Monday, August 8, 2011

Funny Story, or Murphy's Law (they are really the same thing)

Of course the flooring project dragged on forever, it is in fact still dragging on --- there is still the tedious job of trim work and caulking and touch ups and the such.  But there is always the darkest moment before the dawn and we are past that now.  The following is the story of those darkest WEEKS!!!

The project actually moved remarkably smoothly until we hit the second fireplace with its crazy angles and the staircase (which we righteously fubared)  With those rather substantial blows to Robert's patience and my confidence, we embraced the work zone environment that we have lived in much of our life together.  (I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, just the comfortable thing)  Works in progress were left untouched, scraps scattered about, piles to jump over, things like that.  The front porch became a catch all for yard sale, displaced items, and the saw set up.  It wasn't pretty....

So, naturally, that is when the insurance adjuster showed up to take pictures!  I wanted to scream "Oh GOD, why did my mother have to be right about this?"  But I smiled and gulped, slightly relieved she wasn't the health department having realized that the beagle is a menace to society, and took her on the tour, trying to explain we weren't crazy white trash hoarders, just a really great lost episode of Renovation Realities.  For her part she was very nice and sympathetic, but she still kept taking pictures of the disaster.

That would have been humiliating enough, but then the phone call comes 10 days later that she now needs to do an inside inspection.  though she refuse to admit it, I am positive that this is because the underwriter saw our hot mess and did not approve.  I stalled for time, and got 3 weeks...

So i yard saled, and hauled off, went through no less than half a dozen magic erasers in the kitchen alone.  There were multiple trips to the dump, and good will.  Robert was brow beaten into doing what I perceived as potential safety violations; hanging the handrails back up, and new batteries in the smoke detectors.  We also spent father's day at Lowe's and running new electrical upstairs. My hands were raw, my nerves were frazzled and the flower beds didn't get weeded.  But considered where we had started from I was satisfied with what she would be walking into.

She was again beyond pleasant , and even said "I hope you didn't clean for me"---yeah right!! and took 4 pictures, one of the heat pump, one of the circuit breaker, one of the kitchen and one of the living room,  She never walked into any other room, even though WALT begged her to go upstairs...

When she left I stood on the sidewalk and thought REALLY?  Then I came to my senses and called Janice and told her to come straight over and hang out, the house was as clean as it was going to get. . . ..


The fresh flowers were a nice touch I thought.


Amazing how empty it looks without recycling overflow.


Some of the child directed artwork remains. . .


It smelled even better than in looked!!


The much beloved new bedroom!!


Every piece washed, and about 20% had gone into yard sale!


I think that there will be tool corner for as long as we live here.


Doesn't everybody have a tee pee in their living room??

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