Reach for the stars -- if you don't make it, at least you might get a lamp painted
Recently, I broke down and told my husband I want to move.
Yes, I mean I literally broke down. I had a weak moment. Probably caused by too little sleep and too much stress. And possibly a little wine.
"I can't live this way," is something I think I remember saying.
That sounds a bit dramatic to me now, but you decide....
For starters, our master bathroom has been "under construction" since I was pregnant with the Man-cub (who is 5). Friends, I have no drywall in this bathroom. There are small holes in the ceiling where the room is open to the attic above. There is a pockmarked concrete floor with no working bath tub or shower. I could show you a picture, but I'm too embarrassed. At least the two sinks work. The toilet works now -- but it didn't for the first year or so. Having a pregnant bladder waking you up at night is no fun, especially when you have to walk to the other side of the house to get to the working toilet! (The boys' bathroom is freshly redone and awesome.) Ah, memories.
Also, our stove/range unit is dying -- one burner won't come on and another one recently caught on fire -- and the handle of the oven (which runs too hot) broke off a long time ago. Because of the Man-cub's food allergies, I do a lot of from-scratch cooking, so I really need a place to cook. A place that actually works.
Then you add a floor redo that is half finished (the front half of our house has a nice laminate wood flooring and the back half still has 25-year-old chipped, stained tile), a hedge that always needs to be trimmed and shaped but never is (we have a huge yard) and a driveway that is crumbling due to tree roots and never having been resurfaced in the 15 years we've lived here ... and my joy is complete.
But actually, no, wait, there's more! Now there is a construction project going on right behind our property line. Here in southern Florida, there are lots of canals that were dug out so houses could be built. We have a canal behind our house too. It's considered an outfall canal -- all the water from other canals in our neighborhood drain into our canal and gets pumped out to a larger canal that runs from the Everglades (1 mile away) to the Atlantic Ocean. The water management folks are building a new pump. I don't know how they are accomplishing this, but I have two bull elephant-sized piles of dirt on the other side of said beat-up hedge, and their equipment shakes our house from 7 am to 4:30 pm six days a week. I mean, glasses in my cupboards are rattling. On the upside, I have a lovely view of a construction crane in my backyard (the Florida state bird).
When I recounted these things to my husband, he pointed out that no one is going to buy our house while the construction project is going on.
I may have literally choked back a sob.
But then he told me he would finish up the master bathroom before the end of the year and that we could get an all-new kitchen (not just a stove and oven, but cabinets too, which I wanted since before we moved in) in the first half of next year. It's not a matter of needing the money (well, OK, just a bit), but needing the time for him to do the projects. He is the kind of man who has to do everything himself.
I didn't know if I could believe he would actually get the ball rolling, but he started working on the bath tub right away.
Because everyone builds their own custom-sized bath tub, right?
My husband also repainted the yellowed used-to-be-white chandelier that hangs over where we eat in the kitchen.
Before
After
So we won't be moving into a beautiful new home. And maybe that bathroom actually won't get finished in 2011. But the stove and oven are on its last legs, so if he wants to eat, my husband knows the kitchen has got to materialize.
And if I'm still staring at exposed electrical wiring in the master bathroom this time next year, I'll console myself knowing at least that lamp got painted.
Yes, I mean I literally broke down. I had a weak moment. Probably caused by too little sleep and too much stress. And possibly a little wine.
"I can't live this way," is something I think I remember saying.
That sounds a bit dramatic to me now, but you decide....
For starters, our master bathroom has been "under construction" since I was pregnant with the Man-cub (who is 5). Friends, I have no drywall in this bathroom. There are small holes in the ceiling where the room is open to the attic above. There is a pockmarked concrete floor with no working bath tub or shower. I could show you a picture, but I'm too embarrassed. At least the two sinks work. The toilet works now -- but it didn't for the first year or so. Having a pregnant bladder waking you up at night is no fun, especially when you have to walk to the other side of the house to get to the working toilet! (The boys' bathroom is freshly redone and awesome.) Ah, memories.
Also, our stove/range unit is dying -- one burner won't come on and another one recently caught on fire -- and the handle of the oven (which runs too hot) broke off a long time ago. Because of the Man-cub's food allergies, I do a lot of from-scratch cooking, so I really need a place to cook. A place that actually works.
Then you add a floor redo that is half finished (the front half of our house has a nice laminate wood flooring and the back half still has 25-year-old chipped, stained tile), a hedge that always needs to be trimmed and shaped but never is (we have a huge yard) and a driveway that is crumbling due to tree roots and never having been resurfaced in the 15 years we've lived here ... and my joy is complete.
