On Silver Linings

Eric and I don’t have a lot of disposable income and I would be lying if I said that fact never grated on me. However, my good buddy Sarah was over recently and I found myself saying, “If I had money, I wouldn’t live nearly as good as I do right now.”
Here is a short list of why my quality of life is improved by my lack of funds:

• My dryer died a few days before my 30th birthday. I was a bit distressed and halted my laundry while I waited for it to magically start working. Magic failed me, (As it always does, Courtney) so I instead had to start hanging laundry to dry. Three months later, and I see so many benefits to not having a dryer that I would never know if I had funds to immediately replace mine.
• My jeans, t-shirts, Eric’s dress clothes, and sheets are better off.
• I sometimes iron my sheets to speed the drying process up. Have you ever slept on ironed sheets? So. Nice.
• The extra space means that I have room for my vacuum and laundry basket. Both of those items kind of floated around from spot to spot, lacking an actual assigned location.
• My microwave blew a fuse a few weeks ago. We have since then been using *gasp!* the oven to reheat leftovers, which is really all we used the microwave for. I don’t think it is a contested statement that most food tastes much better when heated in the oven versus the microwave. If I had extra money, I would have immediately replaced my dud microwave and would have not had this reprieve of fabulous leftovers.
• Sometimes my grocery budget is tapped when I need a loaf of bread and I am forced to actually bake a few loaves. How lucky am I that I get to have the fresh scent of bread in my home, followed by the fabulous taste of homemade bread versus store bought?
• Lacking a second car, I almost weekly walk to the grocery with my kids. The drive would be very short, but the walk is just long enough for us to talk and explore. I know that when they are full grown and driving far away from me, I will treasure our little lower-class imposed walks.
• My garbage disposal quit working a few nights ago and I was fairly certain it was my fault. In fact, I absolutely knew it was my fault. I knew that if I called the property manager they would send a fellow out post haste, and then tack about $150 to my monthly rent, also post haste. I have replaced my fair share of sinks in my day, so I felt fully capable of fixing my disposal issue. Twenty minutes later, it was fixed and I had no worries about a leap in rent. I would never be able to say with confidence that I can repair a pipe with a teaspoon jammed in it if I could afford to call in help.

I’m certain I could think of more, but this should do to remind me just how fabulous I have it. I know that I will one day have a dryer, a microwave, a second car, and all the store bought bread I can eat. Because I know myself, I know that I will happily abandon hanging laundry, baking bread, and walking with a thirty pound back pack filled with groceries. And I will rarely, if ever, have it as good as I do right now