And then….Mrs.Green showed up.

So…this whole frugal/remodeling/decorating deal…do you wonder how it’s going?

Hmmm….Yes, I think I need some evaluation tonight. For real.

I have spent hours, and I mean hours of time I do not have stalking craigslist, driving from one place to another, looking at every store possible and gathering what I could so far. I’ve gotten some really awesome finds so far, in which I cannot wait to share with you! But overall, I’m not making a ton of progress.

Here’s what’s killing me; The fact that I so firmly feel like I have to stick to my only buy with what you sell budget. Meaning, I only have money to spend from the things I have sold.

But, I mean……hello, those tax returns are harassing me in my savings account! They are screaming to be spent!

And wouldn’t America love me if I boosted the economy up with this great and mighty and beautiful and sweet and perfect and awesome and would fit just right couch from Pottery Barn? (click to see the perfection)

I’ve been doing really good with my attitude…..until today. This morning my Kennedy woke up with a fever and ear ache so I knew it was a to the dr’s kinda day. I got her comfy on the couch with some Tylenol and a movie which gave me a few rare moments of quiet time until we had to leave for the dr’s.

So I moozied on over to Craigslist, which btw, I win for the most hits to a site in a day! =) And there I saw it…….the perfect L-shaped couch, exactly what I’ve been looking for, want to buy it that second kinda deal!

Forgetting for a moment that I had a sick girly on my hands I immediately began to plan out how I could get this couch today! Because, let me share a secret with you…..if it’s good, it’s on Craigslist and it’s priced right…..it’s gone!

Luckily, the kind and understanding seller agreed to let me come and take a look after I got Kennedy to the dr’s and picked the girls up from school.

After a three hour ordeal of drama at the Kennyboo’s dr…I was ready for something fun! So I got the girls from school and we made the long-trek out that way to the seller’s home. I was so excited! I Just KNEW that this was God’s blessing and He was going to knock my socks off! Because I was being frugal and obedient with my budget! Oh yes it was going to be incredible.

And then….I pulled in the driveway and “she” showed up. Mmmhhhmmm………”Mrs.Green”.

You know her too, she shows up in the most impromptu time and she makes you feel all squishy and squirmy and about to hurl over. She allows you to see the most beautiful things that you will never own, or the most perfectly behaved children or the husband with super star qualities or the friend who got the position and even in the beauty in another woman.

But to be quite honest, Mrs.Green hadn’t been around here in quite some time. I was learning to be content, happy with what I had at the moment and making my lemons into lemonade. And then this “woman” has to make an appearance? Hmph!

As I gazed at a beautiful cottage style mansion that sat front and center with a lake-front lot and at least five newer than new cars in the driveway……my heart sank. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to walk through the beautiful entry way of this home. The kind woman greeted my way under-dressed self and my wild-hair-sickly-looking crew at the door and she led us up the stairs of a home that every single detail was……perfect.

I kept saying to myself as I walked up each and every perfectly place wooden step, “Go away Mrs.Green, Go away, I’m here for the blessing that God has in store for my home. Go away.”

But she didn’t.

As I walked into the room where the couch was pushed into a corner, that quite obviously looked very out of place in such a grand home….my heart sank.

I forgot to ask one little detail over the phone…..measurements!

For some reason in the picture it looked JUST right! It was going to fit! And I was so pumped! But there I stood with my three little girls, who could very much see green on my face, knowing in an instant that it was to long in one direction.

I tried to measure it and think of a way I could make it fit…….but I knew in my heart it wasn’t going to. And Mrs.Green said, “Ha ha, you’re never gonna be able to find what your looking for!”

Thanking the woman for her kindness in holding the sofa for me until I could get there, we disappointingly walked out her beautifully landscaped entry way……all five of us. Kennedy, Hope, Taylor, Me…and Mrs. Green.

As we climbed back into our van and drove out of the perfect cobblestone driveway, my little sweet HopeAnn said, “Wow Mommy, do you think we will ever live in a house like that?”

Before I could open up my mouth to even reply, Taylor (my oldest) says in her very in charge-grown-up tone, “HopeAnn, we live in a very nice house, it’s small, but it’s nice and Mommy is trying to do everything possible to make it beautiful and no…..we won’t! Unless we can somehow win on Deal or No Deal.”

I couldn’t help but laugh! And smile. And take a deep sigh of relief.

For a moment, Mrs.Green showed up. But then, in a moment she was gone. Perspective……from an 8-year old….wow.

And so my frugal journey continues. I look, I stalk (Craigslist), I pray and I wait….because I know that the Lord hears my heart’s cry for a house that is a “home”.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” -Psalms 27:14