Well, at first I thought it would be fun to buy a fixer upper and pour our sweat and tears into it to make it our own.
I'm over it.
In fact, I almost broke up with my house today and threw in the towel.
You know, a big part of it is the constant MESS it's in--it's not a real pleasant place to be most of the time.
However, I reminded myself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that mess or no mess, we bought it and now have to live in it! So, we might as well finish up.
Just to fill you in, we had an enormous light fixture in the kitchen (sorry, i can't locate a pic right now--mostly b/c i don't feel like searching for one)--it was a big rectangle cut into the kitchen ceiling with the old school long fluorescent lighting. It was UGLY. So, we tore it out. Just one thing though: you know, the big hole now in the ceiling. Well, Kody did a great job of putting in recessed lighting and framing in the hole---then came the drywall. There's a reason it's called "sheet-ROCK"...it weighs a TON. And having to fill a hole over your head isn't so fun when it's Kody and myself holding up the sheet rock (sometimes with our heads when our arms gave out) trying to get it nailed into place. Then there is the compound you spread over the hole. And just when you think it couldn't get anyworse, we have textured ceilings/walls. So, Kody had to splatter texture all over the ceiling. THEN, he had to sand it. Not a light dusting mind you....think of a dust storm rolling through the Sahara!! The house was trashed. The dust seeped into everything and there were many moments where I thought I didn't have the energy to do a full blown spring cleaning on my house--especially when I just did a billion loads of laundry when we moved in!
Anywaaaaaay, we totally decided that the carpet had to go. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If it wasn't bad enough before, after the sanding it was a heap of dust that wouldn't vacuum up very well. So, two days before we had carpet installed in the bedrooms Kody got the bright idea that if we tore up the rest of the carpet in the house maybe the guys from Home Depot would haul ALL OF IT away. So, he and I moved furniture....again...took apart kids beds...again....and hauled all of the carpet out of the house in hopes that his theory was correct. When the guys showed up they took one look at the heap and initially said, "Umm, no." After some convincing on Kody's part (mostly reminding them that we tore up the carpet in the bedroom that they were supposed to tear up anyway and then haul away) they agreed to take as much as their truck would hold. Good enough, it was most of it.
The bedrooms look great--fresh carpet and paint makes a world of difference--but the front of the house looks like this.....
**Our home looks a bit like the Home Depot warehouse with the concrete floors right now, but Joe loves all of the rides he gets in his little car.
You see this sweet face. This is our Delaney. She is lovable, happy, spunky, friendly, and by far my most even-keeled kid. She's just a joy to be around. Since moving into the house we're discovering more little holes and dings in the walls that need to be repaired prior to painting--ones like in the picture below....
...so these holes are all over and little by little we're managing to find them and patch them up properly. So, one day I'm working on one. I'm feeling pretty good about the progress being made on the house, the fact that I know how to patch these areas without waiting on Kody, and I'm just plain happy because I just ate a few squares of Trader Joe's dark chocolate. I'm working on some texturing since the previous days work has dried and in walks Delaney...
Delaney: "Hi Mommy, what are you doing with that hole?"
Me: "Well Honey, I'm filling it in--we don't want holes in our walls! I'm going to put some pretty blue paint over this later."
Delaney: "Yeah, we don't want holes......Mommy........(pause)..... I put my socks in that hole."
Me: "What?"
Delaney (looking very precocious while tilting her head and looking at me out of the corner of her eyes) "I put my socks in that hole mommy"
Me: (pause)..."Laney, say so long to your socks."
Random:My birthday was earlier this month and I received lovely cards from the kids and a wonderful dinner at none other than In-n-Out. :) It officially goes on record as the most peaceful meal we've ever eaten together. All of us got milk shakes (in leu of cake) and it's the first time I let each of them get their OWN. I've never seen such quiet kids in all my life--they sucked them dry!
3 comments:
When can we come to visit? : )
Sorry it's so much work but it will be so worth it when it's all done.
Okay, so after 10 years in our own little version of a fixer-upper and a husband that thinks that everything must be rebuilt I have a bit of wifely advice for you: build yourself (notice I did not say Kody) a "cripple stud". It is a long stud (2x4) the height of the ceiling, with a 3 foot piece of scrap 2x4 nailed to the top of it to form a T-shape. You wedge it into place in the spot where you are supposed to hold the dry wall to the ceiling. This will save your arms and in turn save your momma sanity. Save the parts of this T because you can use it to hold entire sheets of dry wall up to the wall while it is nailed in place. You see, hubby's, as fabulous as they are, just do not understand the limitations of momma arms when the small people are tugging.
I love reading your blog. I seriously chuckle at all of the funny stories. Good job on all your hard work!
PS- You truly are my hero.
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