We’ve been in our house for 3 weeks now. You’d think that would be enough to get the house in order, but unfortunately I am sitting in a living room full of hardwood flooring boxes, miscellaneous boxes that haven’t been unpacked yet, a queen sized mattress and only two chairs. Huh. The weather has been beautiful, but I haven’t made it out onto the beach to enjoy it either. Something is terribly wrong with this picture. Well, at least I have cable TV, internet, and a sangria in my hand. Beggars can’t be choosers.
It gets worse. I’m still living out of the same duffle bag worth of clothing that I brought to our temporary living quarters. My dresser has not made it out of storage yet (not accessible) so there is no point in bringing the boxes of clothing to the house either.
Sadly, that’s not the half of it. I sold our old stove the weekend Irene hit North Carolina and my new stove is who the hell knows where. Cooking has become quite an adventure. If it can’t be made in an electric skillet, toaster oven, or microwave we ain’t eating it. It’s almost like camping, but there aren’t as many bugs. Well, except for the fruit flies that came with a bunch of bananas that I haven’t been able to get rid of. I digress. At least there is air conditioning.
Ok, so it isn’t all THAT bad. It’s a labor of love turning a house into a real home. The cheapo “rental” washer and dryer have been sold and replaced with my efficient front loader pair (that was a bitch to get up the stairs!). My new Bosch dishwasher arrived and is installed (thanks Honey!) and humming along oh so quietly. The under cabinet microwave was removed, the tile work has been completed and the new stainless steel hood has been plumbed and installed (thanks AGAIN Honey!). Most of my kitchen implements have been found and have been put into their respective places. Heck, the bar is even setup. Kitchen and bathroom floors have been cleaned and bleached. The garage is in pretty good shape. The master bedroom, bath, and office have been painted and mostly setup. We are even sleeping on our preferred mattress(YAY!) although there were a few trying nights in bunk beds(@#$#%!!!).
Now we’re focusing on the guest bedrooms. First step – hardwood flooring and fresh paint (ok, that’s two steps). The Oyster Festival is coming up in mid-October and we need to be ready for a party weekend by then. We have a bunch of friends ready to come visit. 5 week countdown. If the last 3 weeks are any indication, it’s going to be tight. So far only 1/2 of one bedroom floor has hardwood floors installed. We bought prefinished floors (Mullican – so far GORGEOUS!) and we (I use that word loosely – I have been hiding in the office so far) are installing them ourselves. It looks like it will take about 6 days per guest room and we have 4 of them. That’s 24 out of 35 days. One day to rip up the skanky old carpeting and moulding. One day to paint the ceiling and put down the felt paper. Two days (hopefully) to install the hardwoods. One day to install the moulding and paint it and last but not least, one day to paint the walls and move in the furniture. Luckily there are two of us and we can overlap on the rooms. My job, as always, is paint.
On a morbidly bright note… since my dad has been in assisted living I’ve been the protector of mom’s ashes. I’m pleased to say that she (as well as my first cat Moo) have made it out of storage. Is that sick or what?
