Friday, May 18, 2012

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Housewise, That Is

We are on the cusp of some house renovating.  Mainly it's the upstairs that needs it.  When we bought this house back in the Dark Ages, it had stairs leading up to the attic.  Unlike the knuckleheads on House Hunters who apparently can not only buy a house but have oodles of money left over for major renovations, when we bought the house we used up all our available money just getting into the house.  It took us several years to save enough pennies to turn the upstairs into actual living space.

When that time came, of course we hired the cheapest home renovators possible.  There were issues of putting drywall on backwards (which happens when your workers do not speak or read English), the disappearance of the work permit they supposedly obtained, and the lack of a dumpster which facilitating them strewing construction debris all over my front yard.  If only Uncle Jed had come by and checked up on the boy.

Anyhow, it ended up being perfectly fine for Maribeth and Molly who were in middle school at the time.  Jethro Inc decided that they could not put a full bath upstairs, but the half bath worked fine except for the time that Maribeth would not get out of the bathroom and Molly decided to kick a hole in the door.  Not to worry, though, because Jethro Inc also decided that the roof/ceiling was too pointy and they would not be able to put doors on the bedrooms which actually saved a lot of teenager door slamming, but it would have been nice to have at least a closet door - the bedroom closet that ended up being out in the hall.

Anyhow, after the teenager/college years, both girls eventually grew up and moved into their own homes, leaving the upstairs in need of a facelift, which is where we are now.    It is great to think of an upstairs with no stains on the carpet, maybe even some doors, and drywall that is not cracked and falling off.  Those happy thoughts are what is getting me through this part - the packing up and moving stuff out of the upstairs and den (which is being included in this reno because of its location under Molly's old room).  I have had to move the 385 piece sectional and the 593 pound television and am currently packing up the 6 billion DVDs and books that were on the shelves in the den.  Of course all this moving and packing facilitated the renting of a storage unit, which I swore I would never rent again - another lesson to keep my mouth shut and never say never.

Anyhow, it looks like it's going to be a fun couple of months.  Or years, depending on how long this reno takes.  I just hope I remember to request a steel door on the bathroom - you never know when Molly might want to spend the night ...
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Today's blessings:  working out with KB at the park; Bill Cox helping move the sectional into the living room; Steve, Sam, and Bill Cox moving giant TV to the living room; boxing up stuff; KB stopping by for garage sale crap; Sam picking up burritos for dinner; Molly bringing lunch; Lindley time; pictures of Everley in Wyoming sent by Maribeth

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