. Because all this clutter is hurting me, psychologically. Ever since the stroke I get tired faster, and having to deal with too many stimuli just makes that worse.
So the big goal for 2018 is to nuke the apartment so we can deep clean one room and redo it for better living. Then our lives get crazy with conventions and Burning Man for a while. But I'd like to see us turn our eyes to a similar deep clean of the living space for the year's end.
We may ask for some local help in getting all the stuff out of the bedroom and cleaning the living room. Neither of us is really up to day-long cleaning marathons. But I'm really looking forward to getting all this taken care of.
