Progress!

It has been a while since I updated, but there has been a lot happening on the home front. Two weeks ago, I traveled to Atlanta to visit my brother, and thankfully, Tony spent the time I was away putting down two rooms of flooring! Yay-hoo!

Saying I am in love is an understatement. Probably weird too, but the floor truly looks beautiful. When I laid eyes on it for the first time, I wanted to spread eagle myself on the floor and kiss it. I didn’t. I’m weird I know, but not quite that weird. Not yet anyway.

Tony also bought some new office furniture while I was away, and I love that, too. It’s not brand new…he bought it from someone he knows who is moving to Florida and is selling all of their furniture. But, it sure looks brand new, and he only paid $300 for all of it! There’s just something about a good bargain that makes me giddy and feeds my soul. J

Last week, I painted the new baseboards, and finally, Friday night, we put the office area together. One room is now complete, other than decorating the walls and filling the bookcases. Those will probably take a while since everything is packed away in tubs, and I have no idea where anything is at. But, this is now the room I am spending all my time in since it’s the only room in my house that isn’t gross and ugly.

 

 

I got the chair from my aunt a few months ago, before I knew our house would spend weeks and months in a state of dirty disarray. It looks perfect in the room, and it’s comfy, too. I’ve already spent a few nights cozied up in it to read since it’s been too beastly hot to hang out on the porch at night. Clearly, the cat loves it as well, and he gives me the stink eye whenever I remove him from it so I can sit there.

Tony also put new French doors in the kitchen. Or I should say “attempted” to put in new French doors. It didn’t go so well (that’s an understatement, too!!), and my husband did something he rarely does—he hired our contractor friend Bruce to come over on Saturday and finish the job.  Yes, my oh-so-very stubborn DIY husband is actually going to PAY someone to do something! Shocking, I know. It was either that or put up with a new door that doesn’t open or close right, and I am pretty sure he knows how I would feel about that. Surprisingly, I kept my mouth shut throughout the 3 days he spent working on it when I so desperately wanted to say, “Why don’t you call Bruce and pay him to put the damn door in properly?” One day, I had to leave the house for a few hours because I was already having a not-so-good day, and I was very, very afraid I was going to say something I would later regret. After I spent a few hours indulging in some retail therapy, my desire to scream had subsided, and the next day, he came to the decision to call Bruce all on his own. Halle-freaking-lujah! Maybe he was feeling the “I really and truly want to strangle my husband” voo-doo vibes that were not-so-nicely banging around in my brain.

 

The plastic covering the outside of the door to keep out the rain we had yesterday is proof that perhaps one-armed door hanging is not a talent of my dear husband. Even Bruce laughed at him and said, “Are you nuts? You can’t hang a door like that with only one person, much less one good arm!” I guess I gotta give my husband credit for his determination, though. I only hope that his bull-headedness persistence doesn’t end up costing us more money than if he had just hired Bruce from the start.

On another note…I did something crazy, and I planned a graduation party for Rachel on July 30. At our house.  Like I said…CRAZY. We won’t be completely finished with every little detail of putting the house back together by then, but it has given Tony a deadline to get the floors finished. And me a kick-in-the- pants deadline to finish my painting projects. Rachel really wants to have a party, and I hated to use our house as an excuse to not have one, so it will be what it will be. I will bust my a$$ to get the last room (family room) painted as well as finish the kitchen cabinets. Tony said he can have the rest of the floors installed by then, and as long as the mess is cleaned up and put away, we can pull it off.

I think.

 I hope.

Everyone knows we are in the midst of a mess, and I can honestly say that I don’t care what the house looks like, as long as it is clean.

Wow. I should mark that on a calendar somewhere! Maybe it’s the “I don’t give a flip” attitude that grows stronger the older I get, but I can honestly say that I do not care one tiny little bit that I have a party here in 2 ½ weeks, and my house will look terrible and will contain very little furniture.

It will look terrible, but it will have pretty new floors even if there is nowhere to sit.  Maybe we can spread some blankets and have an indoor picnic.