But actually, no, wait, there's more! Now there is a construction project going on right behind our property line. Here in southern Florida, there are lots of canals that were dug out so houses could be built. We have a canal behind our house too. It's considered an outfall canal -- all the water from other canals in our neighborhood drain into our canal and gets pumped out to a larger canal that runs from the Everglades (1 mile away) to the Atlantic Ocean. The water management folks are building a new pump. I don't know how they are accomplishing this, but I have two bull elephant-sized piles of dirt on the other side of said beat-up hedge, and their equipment shakes our house from 7 am to 4:30 pm six days a week. I mean, glasses in my cupboards are rattling. On the upside, I have a lovely view of a construction crane in my backyard (the Florida state bird).
When I recounted these things to my husband, he pointed out that no one is going to buy our house while the construction project is going on.
I may have literally choked back a sob.
But then he told me he would finish up the master bathroom before the end of the year and that we could get an all-new kitchen (not just a stove and oven, but cabinets too, which I wanted since before we moved in) in the first half of next year. It's not a matter of needing the money (well, OK, just a bit), but needing the time for him to do the projects. He is the kind of man who has to do everything himself.
I didn't know if I could believe he would actually get the ball rolling, but he started working on the bath tub right away.
Because everyone builds their own custom-sized bath tub, right?
My husband also repainted the yellowed used-to-be-white chandelier that hangs over where we eat in the kitchen.
Before
After
So we won't be moving into a beautiful new home. And maybe that bathroom actually won't get finished in 2011. But the stove and oven are on its last legs, so if he wants to eat, my husband knows the kitchen has got to materialize.
And if I'm still staring at exposed electrical wiring in the master bathroom this time next year, I'll console myself knowing at least that lamp got painted.
Labels: DIYness, domestic life, the dad crazies, the mom crazies, this is why I'm crazy
posted by Holly at 4:43 PM
11 Comments:
It is a lovely shade of blue! Your not alone, my house still has holes poked in the ceiling in one room, from the hurricanes of 2004. I did the poking to let the water run out so the ceiling would not collapse. It worked but I never filled the holes. Between the animals and the boy, my house is never going to be photo ready.
Last night my knocked a hole in the drywall of his bathroom while sword fighting, oh the joy :)
Oops, that should say,"my son" knocked a hole in the drywall.
I really should use the preview button!
Your husband and mine would get along great! Corey has seen similiar breakdowns with me! I can't wait to see the finished bathroom!
I'm pretty much up-to-date on most everything but I'm always saying, "No honey, not new furniture we have animals."
Home renovations are so overwhelming! I hope yours get finished up soon! :-)
I had some work 'started' when I moved into a new house 5 yrs ago. Someday it will get finished....
There's always someone who wants to buy a fixer-upper - especially one like yours that only has a few issues to work on.
Don't feel bad though. I started working on my house in Feb 2009 & my floors are not finished, I still don't have crown molding, baseboards or a threshold for my bathroom doorway. The doors I bought were each hung wrong but each has its own issue & I'll prob have to buy new doors. The list goes on but I should write a post about it at this point, huh?
The lamp looks great though!!
Love the blue. Your hubby is a champ! I sometimes feel like you and only because it is so messy in my home sometimes. So I can only imagine how overwhelmed you feel with all the project to be completed!
Hang in there, when all will be done you will come up with more :)
I am a chornic project starter. Note, I did not say project FINISHER. My attention span for these projects is always shorter than the project completion time. Sadly. For the most part, I get the projects to a livable place before I abandon them, but it is a constant source of friction between the hubby and I. *Someday*, I'll get back to them all. I swear.
Good luck with all of your projects!
I have shed those very same tears many times. I wish I didn't hate our house, but I do. And, Stephan insists on doing all the work himself in his spare time...which is never!!! Ahhhh! It's funny though how every time I have a little meltdown over it, something more gets done on the place. Too bad I don't have the emotional energy for more meltdowns.
Oh how I hate home improvement projects. They make me cry. A lot. I think you've been VERY patient with the bathroom project. Wow! I think I would've given up several years ago and just hired somebody, no matter how much my husband wanted to do it himself.
I can relate to the constant construction noise. Living in a new neighborhood houses are still being built on our street. They were didn't holes at 6 am this morning.
It also means that there is CONSTANT dust in my house!
But hey, your chandelier looks great!!!!! I love that he painted it blue!!!!!
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