I am terrible at picking gifts for my wife. This year, I thought I had the perfect idea. We recently took advantage of the low interest rates and refinanced the house, which resulted in both a lower mortgage payment and a bit of extra cash from the refi. I was hoping to roll that money over to get her a barn for her birthday.
We’ve been trying to build a barn since we moved into this place. Every time it snows, or when it’s windy outside, she says she wishes we had a barn. And I wish we had a barn, too, because in order to keep her happy, I end up feeding on those nasty days so she doesn’t have to go outside in the terrible weather and remember that she doesn’t have a barn that would allow her to get out of the elements.
And then there’s the hunting gear. Right now, most of it is either in the garage, buried under horse tack, or in the basement storage room, buried under whatever gets crammed in there throughout the year. If we had a barn, I could devote a whole wall, or at least a large corner, of the garage to the hunting gear, and it would be easier to find come hunting season. But without the barn, there’s nowhere else for all that horse gear to go, so it ends up piled on top of my hunting stuff.
I sprung my surprise for her this morning – “Happy birthday, dear, I’m going to build you a barn!” She said that was a wonderful thought, but first, we have to rebuild the corral fences and move the round pen. Then we have to replace all the posts around the arena. I didn’t realize all that had to come first, so maybe next year for her birthday, I can give her a dedicated space for the hunting gear – I mean, a barn for her horses and tack.
At least now I have a good idea for next year’s birthday gift.
