The House - Pt. Deux

When we last left our little tale, the plan had just become, well, a plan. Time flew by as we talked to the bank and shopped for materials and checked on permits and decided what we would do ourselves and what we would pay others to do and packed.

Our current house would have to be demolished in order to make way for the new house. We live on an acreage, literally in the middle of a bunch of corn (or bean, depending on the year) fields, and we made arrangements to rent a mostly furnished house a mile down the road while we were building our new house.

Did I mention that we had lived in the house 15 years? In that amount of time, children or not, stuff accumulates. Lots and lots of stuff. All of this stuff had to be sorted into one of several catagories: trash, donations, possible resale, needed for the rental house, and storage for later use.

We have four outbuildings on our land, so much of our stuff was packed to go into one of those buildings, keeping what we thought were the bare necessities out for our use as we were building. We had a general idea when we would begin demolition, and as the time grew nearer, the packing became more frantic.

We began the process of demolition, salvaging what we could from the old house. Windows, light fixtures, cabinets, and the toilet were all saved for possible future use. The 15-year-old sofa and chair stayed in the house.

Then came the call I had been waiting for: "The bulldozer will be here at 9:00 tomorrow morning!"

Coming next: Destruction and rebirth.

Persevere.

The House - a cautionary tale

This will probably take more than one entry, but I've been getting questions about the house project, so I thought I'd just wade in and begin at the beginning.

The dream started many years ago, when we discovered that the rodents had free access and were outnumbering us at least 40 to one, but the reality began just over three years ago. Interest rates were (relatively) low, and one day my husband said "Now's the time to do it if we're ever going to do it."

So we began to look at house plans in earnest. Now, my husband has some very definite ideas about what he wants in a house, and so do I, for that matter. By husbandly decree, there would be only one roof line - no gables, no strangely elevated roof sections, no bump outs. This one level decree also is made for the interior - no split level, no sunken living room, no extraneous stairs of any kind. This creates a minor problem... there are no such house plans in existence.

So, we literally go back to the drawing board. Smith buys a CAD program for his computer and commences to draw a plan. Of course, it's a strange program where the scale doesn't seem to fit, and you can't get the walls to stay in place, but he comes up with a plan. The problem is, I hate it. So one evening, he's called away, and I take the basic outline of the house, and cut up all the rooms from the plan he's made, and I play paper dolls, moving things around until I come up with a plan I like.

Miracle of miracles, the plan makes a certain amount of logical sense, and the plumbing's doable and we both really like the way it turned out! We have a plan.

Coming soon... making the plan a reality.

Persevere.

Things are looking up!

Literally, things are looking up at our house! We had a guy come in last week and finish sanding the kitchen and dining room ceilings, so progress can continue. And we actually finished one room! I've got some minor spackling to do, then I think we can texture the ceiling and then paint. Seems like it's been for ever.

When we first started this project, it seems like the progress was so easy to see, but now that we're getting close to the end, the progress isn't quite as visible. In some ways, it makes us less enthusiastic about doing anything. Of course, that could also be a byproduct of how long we have been at it.

Seems like I get that way with all kinds of projects. I'm all gung-ho to get started, but then I lose enthusiasm halfway through. I have more stitching projects and furniture refinishing projects in various stages of completion than you can imagine.

One project I have managed to finish, finally is my scrapbook from my trip last summer. Scrapbooking is something I had never tried, and frankly my effort isn't nearly as nice as some of the ones I've seen other people do, but it works for me, and I guess that's what counts. I gave myself a deadline of Christmas to get it finished, and while I didn't quite meet the deadline, I kept plugging away at it and managed to finish on January 6th, a mere 5 months after the end of the trip.

So. How do I keep going on these other projects I haven't managed to finish yet? I guess it will really help, as I keep saying, if we can get this house into a more livable state. One thing at a time.

Persevere.

Rambling thoughts and some best wishes

When I first started writing this, I did it because I enjoy reading so many other people's blogs, and I thought that I might have something to say. While this is still true, the fact is, my life is really boring to everyone but me. Plus, I can't seem to remember to write something every month, let alone every week or every day. I really think it would help if we ever got the construction finished on the house, and I had a place to work from. But then, what would I write about? (OK, so I realize that I don't write about anything now, but work with me people!)

The hubs has finally agreed to hire someone to finish the kitchen ceiling, which is what has been holding us back lo these many months. If we could get that done, we might actually be able to really move into the house. Our stuff has been packed up for so long, I don't even remember what all I'm missing. I'm hoping to be able to get rid of some of it one way or another. Maybe even make a buck or two when I do.

