Spring means spending

How come once it starts getting nice out - I feel the sudden urge to spend money? Is it because it's out with the old and in with the new? Is it that nesting urge to spring clean and buy new stuff? Who knows! But now that the weather is here, it seems like all I want to do is spend, spend, spend.

There's stuff to buy. Topsoil to spread. Grass seed must be planted. Maintenance must be done. You know. This all adds up. Not to mention the flowers that need to be planted.

Now before you all scold me and tell me that I should be saving and that this is a terrible economy to spend - I must let you know that we had a great tax return, and I had a some Party of Gold money and some other "pennies from heaven." So we did put aside money in our savings, and we even made an extra mortgage payment. Woo hoo. Suze Orman would be so proud. So - we had some extra money and I always say that it's not lost money if you spend it on the house. I mean, it's not like I am spending money on clothing or spa treatments - right? Although I do need some new clothes and a massage would be nice. Mmmmm.

One of the things I am most excited about is our pergola. We bought a curved pergola from Sears and they even delivered it! It was free shipping, and it was on sale and I even found a $20 online coupon. It arrived at 7:15 AM on Saturday morning. Yes. You heard me right. Our phone rang on Saturday at 6:55 AM and it was the delivery man telling us he would be here in 15 minutes. Really? My kids weren't even awake yet. Regardless, it arrived and now it's in the garage waiting for Brian to put it together. But we can't put it together until we figure out what we are going to do with the patio.

Yes. The patio. You know the one that we JUST put in three years ago. Yes. That one. Well the patio sucks. It is chipping. It is sloppy looking and it wasn't done correctly to begin with. The thing is a mess. And it looks like - well - it looks like you know-what. Now most people, my husband included, have told me that we should live with it for another year. But I can't. I just can't look at my chipped patio all summer long. Everytime I look outside and see the chipped patio, I feel sick. Sick, sick, sick. And really - who wants to feel sick everytime they look in their backyard. Not me!

So anyway - the patio. What to do. What to do. Right now we are getting estimates on pavers. We will see what happens.

And that's about it. Spend, spend, spend. I like to think that I am helping the economy. And that's that. Happy Spring. And happy spending.