A Week of Projects: Day 2

Two Days down of Kyle's vacation has proven successful. Granted, we didn't get as much done as we hoped, but that's what you should expect when remodeling (#4 in 10 Reasons I Hate Remodeling). Funny story about remodeling. Kyle shares my dislike. He said he'd add one more to my list, but for him it would be #1. He HATES destruction! The construction part he doesn't mind, but ripping out plaster and dry wall and old nails isn't on his "this is fun to do" list. So last night as we walked to Tuesday night Bible study, he casually mentioned that he never wants to remodel again. This was my response,

"REALLY?! YAY! I'm so, so glad."

We both agreed that we will be more picky about the purchase of our next home. We don't mind yard work (or work work period) but if a gallon of paint can't fix it, we don't want it. So we're praying that God provides the means to afford a home that requires no remodeling, just some elbow grease cleaning, painting, or normal home repairs (not a "-crap- we have to replace ALL of the plumbing?" kind of job). We have learned so much with this home about what to look for, what we value and appreciate, construction, destruction, and cost effectiveness.

Back to our projects yesterday...

We underestimated how big the backyard garden was going to be, so we're short a few bricks and day lilies. Finishing the flower bed project will have to wait. That's okay. We got the hard part done and that was pulling the weed mess. That's the whole reason we decided to do it.

How we started the morning...

What it will look like all done, we have 8 feet (ish) so I won't show you an after picture just yet...

Remember reason #3 in my "10 Reasons I Hate Remodeling" blog? If you're remodeling, expect a dirty mess everywhere. Yeah, this is my living room floor....

And then, because your husband has to use a sledgehammer to crack through a layer of plaster and a layer of drywall (BTW, Kyle said he'd like to meet whoever-so-kindly did that and ask him WHY!?!), you have messes like this...

Uh Oh...

Cockeyed L...

All better...

I am not kidding when I say the entire house was shaken up. There is a stairway between our kitchen and the upstairs bathroom and a crystal bowl (that was a wedding gift) that hung out on the shelving above the sink crashed...

Now... FUNNY story... that little black dot you see in the top left corner is a fly who was in the wrong place at the wrong time... HAHA.

When the bowl came crashing down into the sink it smashed the fly. LOL.

 Oh well, it's just a bowl. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. Besides, the fly story is a good one.

Kyle is finishing the destruction of the bathroom TODAY (Day 3)! He can hardly wait to get it done and quite frankly, I do not blame him. Here's some pictures of what he accomplished...

When you walk through the door, this is what you see...

Bathtub...

Ceiling mid-day

Ceiling at the end of the day...

Bathtub at the end of the day (I'm not sure why it's all cloudy like that, sorry)...

We went to church utterly exhausted (Kyle more than me) but hey, we may not be getting done what we'd like to get done at the rate we'd like to do it, but we're working our butt off to finish the bathroom THIS WEEK! (Pray for us, especially Kyle!) 

Speaking of Kyle, one of my thankfuls this week is that I married a hard working man. I cannot even fathom the rate at which Kyle works on a daily basis. On a typical week he gets up around 4:30 in the morning so he can work out. He's at work by 7 and does not typically come home until 6ish. He has to work occasional weekends, and despite a 50+ hour week he comes home and works on the house without complaining. Now, he's using VACATION time to complete one (of many) jobs and is working HARD to complete it before he has to go back to work on Monday and start his 4:30 am - 9 pm routine. I admire this man and his work ethic. He inspires me.