Some friends of ours are getting married tomorrow. I think they're a great couple, and wish them all the best. And I'm really looking forward to celebrating their marriage with them.

Sometimes I worry that all of the stress and strain of planning and going through a wedding these days doesn't do the relationship too much good. These things have just gotten out of hand. It seems like some people go so far into debt just to get through the ceremony, they could have paid for a house and two cars instead. Of course, building a house from scratch with your spouse, and doing the construction yourselves isn't the smartest idea I've ever had either!

Frigidity

Man, is it cold here! Seems like I've spent the better part of the past year just trying to stay warm enough to keep my teeth from rattling. "They" tell us we've had something like 21 inches of snow over the past two weeks, and it sounds like more is on the way.

The stage is set, so why can't I seem to get into the Christmas spirit? Did plenty of shopping last summer while I was on my sojourn. I have a few minor things that I really should add to the pile, and then I need to get them all packaged up and ready to go to their various new homes. No need to decorate, as I still haven't got a house that's finished enough to bother with. (I'm grumbling here, but that's a story for another time.) Maybe I'm just tired of all of the rigamarole that accompanies this time of year.

The stores come out with their 'holiday' displays earlier every year. I think I actually saw Christmas decorations before Halloween this year! Maybe they don't realize that doing that just hacks off half of the population so much that they won't even shop in the stores if they do that. Then there are those of us who absolutly hate the crowds that accompany shopping at this time of year. Ever since I discovered the joys of Amazon.com, I can't bring myself to go out among the masses. Just call me an elitist snob. Can't wait til the new year starts.

Maybe then I'll finally have a livable house!

My Bags Are Packed ... Sort of

Well, I know it's been a while, but as I said last time, things are a bit crazy in my neck of the woods. Next week at this time, I'll be in Germany. Meanwhile, this weekend is filled to the brim with last minute things to do before I leave. My bags are nearly packed, my itinerary is pretty set, and all that remains is to make sure I have my passport and am up and functional in time to catch the 3:00am bus to the airport.

I'm really looking forward to the trip, but not necessarily the flight. I'm going with a large group, so we had to split up into two groups for the first part of the journey. My group leaves here at 5:30am and flies to Cincinnati, where we have a 3-hour layover. Then we get on another plane bound for Atlanta, where we have another 4 hours to wait before boarding our flight to Munich. So we will actually have been travelling about 12 hours before we get on the longest leg of the trip. I'm hoping that means that I'll be tired enough to get some sleep on that last plane.

My itinerary is filled with places I've only read about, or seen in the movies. Who knows if the reality will be as good as the dreams... or better. Rome, London, Berlin, Salzburg, Interlaken, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Brussels. They're all on the list. (But then again, I was never very good at sticking to the list.) Hopefully, I'll do a bit of writing about it here while I'm gone. If not, I promise to take good notes.

Auf Wiedersehen!

In the deep freeze

Sometimes, I wish there were 48 hours in a day. Of course, then I'd just find that much more that needed to be done.

In a month (give or take a couple of days), I'm off on my adventure of a lifetime. A jaunt around Europe. It's something I've always wanted to do, and the opportunity came along, so I just decided to go for it. But... I can't seem to make any decisions regarding my itinerary, or what I'm taking with me. Part of me wants to just 'go with the flow', while another part of me wants to have every last second planned out. There are so many things I need to do between now and then, that I'm nearly paralyzed with indecision.

Then there's work. We've been short-handed (but then, who isn't?) for about the past 6 months. Suddenly, we're also adding several major projects to the already full daily grind. One of these projects rests solely in my hands, and has a deadline of the day I come back from my vacation. Translation: get it done before you go. Meanwhile, the day-to-day stuff keeps piling up. And when I do get a bit of time to work on it, I am once again paralyzed. What should I do first? What can wait? Is there anything I can pass off to someone else? Where do I start?

Then there's the home front. Smith (my husband) and I are on the downhill side of a new home construction project. We've been working on it in our 'spare' time for almost 2 years now, and it's finally in the stage where we can live in it, but we still have a lot of (mostly) minor things to finish up. I made a list. It's 2 columns wide, and 3 pages long. Last night I actually crossed 2 things off of the list. But I also added 2 more things. So I have my list. It should be simple, right? Not so much. Some of the things on the list depend on other things being done before they can be completed. Some of the things on the list are things I cannot (or will not) do. So once again, I am paralyzed.

How do I make this all work? Or do I just give up on trying? It's at times like this when I feel an old commercial coming along: Calgon, take me away!

Persevere.