The New Deadline

Today makes three weeks of constant attention to our home renovation. The original date of December 1st was unrealistic, but I really believed that plan B would take off and we would be done by December 10th, but here I am in an unfinished house that is not ready to sell. Our new projected date of completion is this Tuesday December 13 because we have scheduled for a realtor to come out that day and hopefully put it on the market. I hate to be the whiny gripey type but the words "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to... You would cry too if it happened to you" come to mind.

I feel like I have been fighting a battle trying to make this thing happen, and my weapons are construction materials that I feel completely inadequate using. I am tired of asking for help, I am tired of considering 6 hours of sleep a really good night. I am tired of watching thirsty wood drink up paint, and smelling nauseating fumes that have little room to escape into the cold.

It's been tough. I have as many stories as their are swatches at the Home Depot to give you a sample of just how tough it has been, but I will just share a couple.

The day after Thanksgiving I felt sick to my stomach and took a break from working on shutters to go to bathroom. The hallway was dark and the entrance with the light switch was blocked with furniture that was stacked up. I steadily made my way through the maze of construction when in a split second I found myself in a 4 foot hole.

This hole was an air vent that had no grate on it and I walked right into it. At first I only felt a small sting and getting out of the duct work and to the bathroom was still a priority, so I climbed out to make it just in time to throw up. I was determined to not be a baby about and originally I wasn't even going to tell anyone (all the my jeans being shredded to pieces might have been a clue to what happened). Eventually the adrenaline wore off and I was left with an achy scrape/bruise that ran from the top of my thigh to my knee. It's almost completely healed know, but it's gone through a lot of stages from causing my to limp, to swelling, scabbing, and itching.

Then last night we actually took a RARE break from our manual labor to get cleaned up and go see one of our best friends perform as the lead in White Christmas at a theater in Wichita Falls. It was a long drive on dark windy roads so I took the opportunity to sleep in the backseat when suddenly I was awakened by an alarming WHAP! We were all wondering the same thing. Something flew into our windshield, but what. Some speculate it was an owl and I tend to think it might have been a bowling ball. Okay, maybe not a bowling ball, but whatever it was it SHATTERED J's windshield from corner to corner. It didn't break through the glass, but the entire driver side is covered in a giant spider web pattern of glass smeared with feathers and guts. Here we are just trying to have a break from all the break downs and this happens. It didn't spoil the evening, but it's just one more dent in our budget, one more thing to fix.

I am hoping that the next time I do an update on this blog there will be good news and gorgeous pictures of all the work we have done on the house. I am ready to go from breakdown to break through, and I know it will happen even if it isn't in my timing.