Sometimes the tortoise does not win the race. Sometimes the early bird does not get the worm. Sometimes waiting a year to find an affordable oven does not pay off. After searching Craiglist and outlet stores for months and months, we ended up paying for a brand new range that fit our irregular opening. What did we learn? Stewardship of resources is a good habit, even if does not always translate into dollars saved. I am sure Tortoise and Early Worm retired comfortably, despite minor setbacks.
Our front door was framed near the turn of last century. It was sized just right, until the advent of King-sized mattresses, Costco overstuffed furniture, or in our case, industrial sized refrigerators. We drove over to Mill Work Outlet, a family run door supplier, and searched for a wider style. To correctly hang the door, Clint and I stood on either side of it, and moved shimming pieces for the right adjustment. It was a humbling communication experiment. A job that we planned for ten minutes turned into hours of back and forth directions. We were an inefficient yet successful team! 
From years of teaching high school, I believe projects have beginnings, middles, and ends. A definitive launch, and a ceremonious finish. Not so in the remodeling world. With the kitchen “almost” complete, we have moved on to the living room. This staggered progress is less satisfying, but more efficient. We have now dry walled, spackled, and painted the living room. Clint installed recessed lights, and called the living room done—“almost”. Both the kitchen and living rooms are quite smart and will soon graduate with honors. 
When Clint and I got married last June, family and friends showered us with gifts. These packages were safely tucked in the attic until we could enjoy them with our completed kitchen. Now is the time! We brought down box after box and ended up with a huge pile of cardboard and Styrofoam. Christmas has come early for the Nelsons! 
I used to press my nose against the shiny hardware in Restoration Hardware’s window. I never stepped inside, for fear there was a shopping fee for handling merchandise. This spendy shop is filled with elegant, artful, and overpriced house wares. My heart was set on something from this store, but our budget disagreed. While visiting a friend at the Common Folk boutique, I fell in love with their hardware and ran outside to avoid temptation. Their sidewalk sale then caught my eye. 14 vintage door handles sat in a porcelain blue bowl. I heard a faint “Hallelujah Chorus” as I brought the bowl to the counter, and paid $2 each! Thanks, Common Folk!
Last spring, we bought an oven hood from an Albert Lee clearance event. Albert rightly titled it “event” rather than “sale”. With frenzy akin to Black Friday, shoppers literally ran down aisles ripping tags off of desired appliances. I sprinted in my three inch heels to a neglected store corner to snag the last stainless steel hood. It was retail warfare at its finest. Clint just installed our sparkling hood, which also required squeezing into a not-so-large opening. Note to self: buy more measuring tapes. The hood now sits lonely, awaiting its oven companion.
