The Big Move Approaches

Blogging is slow because home improvement/moving continues. Steve and I are singlehandedly keeping Lowe's in business. We've been working on projects and taking a carload of boxes every time we go over to the house, and my wonderful in-laws are coming down this weekend to help move the big stuff. I am quickly learning that home ownership is hard work, and also it's expensive, especially when you buy a house that is 70 years old. Also that people who do not know what they are doing should NOT be allowed to remodel or even decorate their house, because their ineptitude will only make more work for people who come along later and want to do things right.

I say that legitimately because while my projects have mostly been cleaning and painting, nearly all of Steve's projects have involved fixing someone else's mistakes/stupidity: tearing trim off windows and stripping paint & varnish (because someone painted all the windows in the house shut)...sealing off the old coal chute (because someone just dumped a bunch of bricks in the hole...hello, let's just put out a big welcome mat for the black widows [which we think we found downstairs], brown recluses [which we think we caught in a glue trap], and you-know-whats-that-freak-me-out)...putting bottom shelves in the cabinets (before, the "bottom shelf" was the floor...no thanks)...moving the washer/dryer hookups (because currently, the washer and dryer are on opposite sides of the basement--brilliant, huh?)...you get the idea.

The upside is, of course, that I am sooooo thankful Steve knows how to do all this handyman stuff. What a tremendous blessing! Plus, it's been so wonderful to be able to do all this work before we move. Having this month of transition to live at the apartment and work at the house has been ideal.

Anyway, the majority of the house is now clean and the first floor is full of color. It doesn't look like a page out of House Beautiful by any means, but it feels like OURS and not someone else's place. Although typically, I am second-guessing all my decorating decisions. Touch-up still needs to be done--the whole painting process was not without drama. That story will have to wait for another post.

For now, it's back to work. I haven't even started packing up my kitchen.