The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Renovation still in progress

~ Sandi Staton

Hubby and I worked our butts off yesterday finishing the master bath. He went to bed at four this morning and I went to bed at six. Crazy, I know. But we got it done without killing each other . . . our tortured bodies are doing it for us.

Call our method slap-hazard, poor planning, totally disorganized and I will have to agree with you. Wholeheartedly. Right now I would win the Nobel Prize for worst house keeper of the year. The dogs are confused, I’ve done lost my mind, and hubby’s ready to leave me for the beach. Where he can sit and fish all day. In peace and quiet. Without a dragon lady breathing fire down his back every second.

It’s been tough on us both. My crack-the-whip, get-er-done temperament clashes with his laid back-what’s-the-rush temperament. He likes procrastinating. I like getting things done. NOW!

So our worlds clash.

No. They collide. They blow up and disintegrate.

I think he’s from Mars. He wishes I’d go there.

He thinks we’re going to live forever. I think we could drop dead any minute.

Seriously. This renovation has brought the devil out in both of us. If we didn’t have a solid forty-seven-year, happy relationship it would be ending in divorce.

Thank goodness, we only have one more room to go, and we’re finished. But, first, we are going to clean up the messes we made and create some sense of order before we tackle that room. The beginning of next month is the plan. In the year 2020. Not 2021. Not 2022. But 2020.

You got that hubby?

Here are some before and after photos of the bathroom we just completed along with the messes we have yet to clean up. Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride . . .

Hubby hard at work
Removed the old commode. I got the honors of cleaning all the wax off the flange. YUCK!
Can you believe the hole the contractor made for the toilet?
Hubby did a great job fixing the hole.
Our new, clean floor.
Our new drop-in sink and faucets.
Our new commode. I wasn’t sure I would like the flusher thing in the middle of the tank cover, but I do. The commode is all in one piece and won’t leak. I like that idea.
Our new bathroom. YAY! I’m really happy with it. Hubby did a great job laying the floor all by himself.
My poor bedroom. Where did all that mess come from?
I’ll be so happy to get this room finished. I’ve been without curtains and living with the majority of this mess for over a year. Ever since we got our new windows installed in October of 2018. How time flies when you’re having fun. Just kidding. There’s been nothing fun about this house renovation. Maybe if we could have taken a long vacation and let someone else do it. But that’s only for the rich and famous.
Somebody’s behind with folding the laundry.
Hey! Who put that mess on my dining room table?
And on my kitchen sink?
Whoever did this better clean it up!
Who the heck lives here?
Nothing is where it’s supposed to be. My whole house is confused!
Can my back porch get any worse? I’m sure it can, but I hope it doesn’t. Spring is coming. Where are we supposed to sit?
All this mess needs to get off my porch! NOW!
I think we’ll bulldoze it down and start over. I want a sun-room, anyhow. But, we’re not going to build it. Oh, no! That’s a job for the pros and that ain’t us.

 

Published by Sandi Staton

So, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to describe myself to you, and these are the words jumping up and down in my heart: I'm just a simple human being living in a complicated, messed-up world. I speak my mind. I love hard. My feelings run deep. When push comes to shove, I stand my ground. Sometimes I push back. Sometimes I walk away. I've surfed the crashing waves of life that threatened to destroy me only to make me stronger. I bear the scars of emotional rape, sadness, and depression. I've walked the golden streets of churches and religion only to be disappointed time and time again. And as a result, it's taken me seventy-five years to get where I'm sitting today; a sinner saved by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ. I fell at the cross. I repented of my sins, and Jesus saved and washed me clean. I still fall flat on my face. I still get dirty as a pig in a mudhole. And Jesus still picks me up, dries my tears, forgives me again and again, and continues walking close beside me. No one has ever loved me like that. And no one ever will.