If you've learned anything about me over the last four and a half
years on this blog, you know that I am terrible when it comes to big
decisions and big purchases. I don't know why I have such a fear of
taking a leap, but for some reason, I find the trigger really hard to
pull.
Adam and I recently went furniture shopping.
We've been talking about replacing the family room furniture for ages.
Our family room, the main room you'll see if you are in our house, the
room where we do the majority of our living, is an embarrassment. The
carpet hasn't been changed, not just since we moved in twelve years ago,
but since the house was built twenty-two years ago. The
furniture was from a store that I will not slander here, but despite the
price tag, turned out to be very poor quality - torn leather, broken
frames. We need an upgrade.
Anyway, we wandered around living room sets and I think we're
close to a decision. I can't imagine what the room will actually look
and feel. Because Adam and I are masterful at living with
broken/old/incomplete things for months - if not years - before we
finally upgrade and see the light.
For instance, we
lived with a microwave that had exactly three functioning buttons (1,
4, and 8 I believe). Oh, and start. The other numbers, clear, stop -
totally broken. Our microwave is an over the range variety, and even
though we used the vent fan, boiling water underneath had fried the
control panel. When we had to cook in the microwave, which we actually
realized we used a lot, we just had to do some math, and stay close so
we could open the door and manually stop the cooking. We did this for
almost six months.
And we have a Sleep Number bed,
which we bought right before Reagan was born (I remember this, because
the salesman talked us into getting the additional waterproof cover
"just in case your water breaks in bed"). The bed is comfortable, but I
was surprised that the base is actually hard plastic. After a few years
of use, we noticed the bed was sagging in the middle - a very noticeable
dip. We found out that the frame was broken. We decided we should call
Sleep Number to see what they recommended and then did ... nothing. For
nearly three months.
When we first moved in, we
bought a big screen TV to host our first Super Bowl party. But after
several years, the screen was dark (even after replacing the lamp) with
plenty of splochy areas - like the picture was covered in storm clouds.
When we watched anything that was "dark"- even the Disney movie Brave, things were indistinguishable on the screen. It was just a murky mess. We are a family that likes our TV - a lot - and yet we dealt with this for well over a year.
The
ceiling fan over the bed in our master bedroom broke over the summer.
Now, since we used central air, this shouldn't have been a big deal -
except that it was also our primary light. We dealt with shadowy dim
lighting, I stopped working in that room, and we'd get dressed in our
closet.
Now here's the thing.
When
we finally replaced the microwave, it felt like we'd just upgraded to a
brand new kitchen, for under $200, twenty minutes at a home improvement
store, and an hour of installation. It was amazing.
When
we finally called Sleep Number, we spent under ten minutes talking to a
representative before confirming that this was totally covered under
their lifetime warranty, they overnighted a replacement frame, and we
had it assembled and on the bed within a half hour. That night it was
like we were on vacation with a brand new, ultra comfortable sleep
nirvana.
We replaced the TV during Black Friday weekend, and wow. It was so amazingly bright. So amazingly clear. We could actually see what we were watching. It was like when someone gets glasses for the first time and says "oh, that's how the world looks!" Yeah, this one didn't come cheap, but whoa.
We got a new fan - again, a quick, inexpensive home improvement store purchase, and, surprise, surprise, we saw the light. And it was good.
It's amazing at what you just learn to live with and how good it feels when you finally make the change.
I mean, I finally learned this trick to help my irritating key fob unlock the car with less incidents, and it's made such a big difference in my day to day travels.
We've
all got one. A slow, cracked computer. A grill that doesn't heat
anymore. A leaky faucet. You just learn to live with the annoyance, or
you find a work around, and when you're so used to the darkness, you
stop thinking that finding that light is all that important. But when
you do - it's amazing.
Moral of the story -
we may have waited a long time to get this family room back up to
standard, but when we finally do, it'll be like a brand new house
without the hassle of moving. And that will make all the purchase stress
worth it.
